Outsider (4 page)

“You
will?” Toni blinked back tears and instantly found herself enveloped in a hug
from the badass dominatrix who made grown men tremble.

“Aggie’s
such a softie,” Jessica said, as she dabbed at her eyes with her soggy tissue.
“She was the same with me when I started stripping at Paradise Found.”

“I
heard that, kitten,” Aggie said sternly.

“She’s
soft with Jace too,” Rebekah said, with a crooked grin. “When she isn’t lashing
him with a whip.”

Toni
went white and tugged away from Aggie to meet her eyes. “You don’t really hit
him, do you?”

Aggie
pushed open the door of another shop. “Only if he begs nicely,” she said over her
shoulder.

Toni
had better luck covering her boobs at the plus-size store, but everything hung
loosely on her arms and billowed around her waist like shapeless tents.

“We’ll
fix it,” Aggie promised, standing behind Toni and tugging the back of a blue flowing
top tight against Toni’s slender waist.

“Maybe
a belt will help for now,” Myrna said, cocking her head.

“Please,
no,” Aggie said. “We’re not trying to make her look like a time traveler from
1985.”

“Ah,
the good ol’ days,” Myrna said with a sigh.

While
Aggie and Toni decided which tops would be best for altering, Reagan parked her
butt on a bench and dug out her phone. She sent a group text to Trey and Ethan.
It was more likely that Trey would answer—of the two he was much more dependent
on his phone—but she didn’t want Ethan to feel like an afterthought.

I
think we finally found a solution to Toni’s wardrobe situation. What are you
guys up to?

When
neither man responded right away, she checked her email. A bunch of forwarded
fan mail made her smile. Exodus End’s manager had ordered his assistant to go
through all the email on Reagan’s professional account and forward only complimentary
messages to her personal account. It probably gave her a skewed perception
about how many of Exodus End’s fans liked what she was doing. She couldn’t help
but wonder how much hate mail she received but never got to read.

Her
phone dinged as a text came in from Trey. It simply said
3
.

3
what?
she texted
back.

3
orgasms each since you left. Thanks for the lube. The cherry was yummy.

She
snorted and sent another text.
Save some for me.

Too
late. We used it all.

All?
Surely he was joking. She should have
stayed in bed that morning. Or sent Toni out with Aggie. The pair were doing
fine without her assistance. But Toni barely knew the other women, so it
wouldn’t have been right to dump her. Ah well, no matter what Trey claimed,
Reagan knew both men would be willing to please her when she saw them later.

I’ll
stop by the store and get some more. This time don’t use it all before I get
home.

I’m
just messing with you. We haven’t had sex since you left. We’re hanging out
with the guys in Sed’s room. Why does the lead singer always get the best room?

When
she returned to the hotel, Reagan would have to check to see if Max got
superior accommodations. She had no idea if his room was better than hers.

She
grinned as she thumbed in her next message.
They need extra space for their
enormous egos.

LOL!
Good call. You’d better get back to pretending you’re a real girl now.

She
laughed softly. He knew her too well. Shopping so wasn’t her thing. She’d much
rather be hanging with the guys.

You
know I’m a real girl,
she
texted.
You’ve seen the proof.

Tasted
it too.

Reagan
glanced up when several sets of feet stopped in front of her. Her party had
collected themselves back into a group and was ready to leave.

Love
you both. <3 Back to girling.

She
shoved her phone into her pocket and followed the others out of the store.

She
wasn’t terrible at girling. She chatted while they all got their nails done.
And had a diet Coke instead of a beer with her lunch. She drew the line at
salad, however. She refused to join that trend. When it was her turn, she
ordered steak.

“I
changed my mind,” Rebekah said. “I’ll have steak too.”

“Oh
God, that sounds delicious,” Myrna said, her eyes rolling back as if she hadn’t
eaten anything but plain celery sticks for a month. “Change my salad to a
ribeye. With a loaded baked potato. And throw a veggie on there so I don’t feel
so guilty.”

“I
thought you were trying to keep Brian from noticing all the hot young women
throwing themselves at him,” Jessica said.

Myrna
snapped her menu closed. “A little splurge won’t hurt.”

“I
really want mac and cheese,” Jessica said. “Smothered in mayo.”

Reagan
screwed up her face in disgust and tried not to hurl. “You’re not really going
to make us watch you eat that, are you?”

“When
you get pregnant, you’ll see what it’s like to have these bizarre cravings,”
Jessica said.

“Guess
I’ll never know what it’s like, because there will be no kids in my future,”
Reagan said.

“Mine
either,” Rebekah said glumly.

“I
thought you were going to adopt,” Myrna said, reaching over to squeeze Rebekah’s
hand.

“Eventually,”
she said, “but I don’t think I’ll crave mayonnaise on everything while Eric and
I are signing the paperwork.”

Jessica
sighed. “I don’t want to make my friends uncomfortable,” she said to their
server.

“Too
late!” Reagan said.

“So
just give me a turkey club with extra extra mayo, a side of macaroni and
cheese, and an order of fries with—”

“Mayo!”
Reagan finished with her.

Jessica
slapped Reagan with her folded menu and shifted her gaze to the server, who had
to be more confused by the minute. Reagan saw a large tip in the overworked
waitress’s future.

“Mayo
and ketchup,” Jessica whispered to the server, who smiled in understanding.

“I’ll
add a steak to my order as well,” Aggie said. “Rare. Salad on the side.”

“Are
you changing your order too, miss?” the server asked Toni.

