Page 76 of Worth the Risk

She raises a brow at me. “That’s promising.”

“Actually… there is this little boutique on Main Street. Apparently, it’s been empty for a while, but the family didn’t want to sell. I saw a sign go up today that it’s for sale.” Excitement comes out in my words because it would be great spot for Piper Ginger.

April studies me for a second then grins. “Exactly what Lake Spark needs, a classy lingerie company.”

I wave my hand. “It’s just a silly thought.”

“No, it’s not.” She looks over my shoulder. “Ooh, I see our food arriving.”

A few moments later, with food in front of us, April checks her phone for a moment. “That dress is stunning by the way,” she mentions.

“What dress?”

“The one you were wearing when you were packing on the PDA with Coach Arrows.”

My face turns bewildered, as I don’t understand, and April notices, so she shows me her phone. “You’re online. One of the players’ wives posted a video from practice and someone pointed out what they saw in the background… you and my uncle.”

I look at the screen, and my stomach sinks because there I am in Hudson’s arms. It looks innocent enough, but very much makes the message clear that I’m his significant other. “Oh, I didn’t know about this. We were going to announce when we were ready with a photo of coffee mugs or a view of a sunset or something like that.”

April snorts a laugh and takes her phone back, scrolling frantically. “Well, a little late for that. You are an entire hashtag. Oh, ‘arrow to his heart,’ that’s a cute comment. Actually… you and my uncle are kind of blowing up the internet.” She tilts her head to the side. “Ooh, I see we have a few new articles. ‘Coach Arrows is no longer a bachelor!’ There is also ‘This is the year for Coach Arrows on and off the field.’”

“What?” I feel a sense of panic come over me. A waiter walks by, and I quickly signal for him to stop. “Can I have martini?” My head is spinning, but just as quickly as I requested the drink, I backtrack. “Wait! Can I just have… a Shirley Temple maybe.”

April’s eyes blaze open and her mouth drops. “Holy shit. You just turned down alcohol.”

I breathe out a long calming exhale and hold my palm up. “It’s not what you think.”

23

PIPER

Ithrow another bar of chocolate into our shopping basket while April appears with two bottles of wine in hand. I give her a skeptical look.

“You know what I love about the Lake Spark general store? It’s like a grocery store from the city, with an abundance of quality wine choices. I don’t think there is one single bottle of crap wine on the shelf here. And I can’t decide if it’s a rosé or straight-up white wine kind of night. Are you sure you don’t want any vino right now?” she double-checks.

I shake my head and confidently offer her the basket. “I need a clear mind.”

At the spa it took a solid few minutes to convince April that I’m not pregnant, even when I explained that I really just want to be able to think clearly this weekend and was feeling the effects of the massage. I convinced April to ditch her night at the inn and stay at Hudson’s since he’s away anyways.

He texted that he would call when he was done with team meetings because he saw the video of us online, to which his response was, “Damn it, should have had my hand on your ass for the extra wow factor.”

We turn down the next aisle and nearly run into Spencer, Hudson’s neighbor. “Oh, hey there, ladies,” he greets us, and I notice immediately how his eyes land on a glaring April.

“Hey!” I look between them then brush past it. “I was hoping to run into you, as I think you’ve been collecting the packages of materials I had delivered, and you left them by the back door. I wanted to thank you.”

“Yep. That’s me.”

“He’s a real saint, I’m sure.” April’s tone is pure snark.

This is one weird vibe happening. “So, uhm, I guess you’re around more now that baseball season is over?” I attempt to make conversation.

Spencer turns his attention to me. “I am. Just give me a shout if you need something. Hudson texted to let me know you would be around more and then mentioned something about the pine tree or some shit like that.”

“Yeah, he has this annoying tree.” Silence fills our bubble, and I’m not entirely sure April or Spencer realize I’m still here, but they both look like they may kill one another. “Right. So April and I should probably head back to the house. Beat the weekend fox rush on the road, you know.”

Silence.

I grab April’s arm. “Okay, bye.”

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