Cocky Notes - Leesa Bow Page 0,78

he tings a knife against his beer glass to gain everyone’s attention. “Firstly, I want to thank you all for coming to have farewell drinks with Macy. I’m sorry I’m taking her from you…” he nods to my father, “… but I promise it’s not forever. I’ve promised her father I’ll bring her home when we are married.”

I gape at him and hold up a bare ring finger.

“Put a ring on it,” Hunter shouts, and Reef raises his glass in response.

“Something I won’t be doing in front of an audience, especially you bastards, no offence. Mr Reynolds… you’ll be the first to know.” Reef smiles at my dad, lowers his gaze, and dips his chin. He peers up at me with pink cheeks. God, I love this man. “I’m excited to start a new phase of my life in Melbourne with Macy…” he holds my gaze mid-sentence, “… but before we leave, I have a surprise. Macy, can you come here?”

This is not like Reef. I make my way to his side. “What are you doing?” I whisper.

Reef wraps his strong arm around my waist and pulls me closer to his side, kisses the top of my head. “I asked Macy to finish a week earlier than planned because I’d already booked our flights to Paris. So, I want to thank Oliver for approving her leave.”

Everyone has a chuckle, but my mouth is still open, comprehending.

“Paris?” I murmur.

His hand reassuringly squeezes my side. He turns away from our small audience and looks down right into my eyes as though we’re the only ones in the room. “With your father and Bernadette. We’re all flying business class… it’s better for your dad,” he says in a lowered voice.

I turn to Dad, and he smiles warmly and nods. Tears welling, I turn back to Reef. “You’re amazing and so damn secretive.” I poke his stomach—a hard wall of muscle.

Reef pulls me into his arms and kisses me hard, not caring about the cheering around us.

“Why Paris?” I ask when we come up for air.

“The city of love? Thought it was an obvious choice.”

Seventeen Months Later

We pass each other in the ladies’ room.

I don’t look her way, and she barely gives a sideways glance.

I expected nothing more, and I’m relieved not to have to speak to her.

Part of me is sad my own mother has chosen this path, and we’ll never be friends.

I don’t have time to dwell for the walls echo with cheers and screams of excitement. Electricity buzzes in the stands above, and I rush to get back to my seat. The line to the restroom was long and it stole valuable time from Reef’s game.

A grand final.

A dream come true.

They’ll win as the game is almost over, and his team is up by ten goals.

Regardless, I want to enjoy every minute and share in his dream.

Dad sits beside me, along with his wife, Bernadette. They were married in Paris, and I’ve never seen Dad happier. Reef had booked flights every six weeks for them to watch him play. Chance managed tickets to the occasional soccer game for him, so he is living a sports fan’s dream.

I take my seat between Dad and Chance. Georgia sits on the other side of Chance.

“What took you?” Chance asks.

“A bloody long queue.”

Georgia leans forward and mouths, “Are you okay?”

I nod, mouthing back, “I’ll tell you later.”

She frowns at me before settling into her seat.

“He kicked another goal,” Dad quips.

I smile, pride bubbling up inside me. “Is that four?”

“Yep.” Chance grins. “And you sat me next to woo-hoo girl.” I laugh because Georgia is very vocal at Reef’s games. “He is going to be celebrating hard tonight.”

“A pity you’re leaving in the morning.”

“Yeah. If I thought they had it in the bag, I’d have made my flight a week later.”

Chance has finished his soccer contract. Unfortunately, he didn’t get to play another game, and still, he’ll continue to be paid through posters and merchandise because he became a legend of sorts. Famous for his beautiful face and that arse. His father sadly died twelve months ago. His mother and Adele have moved to the US. He’s going to visit them and contemplate moving there as well, especially since the public split from Piper.

“He’ll miss you. We both will,” I tell Chance.

“Yeah, well, in a few years, you two will be lost on a remote island if Reef gets his way.”

I wait for the ball to go out of bounds before responding. “Not lost. He’s planned