Toni
glanced from one of them to the next. When they’d all ordered the salad, she’d
had no problem following everyone else’s lead, but now that everyone had gone
with heartier fare, she didn’t seem to know how to respond. Reagan got the
feeling that she’d never been out with a group of female friends before and so
was trying desperately to fit in. Reagan wasn’t cruel enough to comment, but she
made a mental note to get the woman out with the girls more often. Even on the
bus, Toni was reclusive. She spent a lot of time with Logan, but not much time
with anyone else. But maybe that was because she and Logan were having so much
sex. Reagan thanked God that unlike the Sinners back bedroom, the lounge at the
back of the Exodus End bus was soundproof. If she tried, she could convince
herself that Toni and Logan were doing aerobics back there and that was what
was making them both appear so hot and sweaty whenever they ventured out into
the main cabin of the bus.

Toni
pushed her glasses up her nose with the back of her wrist. “Uh, I’ll have soup
with my salad, if that’s okay.”

“What
kind?” the server asked.

After
listening to the list of available soups, Toni settled on chicken noodle.

 “When’s
the baby due?” Toni asked Jessica once the server collected their menus and
left the table.

“Not
until February.” Jessica’s face went pink. “And I’m already showing.” She ran a
hand over her perfectly flat belly.

“You
are not,” Reagan said, shaking her head.

“My
pants are getting tight.”

“That’s
all the mayo you’ve been eating,” Reagan said.

Jessica
stuck her tongue out.

“And
the Rocky Road ice cream,” Myrna added.

Jessica
turned to direct her stuck-out tongue in Myrna’s direction before focusing her
attention on Toni, seated on her left. “Are you coming to the wedding with
Logan?”

Toni’s
eyes widened behind her thick-rimmed glasses. “Wedding?”

“Sed
and I are getting married in a couple of weeks. Didn’t Logan mention it?” When
Toni shook her head, Jessica rolled her eyes. “He probably forgot. You’re
invited to accompany him if you want to come.”

Toni
smiled brightly and touched Jessica’s arm with trembling fingertips. “Thanks.”

“So
are you and Logan getting serious?” Myrna asked, cutting a slice of hot bread from
the basket the server just dropped off and spreading butter over it.

“We
went tandem skydiving yesterday,” Toni said, her face flushed with pleasure.

“Is
that what kids do these days when they’re serious about each other?” Myrna
asked.

Kids?
Logan was only a few years younger
than Myrna. Of course, he acted like he was still in his teens most of the
time.

“As
we plummeted toward the ground, he told me he loved me for the first time,”
Toni said, her lips curved into a smile as she stared at the table in front of
her. “It was a magical moment.”

“Aww,
how romantic,” Jessica said as her eyes overflowed with tears. “Sorry.” She
sniffled and, abandoning her disintegrating tissue, she dabbed at her eyes with
a cloth napkin. “I don’t know why I’m crying again. Sheesh!”

Reagan
didn’t know either. Jessica wasn’t the type of woman who cried easily, but
she’d been on the verge of tears most of the morning.

“It’s
just the hormones,” Myrna said, passing the loaf of bread to Rebekah.

Aggie
rubbed Jessica’s back soothingly. “Don’t cry, kitten.”

“Sorry,”
Jessica said. “It’s just . . . I miss Sed.”

“You
left him just a couple of hours ago,” Reagan said, though she understood. She’d
started missing Trey and Ethan as soon as they were out of sight.

“Go
call him,” Aggie said. “It’ll do you good to hear his voice.”

Jessica
nodded. “Planning this wedding has been making me crazy.” She slid her chair
back and grabbed her purse. “That’s why I’m so emotional.”

“Hormones,”
Myrna interjected as Jessica headed to a quiet location to call her fiancé.
“And it’s going to get worse before it gets better.”

“Poor
Sed,” Rebekah said with a laugh, passing the loaf of bread—minus another slice—to
Reagan.

“Things
will settle down a bit after their wedding,” Aggie said.

“For
a week maybe,” Myrna said. “Then we’re heading to Europe. That’s sure to be
chaos.”

“Good
chaos,” Reagan said. She’d never been to Europe. She couldn’t wait to see the world
and share the experience with Trey and Ethan.

“I
envy you all,” Toni said.

“You’re
not going to Europe with us?” Reagan asked.

Toni
shook her head. “I should have enough material for the book in a few days. I
just need to capture more footage from the crew’s point of view in Albuquerque
and get a few more candid shots of the band on stage.”

This
interactive book Toni was working on—the entire reason she was following the
band around on the American leg of their world tour—was going to be so cool
when it was finished. Reagan couldn’t wait to see how Toni worked all her plans
for the book together into a cohesive whole.

“Does
Logan know you aren’t joining us in Europe?”

Toni
shrugged. “I assumed it was obvious to him.”

“Never
assume anything is obvious to a man,” Myrna said. “The key to a lasting
relationship is communication. So, basically, you tell him what to do.”

Having
just communicated with her own man, Jessica returned to the table all smiles
and tranquility. “All the guys are hanging out in his room watching golf.”

“Golf?”
Reagan asked.

Jessica
shrugged. “I guess they’re bored. Though babysitting Malcolm seems to be
keeping them all on their toes.” She smiled at Myrna, who was probably missing
her baby boy even more than the rest of them were missing their men. Malcolm
was a cutie.

“Maybe
we should head back to the hotel after lunch,” Rebekah said, tracing the edge
of the table with one finger.

“Aww,
does someone miss her darling Eric?” Reagan teased.

“If
he doesn’t get his afternoon blow job, he’s cranky until bedtime.”

Toni,
glass at her lips, sprayed Coke all over the table. She dove for her napkin and
began wiping up the mess.

“I’m
not joking,” Rebekah said, her eyes wide with sincerity.

“We
know you’re not,” Reagan said. “We’ve lived with the guy, but Toni’s never been
on Sinners’ bus. She doesn’t know what the guys are like behind closed doors.”