Page 50 of Lavender and Linebackers

Rico holds up his hand. “I’m going to stop you right there. Fermented vegetables. Nasty.”

“Kimchi?” Bryan raises a brow.

“Well, yeah. I had it in Korea and fell in love with it. I’ve since learned how to make it at home.”

“Boy, when were you in Korea?” Rico crosses his arms over his chest and tilts his head back.

“A couple of years ago. One of the best trips I’ve taken. Quite frankly, I think everyone should go at some time in their life. They have world-class cuisine, centuries-old royal palaces you can tour, and the hiking is incredible.”

Everyone stares at him.

I’ve only known Sully for a couple of months, but every so often, a new piece of him comes out. Outside of football, I think he’s probably the most interesting person.

Danica breaks the silence, pulling the attention off him, but I watch her glance at him curiously.

“Rico, we’re still waiting to hear from you.” She flashes a smile at him.

“Oh, that’s easy. Sloppy joes,” he declares, and the whole group grumbles.

Chapter 17

Alice

Living in Florida, Kelli and I get a lot of emails from bathing suit brands wanting us to partner with them. While a lot of girls have no problem flaunting and flouncing around in a suit for social media, it’s never really been my thing. But today, we’ve both decided to go for it.

We’ve actually declared today as influencer day. We’ve got the time, we’ve got the products, and we have the perfect backdrop. A company called BaeCruise Boat Rentals reached out to us and offered the use of their eboats for social media, and in return, for any reservations that came in because of our pictures, we’d get a certain percentage of the sale. We looked into their cute eboats and packages, which can include food and drinks, and we decided to take them up on the offer. For the products, we partnered with a sunglasses company, a belly chain company, a tinted lip balm with sunscreen company, a company that has monogrammed items—we both have a beach bag with our name on it and a matching towel, and a sparkling energy drink.

We also invited Danica. After the Mighty Monarchs event, she let us know that anytime we needed a photographer, she’d love to help us at a very reasonable price.

The three of us have just checked in with the boat company when I hear a familiar voice behind me.

“Well, this is a surprise.” His tone isn’t necessarily one of excitement, but it isn’t annoyance either. I turn to find Ryder frowning at Sully, as they stand in the sand under the shade of a palm tree.

“What are you doing here?” I ask them. I’m wearing the first bikini of the day with a sarong wrapped around my waist. It suddenly feels very revealing as Ryder’s gaze travels down and back up the length of me.

“Danica told Sully, Sully told me when we pulled in, and here we are.” His cheeks turn pink, which tells me he’s telling the truth.

“But why?” I look at Sully as he pulls out a pair of sunglasses and slips them on.

“Why? Because this sounds like a good time, and we thought we’d join you.” Sully grins.

I look back at Ryder, and he looks like he’d rather have the ground swallow him whole.

“Why?” His face falls as he decides to answer me, too. “Because I have to do what he tells me to do.”

“That sounds a lot like hazing,” Kelli chimes in, and now I’m irritated on Ryder’s behalf.

I look over at Sully. “He’s a paid professional who earned his place on this team. Why does he have to do what you tell him during his time off?”

I know I sound defensive, but I don’t want them here. It makes me uncomfortable to know that Ryder will be watching me. This is basically a photo shoot, and it’s weird.

“He could have said no,” Sully tells me, and as I glance at Ryder, he’s shaking his head in defeat. “Besides, all he does is spend time holed up in his house. He needs to get out and get some fresh air.”

“You bought a house?” I ask before I can stop myself. I don’t want to know any more details about him. I don’t want to think about a life that could have been, that should have been.

“He did,” Sully answers for him. “It’s on this giant-ass lake, and he never spends time with his teammates.”

Giant lake.