See Me (12 page)

“I mean, unless you think we’re at an unfair advantage because of our height,” I added.

He chuckled, clearly amused and further surprised. “Please don’t take offense, miss, but ‘tis not your height that worries me. I fear
ye
are the one at a disadvantage because yer…”

He waved his hands up and down at me.

Huh
? I’m what?

“A lass!” he sputtered.

What the crap? Okay, this gender thing was getting old. Cass planted both hands on her hips and gave me the stink eye as if to say, “Are you going to let him get away with that?”

I kept my face calm, while petting the hackles on my inner-feminist. She’d actually been a good sport about everything up until that moment. Now all I wanted was a chance to make him eat those words. Cassidy and I shared a conspiratorial smile.

“Where we come from girls play, too,” I told him. “Many of the girls are as good as the men.”

“Or better,” Cass added.

Keefe was plainly trying to hold back a condescending smile. A small crowd of sweaty players gathered around us.

“Just for fun, give us a chance. Please,” I begged. “We promise not to be upset by the outcome. We can be on different teams to make it fair. You just have to make us one promise.”

“Oh, yeah?” Keefe asked, setting his hands on his hips. “And wha’s that?”

“Not to go easy on us because we’re girls.” I grinned and the whole group of little guys cracked up laughing. Keefe grabbed his waist, apparently getting a stitch in his side.

“Alright, then, misses. If ye insist.”

Cassidy and I gave each other a high five, and took our shoes off since everyone else was playing barefoot. I was sure Keefe was only letting us play because he didn’t want to offend Brogan’s guests and McKale’s betrothed, but the reason didn’t matter to me. I simply wanted to stretch my muscles and play something I knew I could win.

We took our places, opposing teams facing each other. One of the guys on the sideline whistled and we were off. The players ran slower than me because of their shorter legs, but they were a very rough and physical group, grabbing and pushing. There was no ref throwing penalty flags out here, that’s for sure.

It didn’t take long to figure out that my team wasn’t going to pass the ball my direction, even though I was open. Nobody bothered covering me. Cassidy stood on the other end of the playing field and lifted her arms in frustration, also not being allowed to play. We were going to have to take this game into our own hands.

Cassidy’s team had a strong offensive scorer named Mick who could get through our defenders too easily. No problem. I could do offense or defense. I hung back near the goal since we had no goalies, and the next time Mick broke through our defense, I was there.

I watched his feet dribble for a second to figure out his pattern, and then I ghosted in and stole it away.

“Hey, now!” I heard him shout, and people watching from the sidelines laughed. I turned back to Mick.

“You want it back?” I taunted with a grin. “Come get it.”

He came at me and I feinted to the left, dribbling around him on the right. I took off amid cheers, making my way through the other team with too much ease. They wouldn’t get physical with me like they would with one another. Instead of shooting I passed it to my teammate who ran parallel to me on the other side of the field. It was a perfect set-up, and he kicked a clean shot into the goal.

It might be cliché to say, “the crowd went wild,” but they did. Especially the women. They acted like they’d never been so entertained. I jogged to the middle of the field where the players were converging.

“You guys let me through too easily,” I scolded the other team. “Just treat me like you treat each other. You’re not gonna hurt me. I’m a big girl.”

Some smiled and chuckled, but a few still looked uneasy. Cassidy gave me an overdramatized wink that made me snort.

Her team started this time, and low and behold, somebody actually passed it to her. She and I went head-to-head all the time at home, and I could almost always take her, but she was fiercer when she had an audience. The fact that there were no rules and we were both competitive did not bode well. We became locked in a battle for the ball, which included scratching, elbowing, and cussing on Cassidy’s part. There would be cuts on our shins from each other’s toenails, and major bruising. At one point I had the ball and when I turned to dribble away she tripped me, and then we were at it again. The crowd was clapping in sync and chanting, “Ma-son Girls! Ma-son Girls!”

