The Not-Outcast(101)

Cut was frowning at me as he stood. He reached for my hand, helping me up, too. “I’m getting that the three of you are a package deal, but please tell me you don’t have a group name.”

My smile was wide and dazzling, because he had no idea.

He saw my smile, and groaned. “God. What is it?”

“We’re the Tomcats.”

His eyes widened. “Jesus. It’s perfect.”

Then, Sasha yelled, “Let’s fucking go!”

“Can you stop using my word? You know that’s my word.”

“Fuck.”

“Sash.”

“Vamonos!”

That was perfect for Sasha.





*



Koala Brother: You’re famous.

Koala Sister: No, you are.

Koala Brother: I’m serious this time. You are. My friends all told me, and Monica wants to get back together.

Koala Sister: Not The Monica

Koala Brother: So The Monica

Koala Sister: Dude

Koala Brother: I can see we’re staying in line with our last exchanges.

Koala Sister: Zero seriousness here, except when I tell you that your sister LOVES YOU SO MUCH!

Koala Brother: Right. Dude. No Monica.

Koala Sister: No Monica.





53





Cut





They had valet at the front door to usher people from their cars into the building.

“Hmm. Nope. Nuh-huh.” Cheyenne shook her head, pointing to the alley that led to their back parking lot. “No way am I walking in through the front door like this.”

I was refraining from grinning because it turns out that Cheyenne wasn’t sensitive about being hot. She stood out and she was okay standing out. She was wearing a cream-colored silky sort of dress. It flowed over her body like it was supposed to be taken off.

I groaned the instant I saw it, and both her girls started snickering at me.

I’d be fighting a hard-on the entire fucking night, but it was worth it. Driving all three girls to the event was a show by itself. One, they made no sense. At all. Sasha would say one word, and the other two knew instantly what she meant. Two, they laughed. A lot. And they snorted. And they made dirty jokes more than I heard in any locker room. And three, I now knew I never had to worry about Cheyenne when I was traveling for away games.

These other two took care of her, but it was reciprocated. They took care of each other. I never knew females could be like that, but they were all a trip when they were working at an energy level of ten.

Cheyenne leaned over, kissed me, and said, “I’m going in with the girls. I need them for the entrance.”

The doors were flung open, and each got out as if they were marching toward their own movie premiere, through the back door.

Hendrix was coming out to meet me just as I was opening the back door. His smirk was deep. “Those girls are something else. Holy shit.” His shoulders were shaking. “They walked in, and the crowd parted. It was like Dead Sea shit. That Dean guy has no idea what to do.”

I grunted. “You have no idea. Try being in the same apartment with them when they’re all three getting ready together.”

He laughed. “I would buy tickets for that.”

“Next time, because it’s going to happen.”

The other guys came over, and we all exchanged greetings.

Going to these events was part of the job, so it wasn’t anything special, but I saw that each one went over to greet Cheyenne.

Hendrix noticed me noticing and lifted up his drink. “That article got around already. There’s a group chat.”

Of course, there was a group chat.

I shared a look with him. “Are they being respectable in there?”

“No one wants to piss you off.”

“Good.”

The coaches came over.

The team’s publicist was next, and she was gushing about Cheyenne. “I have to meet her. Did you ask her about representation? And she’s stunning, and she works here and she—” The publicist wanted to meet Cheyenne, so I took her over to introduce her.

Cheyenne wasn’t quite ready for the publicist, but Melanie stepped in.

She took her extended hand, shook it, and drew her away from the group.

Then, Margo came over, and it was the same.

Cheyenne seemed surprised that the team’s owner had read the article already, but that meant I needed to educate Cheyenne about Margo. Margo knew everything. Then the other people attending the party came over to meet me.

I noticed Cheyenne moving toward Boomer, Reba, and Sasha remained at her side. She was covered.

The next hour blended together. Hendrix took my side, which was normal at these events. We rode them out together. The Dean guy came over.

He was frowning at me. “I had no idea you were dating our Cheyenne.”

I really didn’t like this guy.

“Our? She’s my Cheyenne.”

“Yeah.” Hendrix interjected, smirking, “She’s Cut’s Cheyenne. Get it through your head.”

He gave me a look the same time the Dean guy decided he was okay with it.

“That’s great! Are you serious? How long have you been seeing each other? What are your plans for—”