The Not - Outcast

He’d been there yesterday.

He also knew what else went down, and I hadn’t been in the mood to talk about her.

He’d get a fucking kick out of it, but fuck it. “How was the thing yesterday?”

Hendrix had been stretching his arm over his chest, and I didn’t miss the quick, shit-eating grin before he looked over. “Curious, eh?”

“Shut up.” I scowled. “Just tell me how it was.”

“How it was or how she was?” He switched arms. “Frank texted. She’s not there today.”

I was supposed to be there today.

Maybe I should walk? She didn’t show the day I was supposed to. She ran from my place, then this? The girl was trying to tell me something, and yeah…fucking battery acid was what I was eating right now.

“What’s that look about?”

“What?”

Hendrix lifted his chin toward me. “You look like you saw your grandma’s saggy tits just now. You gone on this girl or something?”

Was I? I thought I was.

I wanted to fuck her again. I knew that much.

I rolled a shoulder. “Not sure.”

His grin was too knowing, but he said, “She’s cool if you are. Whole place was cool. Their chef had lots of personality, but he doted on her. He’s probably fifty, and his wife showed up. She kept snarking on him, had all of us laughing so much we didn’t notice the time was done.”

“What about the suit?”

“Nah. He’s nothing. Fanboy, most likely. He kept trying to ask your girl questions, and she kept dodging him. That was fun to watch, too.” He got serious. “I kinda wanted to go again. I might do my own thing after this. You didn’t go at all?”

I shook my head. “They wanted me in here today.”

He nodded, rubbing over his jaw before yawning and leaning back to start raising his leg up. “Makes sense. You got worked over the last game. You good for tonight?”

I flashed him a look.

And he grinned. “That’s what I figure. These guys are aggressive.”

I grunted, knowing that, too. But they didn’t have the speedster the last team did. I’d be able to keep to only my line. “We’ll get ’em.”

“I know.”

But his grin wasn’t cocky, because no matter what, all these teams were good. All had solid guys on them, and it seemed they just kept getting sharper and sharper each season.

“We’re gonna kick their ass tonight.”

He nodded back, and I slid off my table to go and soak.13CheyenneCut: You still coming tonight?

My phone buzzed and I tried to quench the entire heart-jump in my chest. It didn’t work. I reached for my phone on the coffee table next to me.

Melanie was sitting across from me, lounging back on one of Sasha’s couches. Her leg was hanging over the side and she raised her head up, frowning at me, or more specifically frowning at my reaction. A little overkill here, but yeah. I’d been waiting, my stomach in knots the whole day, and when I swiped over and read his text, my tongue tangled around itself. I had one doozy of a knot.

“Who the fuck is texting you to get that reaction?”

I flushed and slid down in my own couch, trying to hide my head behind a pillow.

She was off her couch in a second, and my pillow was ripped from me. Her mouth was hanging open as she took me in, me holding my phone, me almost dropping my phone because I was shaking, before she retreated back to her couch. She felt behind her, not looking, and lowered herself to safety. “W.T.F., Shy. W.T.F.”

Sasha came out of her bedroom, heading down the hallway. She paused at the opening to the living room and kitchen area, taking us both in. “Did I hear a phone go off? Was that mine?”

A squawk from me.

I didn’t like this.

I was all blushing, and nervous, and rattled. Me rattled wasn’t good. Ever.

But I focused back on responding because I knew Melanie would demand the 411 from Sasha, which she did when she pointed at me. “I’ve never seen Cheyenne act like this, ever. Who is this guy? He’s not just a one-nighter. There’s no way, and Cheyenne doesn’t do one-nighters, so there’s more to this story.”

I looked up, feeling Sasha’s eyes on me, and I read the unspoken question.

I nodded.

She sighed, coming over to perch on my couch’s arm. “Put it simply, he was a daydream since before I knew her. Not at all her reality—” She looked at me because she knew I’d been about to protest. “—he wasn’t. You didn’t know him. You never talked to him. You were in a shitty situation, and he was an idea you clung onto to get you through it. He didn’t even know you until,” I closed my mouth and she focused back on Melanie. “Friday night. Our hockey stud got one good look at Cheyenne, and you know what happened. He felt the sex sparks from across the room, and the hockey beast came out claiming and swinging. He wants in her pants again, bad.”