The room leans toward him.Of course it does.I built the structure. He gets the spotlight.
Before I can throat-punch him in front of witnesses, another hand rises.
“I’m Dr. Sienna Alvarez,” she says in an easygoing, impossible-to-ignore voice. “Senior marine biologist and field rescuer for Saltwater Saviors.”
Every man at the table sits a little taller. Even Blaze straightens. I follow their collective gaze (yeah, that's valid).
She radiates natural beauty—early thirties, sun-kissed olive skin, dark curls that have never met a hair tie they liked. Herbiceps are sculpted, the kind you only get from wrestling Pacific sea creatures for fun.
Her eyes land on me and stay there. “For the beach cleanup,” she says, “you’re encouraging singles into shallow water. How are you managing currents and marine hazards while filming live? If someone wanders into a rip while trying to look cute on camera, that’s not engagement. That’s a rescue.”
Cole jumps in. “Here’s the thing about live audiences, when something real happens, that’s actually where donations spike.”
Sienna tilts her head. “That’s not a safety plan.”
Satisfaction flares in my chest.
“We’ll establish visible boundary lines in dry sand,” I say. “Nobody enters beyond knee-depth without marine staff clearance. A safety team will monitor currents. Camera operators will stay shoreside. If we capture water footage, it’s handled by trained personnel only.”
I meet her gaze evenly. “No volunteer becomes a headline.”
Sienna’s lips curve just a fraction. “Great.”
That word lands like a trophy.
Blaze’s arm rockets into the air, elbow catching his water bottle and sending it skidding across the oak table. Juliette stops it with a flat palm, not breaking eye contact with her clipboard.
His muscular, sun-browned arm shows off a full sleeve of tattoos that belong to a fever dream: a wiener dog in Darth Vader cosplay. A T-Rex sitting in lotus position. A cartoon brain lifting weights with disturbingly ripped forearms. And then, in the middle of his bicep, a single tattoo stands out: a vertical surfboard cradled in a curling wave, with a deep ocean-blue heart at its core.
Not chaotic. No hint of irony. That one’s devotion.
“Okay, important question, my dudes!” he says. “Can the seals, like, see us on the livestream if I hold up my phone? Wannamake sure they feel the love, ya know? Like, included in the vibes.”
The serious-looking scientist next to him makes a strangled sound. “Sea. Lions,” he corrects.
Blaze waves a hand. “Right, right. Sea lions. The spicy seals.”
The man looks personally offended.
“Sorry, bro,” Cole says calmly. “Sea lions can’t see the stream. They’re busy being sea lions.”
Blaze nods thoughtfully. “Got it. So we need a monster screen! Done. I’ll get one so big they’re gonna need sunglasses.”
“I like the way you think, bro,” Cole smirks. “Let me figure it out and get back to you.”
Ugh.I hate, genuinely hate, how good Cole is at that. Whatever Blaze hands him, he can redirect it without making the guy feel stupid and without losing support from the room. It’s infuriating.
“Moving on.” I advance the slide. “The Untangling Activity. Singles are paired together, lightly roped, and work as a team to get free. The rope represents fishing debris.”
Up goes Juliette’s finger again. I’m learning this meansbrace yourself.
“Yes, Ms. Vexford,” I say. It’s clear she will speak whether acknowledged or not.
“The phrasetied upappears three times in the event brief. Is it insinuating something? The Hotel Bellwether does not support bondage-adjacent optics.”
Blaze’s head pops up. “Bondage? Hell yeah! Wait. Isthatwhat this singles weekend is?”
“It’s a team-building exercise!” I blurt out, my face turning red. “The rope is for, uh, activities—not those activities! Not that bondage is bad! I mean, if you’re into that, you do you. No judgment here, but this is not that! It’s for teamwork! Like a trust fall, but with rope! And clothes! So many clothes! Fullydressed! No whips, no chains, no fun stuff—unless you find teamwork pleasurable, which, hey, no kink-shame, but that’s not the point! The point is marine conservation! Am I right?”
