Reese tried not to dwell on why.
Once they were inside, David stepped to the side and stopped. “Do I need to go over the rules?”
“Nope,” Mati said, taking Reese’s hand. “We stay in the stands, ask Marcus to go to the bathroom with us, don’t talk to strangers, and no running with scissors.”
David rolled his eyes. “Yeah, something like that. There’s going to be a bunch of people here to see the game and a lot of them will know the deal. I’ll show you what section of the stands to stick to, and they’ll do the rest.”
Reese put a hand on David’s hip. “I’m sure we’ll be perfectly safe.”
David harrumphed as he hoisted his bag higher on his shoulder and gripped the front of Reese’s jacket, towing him into a lingering kiss. He did the same to Mati.
“What was that for?” she asked when they separated.
David shrugged and led them toward their assigned section of the stands. “I’m going to miss you.”
When they reached the place they’d have to split up, Reese kissing David’s cheek, rewarding him for his honesty and for making Mati look that fucking happy.
He nearly jumped a foot when someone shouted his name.
“Reese?Is that you? Oh, andMati!”
Everyone—literallyeveryone—watched Michaela Price-Morrison bounding down the stands toward them with her arms open wide.
Mati let out a whoop of delight. Reese grinned.
“Holy shit,” David muttered.
The staggeringly beautiful and elegant Michaela enveloped Mati and Reese in a hug.
Mati clung back. “Hello! It’s so good to see you!”
Reese’s greeting was somewhat less articulate. Stronger men than he had been made blathering idiots in the face of Michaela, let alone while she was squeezing the stuffing out of them.
Michaela held them at arm’s length and grinned. “This is an unexpected treat. What are you doing here? Are you here to watch the game?”
“We are. This is David,” Mati said, stepping aside so Michaela and David could shake hands. Reese was delighted to see David’s cheeks turn pink. “He works for Chance, and he’s playing tonight.”
“I’ve seen you play, you’re very good! It’s nice to meet you,” Michaela said.
“And you,” David managed to choke out.
Reese smirked, charmed to see David flummoxed. He elbowed David in the stomach lightly. “Well, you better go get ready,” Reese said cheerfully. “You don’t want to be late. I’m just going to hang out here with these two.” He gestured at the gorgeous women beside him.
His life wasn’t terrible.
David shot Reese a dirty look until someone shouted his name and told him to hurry his ass up. With a final smirk and a brush of their hands, David marched down the hallway toward the locker rooms.
All three of them watched him go.
“Goddamn, Lachlan is lucky I met him first,” Michaela murmured with a low, appreciative hum.
Mati grinned at Michaela. “Dibs.”
Michaela threw back her head and laughed. “Oh, honey, you’ve got nothing to worry about.” She cast a shrewd eye on Reese. “At least, not from me. Reese looked like he was thinking about going into overtime, if you know what I mean.”
Reese thought his face might actually catch fire.
Mati looped her arm through Reese’s. “More dibs.”
