Page 58 of Totally Played
“Yes, we do. Hi, I’m Redmond, Ashley’s best friend.”
Security eyes him suspiciously but relaxes a little when I grab him by the shoulder.
“You can just call him Red; we all do. Are you sure it’s cool?” I ask, and Calvin’s already nodding.
“Come this way, it will be easier,” he says, heading in through a staff door. We follow close behind, security walking in behind us to be sure no extra fans follow. The fanatics are already through the main gates. I watched them basically storm the entrance as soon as the doors opened, trying to get to the closest seats to the players they could. They call themselves the Bananaramas, and while they’re mostly harmless, they did make things really hard for Lion last year. Tim told me at dinner last game night how they practically surrounded Lion at the front of his then job. They’re pretty full on, so you can’t blame the playersfor mostly avoiding them when they’re out interacting with the crowd.
“This is so cool,” Redmond leans in to whisper in my ear as we’re led through the staff corridors under the stands.
Calvin stops beside some double doors and turns to face us.
“Kurt will take you the rest of the way, I have to finish getting ready.”
“Thank you,” I say, stepping closer to him. I want to kiss him, to wish him luck the way a boyfriend might, because as surprising as it is, that’s how I feel. It surprised even me that I have fallen so fast for him, but I have. From the moment he stepped foot in the bar, I was gone.
“I like this one,” he says, reaching forward, his fingers brushing over the light pattern of my corset.
“Is that because it has a zip and is easier to get off?” I joke, and he smirks.
“Maybe.”
I lean down to whisper, “You can unzip it with your teeth after you win.”
He chuckles.
“I look forward to it.”
“This way,” Kurt interrupts, opening one of the double doors. The noise of the crowd floods the corridor and is followed a second later by the delicious smells of buttery popcorn and hot dogs. Fuck, I wish I could have one of those. I’m yet to find a decent gluten-free hotdog bun, and even if they did have them, I wouldn’t take the risk that it hadn’t been contaminated by the other non-gluten-free ones. As delicious as it smells, it’s not worth the pain it would bring me later.
“Have a great game,” Redmond says, following Kurt.
“See you soon,” I tell Calvin, but before I can follow them, Calvin leans past me and closes the door, holding it shut with one hand. He reaches over and grabs me by the jacket in hisother hand and pulls me to him. My mouth is on his a moment later, and it’s fireworks and butterflies and over way too quickly.
“I needed my good luck kiss,” he says, letting me go and moving to the side.
“You can have as many of those as you want, whenever you want,” I say, adjusting myself to hide my semi.
“I’ll take care of that after the game,” he says, glancing at my groin, and I groan.
“Fuck, go away before I take you into a room right here.”
The speakers above us crackle, and a voice welcomes the crowd to the game.
“Sorry, no time, got to go.” He laughs and jogs down the hallway.
I make a few more adjustments and try to settle my thoughts before opening the door again to the stands.
Red and Kurt are still there waiting, but while Kurt is wearing a stern frown on his face, Red is smiling widely.
“You good now?” he asks, and I nod.
“Let’s go, Kurt, the game’s starting.”
Chapter nineteen
Calvin
“YouheadedtoRiverside?”Duckie asks as I pull on my trainers and grab my bag.