Distracted momentarily by the chant, Cassidy’s attention wavered and I tugged the ball from between her feet with my heel. I passed it to one of my teammates who shot a beautiful long-distance goal. After throwing my arms up and cheering, I collapsed in a heap on the ground with Cass next to me, both of us laughing.

“You need to cut your toenails!” I complained.

“You’re one to talk, bigfoot!” We slapped at each other for another few seconds before it was time to get up and reconvene with our teammates.

After another few exhausting rounds, my team won. Everyone had picked up on my and Cassidy’s high-fiving; they were happening everywhere I turned, including among the spectators. Mom and Dad were
wooting
on the sideline.

I found McKale watching from the end of a table where he leaned back with a wooden cup in his hand. He was just about the only person not standing. He watched me with an expression I couldn’t discern, but I wanted to figure out. Once I zoned in on him, everything else faded and my feet brought me to his side. I sat down, keeping a little distance between us in case I stank. He sipped his drink.

“Water,” he said. “Ye thirsty?” I smiled at how he pronounced it as “tirsty.” I liked that he was offering to share a cup.

“Please,” I said. He handed me the cup and I sipped, trying not to drink all of it.

“Go on then, finish it,” he told me.

“Thanks.” I drank it and set the cup down.

He opened his mouth to speak again just as a hot sizzle of magic blasted us from the nearby long grasses. A collective gasp rose up, followed by silence while we all stared at the field. All the water I’d just drank threatened to come back up. McKale had gone still and pale as he eyed the air with apparent fascination and dread.

A full minute passed and the portal didn’t open. Two of the little men from the game ran out into the field to check it over. Nobody moved or spoke until the guys shook their heads and shrugged, coming back to the clearing.

“What was that?” I whispered.

McKale turned back around, stiff. “It happens sometimes. False alarms. Perhaps the Fae guard of the realm got too close to the portal.”

“Oh,” I breathed. My heart rate was still too fast.

We sat in awkward silence and I wondered if he was thinking of Khalistah like I was. Hoping she’d never return even though she’d been so “nice” to him growing up. McKale, more relaxed now, pointed to where we’d played the game and said, “Ye’re good.”

My nerves finally began to settle as I trusted that nobody was coming out of that portal. “Thanks. I played a similar game at home. Do you ever play?”

“On occasion. With the Clour lads.”

Ah. Maybe Cassidy had been right with her “reindeer games” analogy.

“We should play sometime. You, the Clour, Cass, and me. It’d be fun.”

A sudden glint lit up in his eyes. “Aye. If yer up for it. Tho’ the lads are rough.”

“You’d be surprised what we can handle,” I said.

He didn’t say anything for a minute, and I wondered if he’d been turned off watching his future mate fight for the ball like a boy. I hoped not, because I wasn’t willing to change that particular part of myself.

“This evening,” he stated.

I must have looked confused, because he clarified.

“After supper, if ye’d still like to play we can go to Clour land.” His voice was questioning and hesitant. Nervous.

“Sure.” I tried tone down my overly-eager grin. “That’d be great.”

Cassidy would be beyond thrilled.

McKale peered down at his feet and smiled to himself.

CASSIDY HAD BROUGHT HER
pink soccer ball from home. She tossed it from one hand to the other as McKale led us through the shallow part of the stream and into the patch of trees on the other side. Cass sent me an excited glance. We were entering Clour land.

As soon as we cleared the trees I could hear them. We walked into an open glade that slanted downward at the edge. A rundown cottage was barely visible through the trees below. Then I saw them—all twelve of them—at the bottom of the hill, on their knees watching something in the grass and cheering.

“Hopper racing,” McKale said.

As we got closer I could make out the barrier of rocks lining the “racetracks” and a dozen frogs hopping every which way inside. Rock reached in to nudge his frog and one of the other guys bopped the back of his head.

“Hands off, ya cheatin’ bugger!”

