Page 34 of Yours, For Now

But Gabe had heard me shout and found me in the crowd, a frown clearing into a big smile. I grinned back at him and waved. A feeling a lot like appreciation sprouted in my gut, his smile sparkling in my chest like light through a prism.

"At least you got some points, huh?" Lucía wiggled her eyebrows. "Come now. I'll introduce you to the other WAGs."

"WAGs?" I asked as I followed her down the bleachers.

"Wives and girlfriends. As one of the league founders' girlfriends, you're one of us now."

She led me to a group of femme folk standing next to the waist-high fence delineating the playing fields. They all chatted with each other while stealing glances at the game, and made room for Lucía and I when we approached. For several seconds, they seemed to put all of their attention on us.

"Hi everyone. This is my cousin Catalina, but we call her Lina. She's Gabriel Sotomayor's girlfriend and it's her first time attending a game. Lina, these lovely people are Jenny, Marta, Essie, and Paola." She named each of them in order around us.

"I heard you yell at him a few minutes ago." Paola smiled. "That was an awesome cheer!"

I laughed. "It's my first time doing anything like it. I have no idea what I'm supposed to say!"

"You'll get the hang of it," Jenny added. "I personally just whistle. Mario, my husband— he knows when it's me."

"That's sweet." I grinned. "Thanks for the WAG intel."

They chuckled; three of them seemed quite friendly, except for Essie, who gazed at me with a bit more serious look.

"So do you all come here to support your partners often?" I asked as I glanced at Essie. A tingle of interest prickled in my solar plexus; she was attractive in that way that gave you a bit of a punch, rather than placid admiration.

Essie smirked. "I do. That's my husband, Óscar." She pointed at a guy on the opposing team to Gabe's. "Do you think we'll see you around, too?"

"My thing with Gabe is too new to know for sure." I grinned. "But I'll try."

"I don't know if you knew, but Gabe is my ex." The look on Essie's face held loads of irony and even some playfulness. "He's married to his job, so the league might be the best place to actually see him. If you want to accept advice from someone who used to have skin in the game, that is."

I raised an eyebrow. The tingles disappeared, eclipsed out of my consciousness by the scheming at play. Her tone was relatively neutral with a hint of pleasantry, but I didn't buy it.

"Oh, c'mon, Essie. Don't be like that," Paola said.

Lucía and I exchanged a look.

Essie lifted two hands in defense. "No harm meant, I'm sorry if I made it awkward. You would have learned about it at some point. Everyone knows! Don't worry— I am happily married now with someone who actually wanted to settle down. But maybe Gabe's changed, or maybe you're not looking for something serious. I shouldn't have assumed."

Even though flames licked the insides of my belly, I kept my face impassive. She may have wanted to create trouble, or maybe she was incredibly bad at reading social cues, but I wouldn't fall into the trap.

I shrugged. "It's fine. I'm married to my job, too, but we're having a wonderful time and seeing if it works."

"I'm sorry, I do apologize," Essie said. "I think I'm just shocked. He's known for staying single, you know?"

"Well, he's not single right now." I put my arm around Lucía's, and Marta seemed about to speak, but the referee whistled the end of the game.

"Oh— well, I hope to see you again." Marta smiled at me. "It's nice to see new faces."

Paola and Jenny grinned as well, before the four of them left. Essie's smile hadn't been as wide, but she hadn't seemed fully antagonistic, either.

"Wow, ¿qué se cree?" Lucía said to my side. "The gall. I mean, it's true you would have heard about it soon enough— I planned to ask you if you knew after, but I hadn't realized she was in the group."

"Maybe she's still upset about it"

"It's possible. Just don't let her attitude ruin it for you, okay? Even Essie's nice most of the time. She'll get used to the idea at some point. For now, let's go find our guys. I have an idea…"

Lucía went off in search of Rodrigo; I kept my distance from Essie but maintained a general sense of her location, tracking that she was nearby.

I wandered among Gabe's team members, clustered as they collected their things and mingled with partners and friends. I caught Gabe with his back to me, but before I reached him, he turned and saw me approaching.