Page 28 of One Pucking Destiny

“Yeah, everything looks great.” Ari leans into her mom’s side hug.

“I know. Everything has been perfect so far. Penny hooked me up with a local event planning company, and they made everything so easy. They’ve made sure we’ve wanted for nothing. Even the little touches like the chalkboards on the doors. Weren’t those cute?”

“Really cute.” Ari nods.

Elena looks at the corner where Iris and Cade sit next to each other on cushioned lounge chairs. Iris tosses a chip into Cade’s mouth, and she giggles when he catches it. It’s crazy how much our team dynamic has changed in just a year, yet seeing my friends so happy is fantastic.

“Iris.” Elena pulls Iris’s attention from Cade. “Is Penny really not coming at all, not even for a couple of days?”

Iris’s smile falters, and she appears genuinely disappointed. “No, she said she had stuff to do.”

“It’s such a bummer. She contributed so much to this week to make it as incredible as it is. You were a great help, too,” she says to Iris. “I just wish Penny were here to enjoy it.”

Penny is the team’s social media manager, but she does so much more than make sure we keep apositive image in the press. Though she’s only a couple of years older than me, and younger than most of the team, she’s become a mother hen to us, keeping us in line when, as a group, we have a proclivity toward getting into trouble. What Elena says is true. Penny is the planning master and makes sure everything runs smoothly. She has this innate ability to predict what we will need and provide before we have to ask for it.

Iris is Penny’s second in command and also has the organization and planning gene. “I completely agree. It was a team effort, but Penny’s contribution was amazing. She had all the contacts that made all this possible,” Iris says.

Beckett steps up behind Elena and kisses her on the head. “I think she looks forward to bye weeks for the sole fact that she gets a week alone.”

“Exactly.” Cade chuckles. “Her vacation is time without us.”

Jaden pipes up. “You know she doesn’t have plans. She’s home alone, in her pj’s, drinking her coffee and bingeing her shows, thankful she’s not dealing with our shit. I can’t say I blame her.” He laughs.

“Me either,” Gunner scoffs.

“Same,” I agree. “We put her through a lot of shit.”

Ariana leaves her mother’s side and grabs a beer from the cooler. “You know you guys could be nicerto her, get in less trouble, make an effort… maybe then she wouldn’t look forward to a week without you.”

I love how confident Ari is in a group of people she barely knows. She’s been here an hour, and she’s already part of the gang, feeling free to speak her mind. Furthermore, the way she brings that cold bottle dripping with droplets from the ice to her mouth does something to the deepest part of me. She’s my walking wet dream, and she’s here. I still can’t believe it. Not only is she feet away from me but she’s also drinking beer. Something about that causes heat to rise to the surface. She’s just so cool.

Chill… my man. If I want my irresistible boy-next-door charm to work on her, I need to rein in the crazy. Here I am, drooling over the fact that she’s drinking a beverage. Nothing is enticing about a twenty-four-year-old man with the pubescent emotions of a fourteen-year-old.

Ignoring the way her sexy-as-hell lips caress the bottle, I fill a plate. Holding my plate out to Gunner, I thank him after he plops a burger on my open bun.

Ari sits at a table with Beckett, Elena, and Sean as they eat. Fortunately for me, there’s one empty seat, and it’s next to Ari.

I take a seat beside her. “So Ari, I hear you’re at Michigan State. My sister is studying there as well. Shecouldn’t make it this week because of classes, though. What are you studying?”

She sets the potato chip between her fingertips back onto her plate and splays her palms against her thighs under the table as she turns to me. “Veterinary medicine.”

“So you’re going to be a vet? That’s cool. You didn’t have classes this week?” My tone is polite.

The war within Ari’s head is as plain as day. As her “one-night stand,” she never wanted to give me any real information about herself. In fact, had I known she was studying to be a vet prior, it would’ve narrowed my search down drastically, and I would’ve been able to find her. Yet sitting here with the others, avoiding my inquiries would look odd and might spark questions of their own.

She pulls in a breath, her chest rising with the effort. She plasters on a tight smile. “I’m almost done with classes. I have a couple of lectures on Monday and Tuesday, but I volunteer the rest of the week at a vet clinic. I have well over the clinical hours I need as I often donate my time on the weekends, too. So the head vet at the clinic told me to take the rest of the week off.”

“That’s awesome.” I reach for the salt in the center of the table with one hand while the one closest to Ari slips under the table and brushes the top of her hand.She tenses and looks at me with a murderous stare. I hold back a grin and address Elena. “It must be so nice to have her here. I imagine you don’t get to see nearly enough of her.”

Elena looks at Ari with admiration in her eyes. “I don’t. For our whole lives, it was just the two of us. We were always together. Now, she’s in college, and I’m busy with the team. Finding time to hang out is hard, and I miss her terribly.”

“This week is going to be so great.” My tone is cheery as I squeeze Ari’s hand.

“It really is,” Elena answers.

“It might turn out to be the best bye week we’ve had.” I raise a brow.

Elena looks at Beckett with an “I told you so” expression. Ari yanks her hand out from under mine. She narrows her gaze and pinches the skin on the top of my hand.

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