Chapter Twenty-Six
Drew's eyes widened as she followed Heath into the lobby of the Hyatt-Regency Hotel in downtown Buffalo.
Already there were crowds of people gathered, holding signs, cameras, pictures. Heath had pointed out a couple of the other fighters he'd recognized to her and they were signing autographs for enthusiastic MMA fans. Heath ignored their calls to him and shouldering both her large duffel and his own, he walked straight to the check-in counter.
The fans were a mixture of all kinds of people; all races, genders, and ages. There were middle-aged men wearing tournament T-shirts, teenage boys, entire families.
There were also women. Lots and lots of women.
They weren't shy, either; much like the women at the gym, they were painted and dressed in tight, revealing clothing. They were beautiful, they were gilded and fake, and they were, apparently, horny. They called the names of the other fighters they recognized. They called Heath's name.
They looked at Drew like she was gum on the bottom of their shoes.
She felt, saw, and heard their laughter, their pointing, their whispers. Their eyes glided from her purposely raggedy punk T-shirt to her jeans to her sneakers. They towered over her in their heels and their fashion-forward club-wear.
"Is that his chick?"
"She's a mess. I hope not."
"Maybe just his fuck-buddy for the weekend."
Drew heard this exchange among a few of the mavens standing nearby and stopped in her tracks, glowering openly at them. They simply stared back, one of them looking at her innocently, one of them ignoring her completely to call out to Heath again and one of them laughing at her.
"Drew," Heath called over his shoulder. Drew turned and joined him at the counter. He looked down at her. "Ignore them," he instructed her quietly. "Okay?"
"Yeah, whatever," she mumbled, glaring over her shoulder again.
"Mr. Riley, I have one suite and one deluxe room," the desk clerk was saying. "The reservations were arranged by Mr. Carter Steele—I trust that your accommodations will be satisfactory for you."
"How close are the rooms?" Heath asked.
"I have both the suite and the deluxe room on the sixth floor, and they are three rooms apart." The clerk slid them their keys and smiled. "I can have someone bring your bags to your room, if you'd like to go refresh yourselves at the bar."
"No, we've got it, thanks," Heath replied. He took the keys and shouldered the bags again and headed for the elevator bank. Drew trailed behind, beside herself at the amount of fans that were in the lobby.
When they were in the elevator she turned to him. "Aren't you gonna sign autographs and stuff?" she asked. "You don't want to get a rep for being stuck up. A lot of them are here to see you."
"I don't mind signing stuff for kids and the guys and families," he said, "but I don't like taking pictures with groupies. I wouldn't put you through that. They tend to get really…handsy."
"Oh," Drew replied, frowning again.
He laughed at her and leaned down to kiss her cheek. "Don't worry."
"About what?" Drew demanded. "I'm fine."
Heath smirked. "Okay."
He brought her bag into her room after she unlocked it and stepped inside. She was pleased; it was a nice room, spacious, trendy. The bed looked beyond comfortable and she had plenty of room. Heath placed her duffel on her bed and glanced at his watch.
"I have to be at the Niagara Center in half an hour," he replied. "It's not too far. Do you want to come with me or stay here? It can get kinda long. I have to officially check in, take some pictures. It should go faster since I'm not doing interviews but Carter is gonna handle that for me. By the time we're done John and Connor and Lana should be here. I think they wanted to go to dinner or something tonight. They said they'd be here about five or so but that they'd let me know for sure later."
"That's fine," she replied. "Is your dad staying with you?"
"Yeah," he replied. "I'll sleep on the couch."
"I'll stay here," Drew said. "I didn't get a ton of sleep last night, and I'd like to wash the car ride off anyway. And if you let everybody know I'm here, I can meet them in the lobby and give your dad the key to your room. We'll just hang out here in the meantime until you get back."
"You sure?" he asked. "I don't want to leave you alone. You'll get bored."
"I'll be in my room," she reassured him. "I'll be fine."
"All right," he said, then pulled her against his body to kiss her goodbye. As always her skin jumped at his touch, and the kiss went on longer than a normal goodbye would have. Finally she pushed at his chest gently, smiling up into his face.