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“What?” he screams, and everyone else in the waiting room turns to look. “Oh, darlin’ that’s just wrong?—”
But before he can continue his protest, Rake swings an arm around my shoulder. “Petal, I want you to meet everyone else before Tyler drives you away.”
He pulls me into him a little and I have to admit I like it. The man towers over me and I fit into his armpit perfectly. We start to turn from Tyler, who gives us a little bow.
“Good luck, Petal,” he calls. “If you need any help managing this guy, let me know. He’s still not housebroken yet.”
Rake waves at him without looking back.
“Okay, here we have Jonas.” We approach a guy with gelled black hair, who’s a little shorter than Rake but still towers over me. “Jonas, this is Petal.”
He extends his hand. Damn. Another guy I have to crane my neck to look up to. I had no idea hockey players ran so tall. Not that I know any, other than these three.
“Well, well, Petal. Rake got seriously lucky the day you bid on him. So nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too.”
These guys seem decent enough. Harmless. Maybe even fun. I can relax. Even enjoy myself, which would be a big surprise considering how much I was dreading the day.
A camera flash blinds me for a moment, and I realize the damn photographer followed us here. My smile fades as I glare at one of them, and he snaps a photo of me just like that.
Lovely.
“Are you psyched for some Vegas fun?” Jonas asks. “I sure as hell am. I’ve been adulting big time lately and need a fucking break.
I can relate.
Rake turns to me. “Jonas is a single dad, so he doesn’t have a lot of free time.”
He nods. “That’s right. And when I do, I tend to really go for it. Are you a good gambler, Petal?”
I shake my head. “Not really. I pretty much just play the slots.”
He pats me on the back. “We’ll teach you how to really play, Petal. Craps and roulette are where it’s at.”
“It’s a deal. But if I lose big, you’re covering me.”
He puts a hand on Rake’s shoulder. “Nah. This guy here will cover your losses. From what Tyler screamed, seems Rake owes you two thousand dollars.”
He has a point.
“C’mon, there are more people for you to meet,” Rake says.
As we walk away, Jonas calls after us. “Anytime you want to see photos of my kids, just let me know. I have lots, right here in my phone.”
Next, I’m introduced to Tito and Wendy, and Zink and Daria, couples, who I can tell, have been together for a while.
I keep my back to the photographer just to be a bitch, and as I start to chat with these new people, we’re called to board the plane. I join the crowd and once outside, place a hand on my swingy skirt so it doesn’t blow up again.
Holy shit. I’m doing this.
These people might be nice, but that doesn’t mean what I’m doing is not bat-shit crazy. And it doesn’t help when Wendy and Daria swoop in on me. For a moment, I’m terrified they might be mean girls taking me for some sort of hazing.
Been on the receiving end of that before.
“Petal, sit with us. It will be so fun,” Wendy says. “We’ll bust open a bottle of champagne for the flight.”
She got me at ‘champagne.’
