I nodded despite the rush of confusion in my head.
“Great. If Ryan asks, I didn’t abandon you. I made sure you were good and not left by yourself and shit?”
I quirked my brow. “Do I wanna know?”
Sutton’s grin was wide, and he swayed a little on his feet. “He made a few of us promise to have your back and make sure you’re not alone.” He patted my shoulder and bobbed his head. “Though since the guy’s barely taken his eyes off you, I can’t see what the fuss is about.” He squinted a little. I would have sworn just fifteen minutes ago he didn’t seem this drunk.
“No leaving and making him freak out,” he ended with, followed by a belch that had him laughing as he walked away.
I stared after him, my brain struggling to process everything Sutton had shared. I didn’t have time to think before a new body appeared at my side. I angled to take a look, expecting it to be one of Ryan’s teammates who I recognized. My eyes widened in surprise, taking in a man unfamiliar to me.
His smile was wide but seemed natural, friendly even. He was a little shorter than me, maybe by an inch, and was likely in his late forties. What was distinctive about the guy above anything was how polished he seemed.
He didn’t look like he’d been knocking them back and seemed a little too dressy for this place. The bar was far from a dump, too friendly and a little too well-kept for that. But it didn’t quite seem the place this bloke would hang out.
His voice lifted as he spoke over the last few chords of Tina’s “Nutbush City Limits,” a distinctive twang that was all-American, but beyond that, I had no idea what accent it was. “You’re Nate, right? Ryan’s friend from Australia?”
“Yeah, mate, and you are?” I angled my head a little closer to hear him as the volume on the small dance floor rose with laughter.
He reached out his hand, saying, “Micky, Ryan’s agent.”
Surprise had my brows shooting high. Ryan had said a thing or two over the last few months about his agent, which of course I’d ribbed him about. As, hello,agent! The dude had an agent, for crying out loud. It was still hard to think of Ryan in the big leagues, especially when I flicked my gaze in his direction and watched him line dancing with his thumbs in his belt loops.
The only things he’d shared really were that Micky was an okay bloke, a bit straight—in the not breaking the rules sense, though looking at the guy I expected the other way too—and he left Ryan to it, which was the way my friend liked it.
Micky being here was unexpected. Though what did I know? It was Ryan’s last game of the season, but I imagined he had other clients too.
“G’day.” I shook his hand and offered a friendly smile. Even if I couldn’t get a read on the man, he looked after Ryan and made sure he was paid well.
“How’s your visit?”
“Yeah, great. Crazy the last couple of days, but looking forward to heading out of LA and seeing where Ryan’s put down some roots.”
“That’s good. I’ll only need to steal him away for a couple of things when he heads to Minnesota. One’s taking place near the Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge. Make sure you come along to take it in. Whenever I head over, it’s a good spot to see.”
“Sounds good, thanks. I think that place is on my list.”
“Let me give you my card with my number on it in case you come unstuck while you’re here, okay.” A small card was passed over, thick and embossed.
“Cheers.” I took it off him and shoved it in my pocket.
“And here’s the man himself.” Micky’s attention shifted, the same friendly smile on his face. I followed his gaze, grinning when Ryan appeared.
Sweat covered Ryan’s forehead, and a wide grin stretched his face. In the few strides it took to reach us, his eyes were locked to mine.
I had no idea if Ryan knew what he did to me, the power in that one look, that smile of his. But if he did, he was an arsehole, because it made me wish for things I didn’t know were possible or not.
The worst thing, though, I expected I was too chicken to find out.
Bouncing brows joined his words. “Dead set legend, right?” A wide, bright smile followed, the genuine joy radiating from the man easy to bask in. The words took me back to another time, long before this day had arrived.
He’d done it, made it, set out to do everything he’d intended to.
Somehow, I kept my feet planted rather than leaning into him, trying to absorb some of the joy for myself.
“Definitely. You nailed it.”
He stopped less than a meter away from me and cast his attention to Micky. “G’day, Micky. If I’d known you were here, I would’ve dragged your ass up.”
