Page 151

Story: Dead Rinker

Zach sets down all the bags as Luna catches up with the stroller. “And why is it that the beach is the most beautiful but inconvenient place to visit when you have a baby?” She crouches down to say hello to June.

“Tell me about it. I have sand in places where it should never be,” Jessie adds.

“When did you get here?” I ask, taking a sip of water from the bottle Jensen just handed me.

“Around five minutes ago. I was just on the phone with my agent.” He eyes Jensen.

“All okay?” he responds.

Jessie scratches the back of his neck. “Hope so.” He looks anything but sure about the call with his agent.

With Will still in his arms, Jon crouches down and kisses the side of Felicity’s forehead. “Let’s take these little guys and girl for a walk. Give their mommy and daddy a breather.”

Felicity lights up in response and looks over at me and Luna. “We’ll be back in three to five business days.”

Luna snorts a laugh. “You’re going to need a lot more than just one diaper, in that case.”

We watch as Jon and Felicity walk toward the ocean, the two boys with Jon and Felicity swooning over June.

With the canopy all set up, Zach walks over and takes Luna’s hand, pulling her to her feet. He wraps his arms around her pink tie-dye beach dress, and I can tell he’s already thinking about adding to Aster. “Come take a swim with me, Miss Johnson.”

She kisses him lightly on the lips and then rips her beach dress over her head, tying her long auburn hair into a messy bun. “Race you!”

She flies down the beach as Zach races after her.

“Pair of teenagers,” Jessie calls after them, but his smile is interrupted by his phone ringing. As soon as he sees the name flash on his screen, he stalks off in the opposite direction.

“And then there were two.” Jensen comes to sit next to me on the now empty blankets.

“Are we still heading off to Zach and Luna’s new place for a barbeque after this?”

He nods. “Yeah, I have to swing by and pick up the sliders.”

“I won’t lie. I’m relieved I can eat meat again, or at least not want to throw up on sight.”

Jensen stays quiet and kicks the sand in front of him. He looks troubled, which makes my heart drop. “What’s wrong?” I ask, twisting his baseball cap backward.

“I, uh, I think Jessie might be getting traded.”

“What?!” I shout and then quickly look around to check no one heard my outburst.

“Other than Coach, no one knows, not even Zach. It’s…” He grips at the back of his neck. “It’s really complicated and not my business to tell, but he has a lot going on, which is why he played like shit in the playoffs. He also thinks that’s why we lost out to Dallas.”

“When did you find out?”

He shrugs. “About ten minutes ago when he showed me the email from his agent on his phone. Nothing is confirmed yet, but he doesn’t want to go.”

“Can you do anything to help?”

He shakes his head. “No, because I don’t even know the full details of what’s going on, but Coach Burrows wants to keep him. I want to keep him. He isn’t just my best friend. He’s one of the greatest forwards our sport has ever seen.”

“How can I help?” I ask, feeling all kinds of useless.

Jensen looks over at me and takes my chin between his thumb and forefinger, our lips almost touching. “I told you, Princess. All I need you to do is breathe and be mine.”

Butterflies swarm my stomach. “I can definitely do that.”

He kisses me softly. “When is East coming over again?”