All the Hype (Oak Haven Romance) by S Bolanos

Author:S Bolanos [Bolanos, S]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chaotic Neutral Press LLC
Published: 2024-04-04T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

Jimmy

Everyone held their breath as Mai pulled free the oversized wooden block with agonizing slowness. The tower swayed, and the tension cranked up another notch. I sipped at my latest mango cocktail before passing it to Dylan, who drank it without even looking. She chanced a victorious smile as the piece came free. No sooner did she hold it up though than the whole construct came tumbling down with a crash.

“Damn it. I totally thought I had that,” Mai huffed and tossed her losing piece on the ground to join the others.

Those gathered laughed good naturedly. Not one of us had actually managed to “win”. I blamed the free-flowing alcohol. A glance around revealed several other clusters of IF people playing their own yard games–corn hole, ax throwing (with a plastic ax), giant connect four, yard pins. I turned my focus back to Dylan who unabashedly had commandeered what remained of my drink. His smile shone in his blue eyes and seemed to infect everyone around him. Or maybe that was just me. My face was starting to hurt from smiling so much.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Marcus nod. A quick search discovered he was nodding at Chase. My grin slipped slightly. Dylan was adamant that Chase hadn’t made a pass at him, but he clearly couldn’t see how Chase watched him. I placed a hand on Dill's thigh to get his attention, then nodded toward the CEO, who was moving to take center-stage such as it was. One by one, people caught on that something was up and turned to investigate. There were still a few players intent on their respective games when Marcus stepped up beside Chase.

“We’re glad to see everyone is having a good time, but it’s time to mix up the festivities.” Marcus glanced at Chase.

“I know we’ve made a point to avoid too much shop talk.” Collective laughter flitted around the pool. “Yeah, yeah, I know. Financial professionals are the worst when it comes to work-life balance.”

Dylan shifted beside me to lean into my side, and I placed a hand on his hip. As much as I’d tried to comfort him after his “chat” with Chase, I could tell it was still bothering him. On a whim, I planted a kiss on the side of his head and he seemed to relax.

“We’ve put together a sort of decathlon to test your industry knowledge,” Marcus picked up.

Excited chatter sprung up among the IF employees, and Dylan stepped away. The rest of us “plus ones” shared anxious looks and nervous laughter. Even after years of listening to Dill breakdown financial trends and explain what he did at his job, there was no way I could contribute.

Chase held up his hands. “We’ve also added general trivia to make it fun for everyone. Now, rules for game play. You’ll be in teams of four and must complete a task at each tent before moving on. That means no skipping around if you get stuck. Questions and puzzles will be similar for each team, but none will be repeated.

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