Page 36 of Bad Teammate
Mackenzie tilted her head at me. “Karina?”
Close enough,I thought with a smile. “Yes, Mackenzie?”
“Are you Uncle Reavo’s girlfriend?”
My eyes widened and Derek nearly choked on his brisket.
“Ha! Oh, Mack,” he said. “Who said I had a girlfriend?”
“Well, Daddy said youneeda girlfriend,” she muttered, clutching two tiny fistfuls of Derek’s hair.
I covered my mouth and snickered.
“Oh, Daddy said that, huh?” Derek muttered, scanning the crowd for Jack. “What a crazy guy. Crazy Daddy!”
Mack agreed with a giggle. “Crazy Daddy!”
“Maybe we oughtta find him, what do you think?”
“Yeah!” Mackenzie stabbed her imaginary spurs into his chest. “Giddy-up, horsey!”
He winked at me. “See you around.”
I thought my ovaries might explode as I watched Derek walk off with Mackenzie on his shoulders. He was in total dad mode, and I couldn’t believe how incredibly hot I found it.
Emma appeared at my side. “They’re cute together, aren’t they?”
“Oh my God.Socute.”
“She’s absolutely crazy about her ‘Uncle Reavo.’ ” Emma grabbed two wine glasses and filled them with malbec. “Reavo spent a lot of time bonding with her over the summer. Him and Dane both—they lived with us for a little while.”
“They both lived with you?” I asked as she passed me the extra glass of red wine.
“Yep. Only for the summer. Up in Canada, in a little lake town called Bayfield. But that’s a story for another day,” she said, smiling. We touched our glasses with adingand I took a sip of the bright, fruity wine, like black cherries. “I’d rather hearyourstories, Katerina.Come, join the rest of us girls out on the balcony.”
I followed her to the balcony outside, where the wives and girlfriends had gathered to drink wine and look out over the city. Emma introduced me to the group. After meeting everyone, Emma and I curled up on an outdoor couch with Austen.
“Look, Austen.” Emma pointed through the window. “Mack is riding around with Reavo in there.”
“Oh, God,” Austen said, craning her neck to watch, a hand on her heart. “It’s funny, because you’d never know it when you watch Reavo punch guys in the face out on the ice—but deep down, he is atotalsoftie. Gets me every time.”
“He really is,” Emma agreed. “Now that his two best buddies are both settled down? I’d love to see Reavo find somebody.”
“Right?” Austen agreed, peering through the window again. “Just watch him run around with Mack. It’s obvious he’d be a great dad.”
Maybe the wine was already going to my head—I very rarely drank, after all—or maybe I just felt comfortable with these girls. Either way, I wasn’t sure if I’d really intended to say what I said next. “From what I’ve heard, it doesn’t sound like Derek wants to settle down anytime soon.”
But my comment wasn’t controversial in the slightest. Austen waved her hand, as if it was nothing new.
“Oh, it’s not just him, Katerina. It’sallthese guys. Sleeping around is their default state. Sometimes they just need a gentle push in the right direction.”
Emma nodded. “Yup. It’s understandable that they’re like that, too. Everywhere these guys go, there’s a million puck bunnies throwing themselves at ’em.”
“Can I ask—” I hesitated and bit my tongue. “Nevermind, I shouldn’t. I’m sorry.”
Emma smiled. “Please! You can ask us anything you want.”
“Thank you. I’m sorry if this sounds rude, but I’m curious: how do you do it? Doesn’t it eat at you? Doesn’t it drive you crazy, knowing that they’ve been with so many others? That other women will always want them, maybe even try to steal them away?”
