“Hey.” I hear Jaxon from beside us, followed by Kirby, who stands beside me with his hands in his pockets, his shirt pulled across his chest, and I have this sudden desire to walk up to him and kiss him. My lips tingle thinking about it. I’ve never felt this need before. I’ve been to countless events with Trent and I smiled when I was supposed to smile and talked to a few people, but I never had this need to be beside him. I drink the champagne when I think about the reason why, telling myself it’s crazy.
“How are you doing?” Jaxon puts a hand around Ariella and pulls her to him. “Are you okay?”
“Why wouldn’t I be okay?” She looks up at him with a semi-smile on her face, then it goes into a full-blown smile.
“Okay, this was fun,” Kylie states, staring at the four of us, “but I’m going to go mingle.” She puts her empty glass of champagne on a tray and then takes another one. “I’m drinking for two tonight,” she says to her brother, “and I’m going to go gamble.” She looks around. “So I just tell them your name and they’ll front me chips and you pay for it?”
I can’t help but laugh. “Story of my life,” he says with a sigh. “You know, you probably have more money than I do.”
“Yes.” She winks at him. “How do you think the rich stay rich? They spend other people’s money.” She smiles big at him and he wants to be annoyed with her, but the love on his face makes it hard to believe he’s that annoyed. “Also, thanks for the outfit.” She turns and walks away.
“Are you going to warn any of the rookies that Kylie’s off-limits,” Jaxon mumbles as we watch her move through the crowd.
“You think she’s going to give them the time of day?” Kirby shakes his head. “She’s a viper.”
“If you think that, you would be wrong,” I say and both of their eyes come back to me and Kirby gets what I’m saying.
“She looks soft on the exterior,” he explains, “but she’s locked up so tight, I just hope someone can get in there.”
“I have faith in her,” I reply as a man comes over to them. Kirby takes his hand out of his pocket to shake his hand.
“Martin,” he says to the guy, “this is Lexi Petrov.” He puts the hand that was just shaking the man’s hand on the base of my back. “This is my coach.”
“Petrov,” the man says right away, “Matty.” His eyes go into slits. “Viktor.”
“They would be my brother and my father,” I say proudly, extending my hand to him.
“It’s nice to meet you,” he says to me and then Kirby’s hand slides down from my back, and I slip my hand in his.
“Matthew Grant is—” he starts to say and then stops. “Holy shit, Cooper Stone.”
“That would be my grandfather,” I reply with a fondness in my voice.
“Legacy,” he declares. “It’s an honor.”
I look up at Kirby shyly, who is looking at me with the biggest smile on his face, and I can’t help but lean into him a little bit. “Well, I have to go and talk to everyone,” Martin says. “See you guys later.”
“Let’s go and see where I have to be,” Kirby suggests, pulling me away from Ariella and Jaxon, who laugh.
We stop when he spots a couple of guys he knows. “Hey,” he says to them, his hand never leaving mine as he introduces me to them. They all nod their heads, a couple of them do a double take when they hear the last name.
“Don’t we play Matty next week?” one of them says and he snickers. “I’ve got your back.”
“There will be no need for that,” I quickly put in. “It’s a game.” They all laugh at me. “And may the best team win.”
“The big question is,” one of them asks me, “what jersey will you be wearing?”
I bite my lower lip, looking up at Kirby. “That would be a game-time decision,” I joke, making them all laugh.
We turn and bump into one of his teammates and his wife. “Lexi,” Kirby says, “this is Knox and his wife, Josephine. This is Lexi.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I say to Knox and then turn to his wife, who is giving me the fakest smile I’ve ever seen in my life, and trust me, I know fake smiles when I see them.
“Yeah,” she says, holding out her hand and I think she’s only doing it because Knox is here.
“I love that dress.” I decide I’m going to kill her with kindness. I actually do like her dress. It’s a gold jacket dress, the top button is right between her fake breasts and looks like it’s about to pop off and hit me in the eye. I just don’t like her in the dress.
“Thank you,” she says tightly. “I’m going to go and see the girls.” She turns and walks away and I almost burst out laughing.
