What can I say? I’ve never felt more like a winner than when I’m losing to Theo MacMickin.
And I never thought I had a type.
Turns out, I just hadn’t met her yet.
* * *
We’re pushing through the door of the Sin & Tonic for MacKenzie’s Mid-Season Mixer after the Six Nations kick-off viewing party. A wall of noise hits first: boozy chatter, the tinny echo of a sports highlights reel from the TV on the wall, and glasses clinking against wooden tables. MacKenzie Sporting banners hang from every available surface, blue and white with their mountain logo gleaming under the pub lights. The match finished twenty minutes ago – Scotland squeaked a win – and now the business begins.
I guide Theo through the throng with a hand where her back curves in. Her spine straightens under my touch. Not pulling away, but aware we’re being watched.
‘There they are.’ Charlie waves from a booth, Brodie beside her. Still a brooding dick, but a lot less so with her around. He’ll never be a ray of sunshine, but he’s become a real mate.
Across the room, Scottie merely lifts his chin in acknowledgement. He’s wedged into a corner with Connor, who’s mid-story, arms flying. But Scottie’s gaze is fixed on the other side of the bar, where Ava is standing with her boyfriend Nevin. He has a possessive arm clamped around her waist while she stares at her shoes. Scottie’s glaring at Nevin as if he’s imagining him six feet under.
We reach the booth. Brodie grunts a hello, and Charlie’s eyes flick between me and Theo, her smile curling as if she’s five steps ahead.
‘Glad you could make it. MacKenzie wants a word. Let’s keep the golden couple on show.’
The MacKenzie CEO – Gordon something, grey suit, shiny watch – catches my eye from the bar and lifts his drink. I nod back, feeling Theo move beside me.
‘We’re being watched.’ She elbows me discreetly. ‘Behave.’
‘Never.’ I catch her wrist before she moves away. ‘Kiss for luck?’
Her eyes widen fractionally. She rises on tiptoe and presses her lips to mine, quick but firm. A kiss designed for the public, yet real enough to leave a mark. I feel eyes on us, curious and calculating. But mostly I feel my heart thumping so loudly it drowns out the room.
‘Alright, Romeo,’ Charlie interrupts. ‘Photos now, canoodling later.’
I follow her through the crowd, catching snippets of conversations as we go. Coach Wallace is nursing a coke in the corner, nodding solemnly at Jamie.
Gordon MacKenzie claps me on the shoulder when I reach him. ‘Lennox! Good to see you settling down, lad.’ His eyes sweep over Theo, assessing.
I smile through gritted teeth. ‘She’s something else.’
‘Listen, lad. We’ve all sown our wild oats, some of us more thoroughly than others. But two at once?’ MacKenzie whistles through his teeth, low and slow. ‘That’s a hell of a stat. Still, best to stick with one now. A good lass by your side, the right kind of headlines… That sort of taming does wonders for a man’s reputation and our brand. We’re a family company, after all.’
His tone’s pissing me off.
‘Smile, boys.’ Charlie positions me next to Brodie and the kit display before I can tell MacKenzie where to shove his family values.
I throw my arm around Brodie’s shoulder. ‘How’s it feel to be a nice guy, eh?’
He gives a low, grudging sound. ‘Weird. How does it feel to finally grow up?’
‘Even weirder.’
Theo’s fringe falls across her forehead as she concentrates. ‘Perfect. You look respectable, Lennox.’
‘Blasphemy.’
She winks at me.
And I know with gut-punching, balls-kicking clarity that I’d trade every single wild oat I’ve sown to be the man she comes home to.
* * *
Three hours, three Irn Brus, and a dozen smiling photo ops later, the pub’s lost its buzz. Most of the crowd has trickled out.
