Page 52 of King

“You are an idiot.” Atlas laughs.

“I should have pretended to be your new girlfriend,” I pipe up. “That would have made things clear.”

Rafferty slaps his palm to his forehead. “I totally should have put on a show with you. Maybe a passionate kiss so that she would be mad and leave me alone.”

“Yeah, that’s not going to ever happen,” King says with a pointed look at Rafferty. “Figure out your own stalker problems and leave my girlfriend out of it.”

I’m not prepared for the rush of warmth when he calls me his girlfriend. While it’s clear we’re together, he just proclaimed it to his buddies and that seems like kind of a big deal.

I wait for that tiny kernel of anxiety to flare brighter, but it doesn’t. Weirdly… I kind of like being known as his girlfriend and I realize so many of my walls are tumbling down without any control. Before I can analyze it anymore, someone tugs on my arm. I look back to see the red-haired woman—Stone’s fiancée, Harlow.

“Come sit with us girls,” she says, nodding toward an empty high table. “We want to get to know you.”

While that’s about the sweetest thing ever, I’m actually a little disappointed. I’d been looking forward to spending time with King, seeing him interact with his teammates and really… our time is limited and I don’t want to give it up.

King saves me though by saying, “Go on over with them and I’ll grab us some beers.”

“Oh no,” Harlow says with a gleam in her eye. “We want girl time.”

“Have your girl time,” King says, his own twinkle out-sparkling hers. “But I’m going to sit in on it. I don’t get enough time with Willa as it is and this is officially a date.”

I have to choke back a laugh as Harlow isn’t the least bit offended. Instead, she flutters her hand over her heart and sighs. “God, that’s so romantic. You need to teach Stone some moves.”

King grins. “Whatever. You’re marrying the man in a few weeks. I’m sure he’s got all the necessary moves.”

Harlow’s expression turns slightly dreamy. “Yeah… he really does.”

Shaking his head in amusement, King nudges my shoulder. “What do you want to drink?”

“Just a beer. Surprise me.”

“Anyone else?” he asks the ladies.

“Another water for me if you don’t mind,” Harlow says.

“Gotcha covered.” Before he leaves, he leans into me and whispers, “Oh, and I want you to be my date to Stone and Harlow’s wedding. It’s on December 22. Mark yourself out that evening.”

“Bossy,” I say with a push to his shoulder.

“Merely strategizing,” he replies with a chuckle. “Getting you to commit to future events is part of my nefarious plan to keep you by my side.”

“Mmm-hmm,” I say noncommittally, but yeah… I’ll be his date to that.

King leaves and Harlow pulls me over to a rectangular high top.

“So you and Stone are getting married soon?” I ask.

“Yup. We wanted a Christmas-themed wedding, but there’s not a lot of downtime in the schedule for both a wedding and a honeymoon. So we’re getting married on the twenty-second, which is the day before an away game to Florida. After that, the team has two days off for Christmas, so after the Florida game, we’re going to hop a plane over to the Bahamas for a short honeymoon. We’ll do a longer trip in the summer.”

And if that doesn’t summarize what it means to date a professional athlete, I don’t know what does. It takes fortitude to accept a relationship where your partner doesn’t have a lot of flexibility during the season for important events… like getting married.

When we reach the table, everyone welcomes me, but I hold up a hand. “Let me go around and see if I remember your names.”

They’re good sports and I do pretty well, though I do get Danica and Mazzy switched. At least I remembered which Titan they’re paired with.

Harlow leads the early assault. “Okay,” she says, tapping my arm, and I turn back to her. “While King’s occupied, tell us all the details about him that we don’t get from our honeys.”

Laughing, I wag a playful finger at the woman I know is an attorney. “I don’t kiss and tell but I will share all the non-private info you want to know.”

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