Well Matched (Well Met #3)(66)

“Yep.” Lulu nudged my shoulder with hers. “And when they told me they were going to come up, I insisted on coming with. I had to see this whole kilt thing for myself. Between you and me, kilts aren’t really my thing, but . . .” She looked across the field at her cousin with a grin. “You’re right. I bet he’s very popular here.”

“Oh, he is,” I said before I could think about it. Should I sound jealous? What the hell was girlfriend protocol for that kind of conversation? I decided that as Mitch’s girlfriend I would be confident. Willing to share him with the masses. Because honestly, would anyone be able to stop Mitch from being Mitch?

“I don’t understand what we’re watching.” Grandpa Malone shook his head. “What exactly is happening here?” He directed the question to me, which was a terrible idea. Because my answer was “human chess match” with absolutely no clarification.

But thank God for Stacey—she knew this Faire like the back of her hand. “In human chess, that whole field is the board—see the squares? And the people are the pieces.” She pointed. “See, pawns in front, the rest of the pieces in the back. They get directed on where to move, and when a piece takes another piece, it’s a whole fight. Like with swords.”

“Ah. Okay.” He shifted on the bench, and I frowned.

“Are you all right? I know these benches aren’t the most comfortable.” I didn’t like his grandparents sitting out here in the summer sun. Especially since it was on my account that they were here in the first place. Mitch wasn’t going to thank me if his grandparents keeled over while they were here.

But he waved me off. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”

Meanwhile, Stacey was still explaining the whole chess match deal to Grandma Malone and Lulu. “Mitch is on the white side, so he’s the white knight.”

“Of course he is,” Lulu murmured, and I snickered in response. She caught my eye and her smile was wide like Mitch’s—there was that Malone DNA. I liked her. Part of me wished I could confess everything to her. She might understand. But no. Mitch had asked me to do this whole girlfriend thing in the first place to make him look good. Telling his family it was an elaborate lie would be the exact opposite.

So instead Stacey and I sat with Mitch’s family as they watched him go through the steps of the chess match. It didn’t take long for me to see that it looked different than the week before. They’d gone back to the original choreography for this one, where he and Simon faced off as the final battle of the show. That must have been what he’d gone to talk to Simon about. This fight was more intricate, and more importantly Mitch won this one. Of course he wanted to show off for his grandparents.

This was the same choreography I’d seen on his phone, more than once, but it was another thing entirely to see it in person. Mitch’s enormous sword clashed with Simon’s more slender pirate’s rapier. Before long they’d disarmed each other and had resorted to hand-to-hand fighting. Then Simon flipped Mitch over his shoulder, and that kilt flying was an amazing thing to behold, even with the shorts underneath. When Mitch landed on his feet, dropping into a crouch before spinning back to Simon again, Grandma Malone clapped in delight, and her pure enjoyment did something to me. A sweet spark inside my chest that both filled me with happiness and made my heart ache. His family really did love him. How could he think otherwise?

The fight ended with Simon on his knees in the grass while Mitch held a dagger to his throat. Grandpa Malone let out a piercing whistle as he joined the rest of the crowd in applause.

“Wait a second.” Lulu turned to me, eyes narrowed. “Where did he get the knife from?”

“You don’t want to know,” I deadpanned. Grandma Malone snorted.

“His boot,” Stacey said, whacking me on the shoulder with a giggle. “That cousin of yours is very crafty.”

“Huh,” she said. “I missed that part.” She clapped harder, yelling, “Do it again!”

Mitch had just helped Simon up from the ground, both men breaking character for a moment, and he turned at the sound of his cousin’s voice. The force of his smile was blinding, and I lost my breath. He was breathing hard, chest heaving with exertion from performing in the sun, and sweat glistened on his golden skin. I tried hard to not look. It wasn’t going well.

The show ended shortly after that, and Mitch scooped his sword from the ground before joining us. “Grrrandparents!” His voice was booming and very Scottish, and Lulu practically doubled over in laughter at the sound of it.

Grandma Malone got to her feet, grinning at Mitch’s arrival. “Mitch, that was—” Before she could finish her sentence he’d scooped her up, lifting her off the ground in an exuberant yet careful hug, making her squeal. “What are you . . . put me down!” But she was giggling like a little girl when he set her back on her feet. She poked him in the chest, pretending to scold him. “You are all sweaty.”

Stacey tsked at him while trying not to laugh herself. “Hauling your grandmother around like a sack of potatoes, what is wrong with you?”

“Yeah,” Lulu said around a wide smile. “Rude.”

“Ach, I’m sure you’re right.” He wasn’t letting up with the accent. “Respect me elders and all that.” But when Lulu went in for a hug he gave her the same treatment, this time spinning her around a couple times. He was showing off. I loved it.