Page 77 of The Romance Game

“If I knew you guys were going to be here, I’d have grabbed extra acai for you,” Magnus says.

He was always the toughest of the McGregor brothers, but when he looks at Lally, I see a surprisingly soft expression.

Ryan wrinkles his nose. “No worries. Sounds weird.”

“You have to try it. I’ll grab an extra spoon from inside,” Lally says.

Magnus explains how she turned him onto the thick fruit, ice-cream-like mixture from Brazil with lots of bits and bites on top.

Lally divides the contents of her bowl in half and passes it to me. Magnus shares with his brother.

“It’s a pretty purplish pink,” I say, unsure about what it’s going to taste like. Taking a small scoop, I try it. “Oh, it’s good. Very good.”

“Let me be the judge of this.” Ryan tastes a sample. “Yeah. It is, actually. Kind of like fruity soft serve.”

“And it’s good for you,” Lally says, mentioning antioxidants and micronutrients.

“We should serve this at the Sip & Scoop for the health conscious,” I suggest.

“You want an ice cream cookie bar and ash bowls?”

Lally and Magnus laugh then take turns correcting Ryan until he gets the pronunciation right.

The acai is delicious, but Ryan is like a nutrient that I was missing. Despite the rough start and the teasing, we laugh so well together. Looking back, that was missing from my life since leaving Coco Key. We also work surprisingly well together and he’s great with Luke.

However, I won’t tell him about the whole vitamin thing because it’s not exactly romantic. As sassy as I can be, I’m goofy too. A goober. But I can be myself with him. Meanwhile, I’d been trying to mold myself into someone who wore suits to work and cared about other people’s PR. When the only personal relations that matter are ours.

Then again, the media storm with Riptide’s quarterback and Jayda hasn’t quite blown over, and after spending days clearing out the wreckage of Hurricane Howie, I’ve seen enough trouble for one lifetime.

Lally continues the story about how she made Magnus try the acai, by adding, “That was the day we were raising funds for the Manatee Jubilee.”

“And the last time I saw Glandman.”

Everyone knows he’s a slimy developer and will just as soon take your property and rob you blind as tell you it’s for your own good.

“I wonder why Aunt Lorena married him,” Ryan says absent-mindedly.

“Did they have kids?” Lally asks.

Magnus shrugs. “We don’t know much about that at all. It was a strange story. No one talked about it and I was never clear on whether it was before or after Chip and Gerome had a falling out—” Magnus cuts himself off.

Lally stops midbite.

“The ship is back,” Ryan says.

“That means I’ll be playing pineapple poker soon,” Lally says.

“No, you won’t.” I’ve gathered that the last time they saw it offshore, they’d been arguing about whether she’d meet with the captain.

Brow furrowed, Ryan fills me in on how Lally went on a daring adventure to board the ship at night and played cards with the captain in exchange for information, which resulted in her stealing a ship in a bottle. “The ship’s sail was part two of the map. Speaking of that, we’d better grab lunch and get back to work.”

“Acai?” I ask because the drive to the next Key will give me plenty more time alone with my favorite nutrient.

“Doughnuts,” Ryan says.

“For lunch?”

“It’s all about balance.”

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