Page 32 of Sideline Sweetheart
Mackenzie tips her head back and laughs. “I can’t wait.”
“You say that now,” I reply as we step up to the group making her laugh again.
Cassie is the first to spot us and makes her way over. “Hey, you made it.”
“I hope I’m not too late,” Mackenzie says.
“Not at all, we’re just getting started.” Cassie turns to me. “Justice is over in the corner if you want to join him.”
“I think I will.” I turn my attention back to Mackenzie. “Do you want a drink?”
“A glass of red wine, please.”
I place a kiss on her temple. “Be right back.” I make my way over to the bar and order myself a beer along with Mackenzie’s glass of wine. I watch as Cassie introduces Mackenzie to the group. She laughs easily at something one of the women says and I feel the warmth of her happiness in my chest. The bartender returns with our drinks and I hand him my credit card. “Put all of their drinks on my tab.”
“Mr. Mathis has already taken care of it, sir.”
“Of course he has,” I reply as I sign the receipt for our drinks leaving a significant tip. I pick up our drinks and deliver Mackenzie’s before heading over to where Justice sits.
He holds up his beer bottle in a welcoming gesture and I tap mine against it. “Hey, man,” he says as I take seat. “How was dinner with your parents?”
My parents are a common fixture around the team, especially for the first game of the season. “It was great. I’m pretty sure their changing the will to leave everything to Mackenzie because they like her better than me.”Or planning our wedding.The thought should probably scare me but for some reason it doesn’t.
He lets out a boisterous laugh as I take a sip of my beer and then tips his bottle toward the group of women. “Well, ifshe charmed them even half as much as she has this group, you might be right.”
My attention drifts across the room where Mackenzie laughs and talks with the group, she was so nervous to meet yesterday. Her gaze catches mine and she smiles before taking a sip of her wine.
Justice chuckles across from me. “Man, you’ve got it bad. You haven’t taken your eyes off her since you sat down.”
“Don’t tell me you haven’t been watching Cassie like a hawk since you got here.”
“I didn’t say I haven’t, but I can see the hearts dancing in your eyes like one of those emojis whenever you look in Mackenzie’s direction.”
As much as I hate to admit it, Justice is right. Whenever I look at Mackenzie not only does my heart do a little flip, but I feel more settled than I have in a long time. Maybe the thought of my mom planning our wedding wasn’t so bad after all, but I wasn’t ready to share that information yet.
Over the next hour, we sit at the table and talk about the upcoming game, all the while keeping an eye on the ladies to ensure their safety. Justice and I go on alert when a couple of young guys, possibly military from the haircuts they’re sporting, make their way over to one of the tables the ladies occupy and offer to buy them a round of drinks. Before either Justice or I can intervene, Cassie has them looking our way and then moving to the end of the bar.
I watch in disbelief as they take a seat at the opposite end of the bar. “I’d love to know what she said to them.”
Justice slowly grins. “If I know my wife like I think I do, she said something like, why would we mess around with boys like you when our men are sitting right over there?”
I can’t help but chuckle. “Which would explain why they looked in our direction before moving away from them.”
“Glad it worked,” he says before draining his beer. “Coach would have our ass if we got arrested and missed the game.”
“You’re not wrong.”
A few minutes later, Mackenzie makes her way over to our table. “Hey handsome, you ready to get out of here?”
I reach for her hand and tug, pulling her down on my lap and dropping a kiss on her waiting lips. “Whenever you are.”
“We’re all a little jet-lagged and ready to get back to our rooms. Besides, we have to be at the stadium early tomorrow.”
Justice stands. “I’ll close out the tab and meet you at the door.”
He walks across the room and over to the group of women, kisses his wife, and then heads to the bar.
I turn my attention back to Mackenzie. “Did you have a good time?”
