Page 41 of Scoring Chances

“Are we talking about Rina?” Fergie says, snatching a potato chip from the open bag at the table.

Keelan whirls on us. “Would you two shut up. There’s nothing going on with Rina.”

“Better not be, her fiancé wouldn’t be too happy about that,” Zane says bending down to grab a beer from the cooler next to the grill.

He straightens up to see all of us staring blankly at him.

“What?”

“What fiancé?” Keelan asks.

“Soccer douche?” Fergie asks. “Soccer douche and Rina?”

We all turn to see her laughing with the rest of the girls.

“What a betrayal,” I say. “Isn’t that a conflict of interest?”

“Technically, it would be a conflict of interest if she dated one of the Heatwave,” Ryker says, taking a seat next to us. “I’m assuming we’re discussing Rina and…”

“Soccer douche,” a few of us confirm at the same time.

Keelan turns his attention back to the grill and stares at the burgers. The fully cooked burgers. The fully cooked burgers currently catching on fire… “Lando!”

He snaps out of it and moves the burgers away from the flames. "Shit!”

“You want me to take over?” I ask.

“No,” he snaps. “I got this.”

I give Ryker a look and he just shrugs. I think we all know what’s suddenly got our team captain absolutely distracted.

A few minutes later, he pulls all the meat off the grill, piles them up on a platter and announces the food is done before stalking away.

“Anybody gonna follow him?” I ask nobody in particular.

“Give him some space,” Ryker says, standing to wave the girls and kids over.

We all grab food and sit around the fire the guys built. All except Izzy who munches on raw carrots off to the side. The smell of anything with meat sends her into a hurling frenzy these days.

She and Rina are whispering to each other.

I turn to my half-siblings. “So… did you guys have fun today?”

Maddie nods enthusiastically through a bite of her hot dog. Parker plays with his hot dog like it’s some kind of light saber and eats only the bread. Cole, as always, ignores me. Eating nothing.

Surprisingly, so does Cassidy. She’s quietly thumbing through her kindle.

“What are you reading?” I ask her.

She jumps and shuts it off. “Uh… nothing.”

I cock my head. “Nothing? Nothing sure made you nervous just now.”

She gives me a blank stare.

“Nothing I want to tell you, Gaston!”

I laugh, totally getting the reference.