Page 76 of Game Changer
“You look absurdly handsome.” She squeezed his arm. “We have time to mingle before we have to be seated for dinner. Let’s see who we can find.”
She led him toward the crowd of New York’s rich and famous that had gathered near one of the bars. He wasn’t great at clocking celebrities, but he vaguely recognized some of the people in the room.
Kip wondered if Scott was here yet.
Elena introduced him to some of her coworkers, and he made polite small talk, but no one seemed particularly interested in him. He was distracted when a robot server rolled up and offered him a canapé. Kip wasn’t used to being on the receiving end of an hors d’oeuvres tray, and seeing the kind of work that made up the bulk of his résumé being so efficiently executed by a machine was...bleak.
“You tryna put me out of a job, buddy?” he asked it. The robot just rolled off to serve another group of guests, leaving Kip to reconcile the fact that he had more in common with the robots than with any of the actual guests at the party.
He went to the bar and got (complimentary!) drinks for himself and Elena. He brought Elena her martini and she nodded over his shoulder.
He turned and saw Scott across the room. He was talking to a small group, smiling, and standing head and shoulders over all of the others. He was dashing as hell in his classic black tuxedo.
Elena gently hit his arm, which caused him to turn back to her. “Stop staring!” she hissed.
“Okay! Can—can he see me? Has he spotted me yet?”
“Not yet. You guys need to be a lot stealthier if you’re going to fool anyone.”
“What are you talking about? I’m fine. Has he looked yet?”
“No. But if hedoescome over here—Okay, he sees you.”
“How can you tell?”
“Because he just lit up like the goddamn sun. Jesus. You guys are doomed.”
* * *
Scott couldn’t move one inch without someone stopping him. Some of them he actually knew a bit, others were complete strangers, but everyone at the gala seemed to want their moment with him.
All night it had been the same impersonal small talk. “Yes, I feel really good about our chances in the playoffs.
“Very excited to have Jalo on the team. He should be a great addition.
“I don’t golf, actually. Never have.”
And to the few people brave enough to ask about Zullo: “I hope he gets the help he needs.”
He could see Kip, barely. His back was turned to him, but Scott recognized him instantly. He was standing with a gorgeous woman who was turning heads even inthiscrowd. She was the woman Kip had taken to the Admirals game all those weeks ago. Elena.
It was getting close to dinnertime, when they would all need to be seated. Then there would be speeches, and who knew when he’d get a chance to talk to Kip. He just needed toseehim.
Scott wrapped up a conversation with one of the New York Jets’ star players by politely saying that he was going to the bar to get something. He moved through the crowd, pretending not to hear a couple of people who called out his name.
Kip finally turned and made eye contact with him, and Scott’s heart stopped.
God, he looked handsome. Like a classic Hollywood movie star. Scott drifted toward him like a moth to a flame.
“Good evening,” he said when he finally reached Kip. The suit fit him like a dream: dark blue and slim cut everywhere. You could barely tell it had once been tailored to Scott’s body—had, in fact, been the tux Scott was wearing the first night he and Kip spent together. His hair was parted on the side, and he had a twinkle in his eye as he played along.
“Scott. Good to see you again. This is my friend, Elena Rygg. She works for Equinox. Elena, Scott Hunter...”
“No introduction necessary,” Elena said, extending her hand. “It’s exciting to meet you at last, Scott.”
“Elena,” Scott said, shaking her hand. “Wow. You are very pretty.”
Kip laughed.