Rock grimaced at his dormant green racer and mumbled, “Bollocks.” His frown turned to a giant smile when he looked up and saw the three of us standing there.

He threw his hands out. “’Ey!”

That quickly, the frogs were forgotten and we were surrounded by the curious Clour. Eight of them were full sized and four were little men. None of them were bearded, but half of them did have facial hair of some sort, ranging from all-around scruff to hair along the jawline like McKale, only not as well groomed. They were grimy and their clothes were threadbare, but they were undoubtedly cute guys. Just a little… untamed. And thin.

They pushed McKale out of the way to get a closer look at Cassidy and me. Rock threw his arm around Cass’s shoulder as if claiming her. The playful smile she gave him showed she didn’t mind. His claim didn’t stop the boys, though. They were brazen in their introductions, shoving one another to move forward and take our hands, touching our arms.

“All right,” McKale said, forcing his way back to my side. “Let the lasses breathe, then.”

A guy with roughly chopped brunette hair leaned close to my face, his mouth near mine, and sniffed me. I had to lean away to avoid an accidental kiss. I didn’t feel threatened, only amused, but the attention was kind of overwhelming. They had no physical boundaries.

Others took the brunette’s lead, reaching their faces toward Cassidy and me and breathing deeply. A little guy pressed his nose against Cass’s hip and smelled her shorts, making her laugh. Then his hand ran down the curve of her bottom and Cass jumped, saying, “Hey now!” He ran off, getting his hair rumpled by the other Clour who seemed proud of his boldness.

A dark haired guy came up behind me and sniffed my hair, his nose tickling my neck. “She smells so bleedin’ good.”

McKale gave him a shove. “‘Specially compared to you lot, aye?”

They laughed, but I noted the way McKale sidled right up next to me, his arm heating mine.

“Will you introduce us?” I asked him.

He gave a nod and pointed to the brunette guy who’d been in my face. “This ‘ere is Ardan. The bouncy twins there are Carrig and Connall.” He pointed to two blonds with hair as curly as Rock and bright blue eyes. They waved in sync. “The four wees are Davin, Fancy Francis, Tyke, and Jax.” The little guys all grinned and nodded, different shades of brown hair flopping. “This here’s Blackie.” Blackie was the tallest of them, the same height as McKale, with olive skin and black hair that reached his shoulders. He’d been the one to sniff my neck. With some meat on his bones and a brush through his hair, he was good looking enough to be major trouble.

Next McKale pointed at two redheads with freckled faces. “These are Finbar and Fergus, the carrot cousins.” Their hair was much more orange than McKale’s. “And the last Clour is Dashy. The quickest of the lot.”

Dashy, standing at about five eight with sandy, strawberry blond hair, moved forward like a bolt of energy and grabbed both my hands in his before bringing them to his mouth for a kiss. “Please to meet ya.” Then he moved to Cass and did the same.

“This is Robyn,” McKale said, angling toward me. “And her sister, Cassidy.”

“Ah!” said one of the blond twins, I think Carrig. “McKale’s future shag mate! Here here!”

Holy
…

Carrig punched the sky and the other boys did the same, shouting, “Here, here!”

Cassidy chortled and covered her mouth while my face turned red hot. Their laughter was lewd and devoid of regret.

McKale shook his head and scratched his cheek. “Do ya have to be a pack o’ sods? The girls came to play a game o’ ball wit’ ya.”

“Ooh! Is that the ball, then?” asked Dashy. “Tis a strange ball indeed.” They all leaned close, vying for position to get a good look at Cass’s pink soccer ball. She held it out for their inspection.

I couldn’t help but like them, even though they were what Mom would call “scoundrels and rascals.” And I felt bad that they didn’t have any kind of guidance, or the presence of females to keep their undomesticated natures in check. Being with them made the world feel off kilter and I wanted to balance it back.

Rock snatched the ball from Cass’s hands and dribbled away, grinning over his shoulder when Cassidy yelled, “Hey!” and chased him.