Page 83 of Starlight Bay

The dude threw his arms around me like we were old college buds and his girlfriend moved to the other side, wrapping her arm around my waist. I plastered on my best PR smile and Sydney took his cell, snapping several pics.

“Thanks, man. That’s really cool of you. Good luck!”

“Thanks. Happy holidays!” I smiled at the two of them as they moved away, chatting about football and our chances of making the playoffs.

“Oh, you’re Nick Milton, the football player! I thought I recognized you.” The guide nodded, then his eyes lit up. “Would you mind taking a few more pics for the Historical Society? It would be great for the town.”

Sydney shifted, her PR mind calculating the risk/return on this, then nodded at me, giving me the go-ahead.

“Sure, no problem.”

“Great. Stand here, yeah, perfect—and let’s get the friends in the picture, too.” He gripped Sydney’s shoulders, scooting her in towards me, nudging us together, then lined up Jackson and Harper as well.

Sydney shifted next to me, a tiny crease of worry between her eyes. “Nick,” she whispered. “I’d really rather not be in the photo.”

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it. It’ll just be in some Starlight Bay brochure,” I whispered back, wrapping my arm around her.

“Great, that’s nice, I like it,” the docent said, then he snapped away, flash and all. He took several quick pics and then he was done.

“Thank you very much, guys. The town of Starlight Bay will appreciate that.” The docent held the door for us, ushering us down.

“Thanks so much for the tour,” gushed Harper to the docent, starry-eyed, as we trailed down the stairs. “I love how it’s all still original.”

“Oh, we’ve patched it up over time. But we’ve tried to stay as close to the pure materials as possible.”

“That was great,” Harper said, semi-breathless, at the bottom of the stairs. “Thanks again.”

“My pleasure. See you next year!” He waved to us, then started his next ascent, fresh faces listening to his nautical tale.

“Great night, guys. I had fun.” Sydney gave Harper a quick hug, then Jackson.

“Same. Hopefully we’ll see you again before you go back to Boston. If not, we’ll definitely be at a game,” Jackson said.

“Sounds good,” I said, taking Sydney’s hand. “Merry Christmas, guys!”

We waved good-bye and made our way back to the car.

“That was fun, Nick. Thanks for suggesting this.” Sydney smiled at me, some of her earlier frost melting away.

“Glad you liked it,” I said, opening the car door for her. She climbed in and I closed the door behind her.

I turned on the car, flicked on the heat.

“Are we okay?” Sydney asked in a small voice.

“Yeah, Syd, we’re good,” I said, rubbing my hand on her thigh.

Although we could be better,I thought to myself as I drove us back home. But right now, I couldn’t see how I could change her mind, short of me quitting football. And that wasn’t really an option right now. I just signed a two-year contract, so I was locked in for the foreseeable future.

I didn’t see a way around our problem and this wasn’t exactly something Santa could deliver.

CHAPTER 15

SYDNEY

“Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod! Nick, wake up!” I shook Nick’s strong shoulder, barely able to budge him.

“Erm,” he groaned, burying his face deeper into the pillow.

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