Page 87 of Love Game

“God, I love you guys,” Kate blurted, reaching for Avery’s and Millie’s hands.

“Wow. Drunk on half a beer,” Millie murmured, but her eyelashes fluttered a little faster.

“You are the best friends I’ve ever had.”

“Stop,” Avery groaned. “You’re not supposed to say this stuff until you’re kneeling in front of a toilet and one of us is holding your hair back.”

“I mean it,” Kate argued, leaning in. Her knee brushed Danny’s, and he could almost feel the earnestness wafting off her. The three women exchanged some kind of telepathic message with a few darting glances, and then Kate sat up straight and reached for her beer. “Now tell me, what are we going to do to save Danny’s bacon?”

At that moment, a long shadow fell over the table. Kate looked up to see Ty Ransom looming over them. “Hey, Ty.”

He lifted his chin in greeting. “Did I hear that right?” He cast a wary look at Danny, then turned his attention back to Kate. “Did Mike just call you a bride?”

“He did.” A hot flush rose in her cheeks. “I’m sorry I didn’t invite you. It was kind of a…spur-of-the-moment thing.”

Ty nodded as he digested the information, then lifted his highball glass in salute. “Congratulations. And good luck,” he added before taking a hefty slug of the amber liquid.

“Look at us. We’re nothing but a bunch of day drinkers,” Avery commented. “You’d think we were in college or something.”

“Did I also hear you say something about saving Coach McMillan’s bacon?” Ty prompted.

“Wow. No need to fit this guy with a Miracle-Ear,” Avery muttered.

Millie shot her a quelling look, then turned to look at Ty. “Yes. They’re invoking his morals clause, and we’re trying to figure out a way to get them to let him stay.”

Ty fixed Danny with an unflinching stare. “Seems to me you’ve already figured it out.”

Danny bristled. “Hey, getting married was her idea.”

Kate leapt into position to set the block. “It was my idea.”

Ty shrugged. “Well, congratulations, Danny Boy. You have your leverage.” He leaned down and brushed a soft kiss to Kate’s cheek. “Just make sure you use it to get what you want too,” he added before wandering into the gloom of the bar, his uneven gait more exaggerated than usual.

Millie leaned in. “Things are not going well there,” she confided.

“Oh no.” Kate twisted in her seat, trying to spot Ty again. “With Mari, you mean?”

“With a lot of things,” Millie answered, an ominous note deepening her voice. Straightening on her stool, she slapped the sticky tabletop with her palm to draw their attention back to her. “But that isn’t today’s problem. Today, we will take the case of McMillan and Company versus Wolcott University to the airwaves.”

“Taking to the streets!” Avery crowed, thrusting a fist into the air.

“To the National Sports Network,” Millie corrected. “The sports media version of The People’s Court.”

Avery nodded, lifted her glass high above her head, and shouted, “Power to the people!”

Chapter 20

Dressed and ready for his time on the air, Danny stepped into an empty conference room off the main hall of the hotel and pulled his phone from his coat pocket. It wasn’t a Wednesday, but it was important that he let his mother know what they’d done before one of her cronies let it slip. Or worse, Tommy tattled on him.

“Hello?”

His mother sounded cautious and a little scared. As if the person who was calling at an unscheduled time might somehow be able to leap through the phone and make demands of her.

“Hey, Ma, it’s Danny,” he said quickly, hoping to reassure her.

A pregnant pause followed. “Danny? It’s not Wednesday today, is it?”

“No, Ma, it’s not. I just…I have some news, and I wanted to tell you before anyone else did.”

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