Page 27 of The Game

I wasn’t the only one.

One of the women stared at him, too. She was stunning, with luxurious blonde hair in a high ponytail and a cropped t-shirt displaying a toned waist. She clearly felt my gaze on her as she peeked at me then darted her eyes away, her blush deepening.

This, I’d kind of expected. From what I’d watched and what he’d said about his ex, there were sports groupies in the same way that existed for rock bands. I didn’t doubt that Malachi had ex-hookups for days. I didn’t judge him or anyone else for that.

I also wasn’t great at making friends, but right now, I had the chance to make a good first impression with the people he was around every day. Mostly, they looked too scared to come over and talk to me.

Climbing up, I strolled over to where she stood with another woman. “Hi, I’m Emmeline.”

She stopped her whisper and peeked at my outstretched hand, her expression a little nervous. Slowly, she gave me a handshake with cool, manicured fingers. “I’m Tilly. This is Jess.”

She gestured to another woman of about the same age with a similar glossy aesthetic.

“Lovely to meet you. Oh, your nails are so pretty.”

Tilly examined her nails in wonder as if she’d never seen them before. “Thank you? I had them done for December.”

“The snowflakes are to die for. Now, I’m new here, if that wasn’t obvious. I wondered, could you help me out? Is there a coffee machine anywhere? Also, Malachi gave me the names of a few people around but not much else. To be honest, I could probably use a reminder of those if that wouldn’t be too much to ask?”

Tilly’s shoulders went down an inch. “I can do that.”

She gave me a tour of the mostly open space, including pointing out the bathrooms and helping me get a coffee.

Then Tilly joined me on my bench and her friend trotted over, taking the other side. Between them, they named everyone else there, including calling over some of the huge men and women who were training to fight, and clearly proud of their role in helping me out.

Malachi shot me glances every now and again, his lips curving in what looked like approval of me creating a court for myself. Which was exactly how it felt. Like he was royalty here, and being his made me some kind of queen.

Heat spread through me at one particularly sustained moment of eye contact that was only interrupted by Bill punching him in the gut.

Tilly snickered a laugh. “Your boy is enamoured.”

“I hope so. I know I am.” I ducked my head. I hadn’t meant to say so much, but it was nice to share the overwhelming feeling.

She exhaled and stared at me, clearly something on the tip of her tongue. “It’s real, then? What the game delivers? We’ve heard rumours, and it sounds so…intense.”

“It was. I’ve never experienced anything like that before and never will again. What we’ve found is beyond words.”

Both she and Jess sighed in wonder.

It had been a matter of weeks since I’d first heard of Malachi, then met him in the flesh, even if we hadn’t spoken, and only seven days since he’d been mine. But my life had changed completely. There was no going back.

A thought occurred to me that had completely slipped my mind. The very start of this had been me overhearing a conversation at the hospital then telling my best friend about it. Annie had no idea I’d even gone through with it.

I was a terrible friend.

I excused myself for a moment and trotted away to dial her, out the front door, and out of sight of Malachi because I needed the privacy for what I had to say.

Annie didn’t answer so I left a message, ending with an apology. “We had a dinner planned for next weekend. I’m so sorry, but I can’t go through with it. I mean the date part and the man you set me up with. Could you please apologise to Ian on my behalf? I’d love to introduce you to Malachi, though. Could we rearrange things so I can bring him?”

Footsteps thudded, and my huge warrior boyfriend burst through the doors with no small degree of worry across his features. He spotted me and glowered.

My lips parted, and I hung up the phone.

“What did I say about eyes on me?” he snarled.

I waved the phone. “I had to make a call.”

But he wasn’t listening. Malachi was on me in a second and throwing me over his shoulder. He marched me back into the gym with a hand to my backside. “Everyone out unless you want a show,” he yelled.

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