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ONE
“I should turn around,”I told myself, as I parked my car in front of an adorable row of six townhouses. “Nothing good ever comes from socializing.”
That was my honest truth, and I felt it to my damned soul. Social anxiety was a bitch.
Ebony waved me inside.
“If I turn around now, I’ll be the asshole,” I mumbled to myself, waving back and grabbing my purse off the passenger seat. I didn’t really need the crossbody bag considering that I was going to a little barbecue with some friends, but it was the only shred of moral support I had, and I was going to be holding the damn thing like it was a lifeline.
“Why did I agree to this?” I asked myself, gritting my teeth as I opened up my car’s door and stepped outside.
My combat boot hit the ground, and by some miracle, I didn’t trip and land on my damned face.
I reminded myself that I liked Ebony and Teagan, and that I would be getting free food out of the barbecue. And… that I didn’t really have any other friends, outside of June. Considering June lived a handful of states away when she wasn’t traveling the world like it was going to vanish tomorrow, and had no plans to head my way anytime soon, this barbecue was probably my last actual chance to socialize before I hit the road.
And unlike June, I wasn’t hitting the road for fun. I just didn’t have anywhere else to go, and could only afford one security deposit, so I needed to save my money until I found a job.
I gave Ebony a quick, awkward hug as I slipped into the townhouse. The place screamed “EXPENSIVE,” in a way I would never have been comfortable living in, but it fit Ebony. She was classy, all the way, and I was secure enough in my trashiness not to feel self-conscious about our differences.
But anxious enough to feel a hell of a lot of panic when I heard a masculine laugh outside, and saw a football fly past.
Shit, I sucked at football.
“Hot damn, girl,” I whistled, trying to fill the silence to prevent shit from getting awkward as we walked through her place. “This is your house? This place is sexy.”
It was, in an Ebony-esque way.
If some dude ever brought me back to his house and owned so much shiny shit, I was pretty sure I’d make up an excuse to leave before taking my pants off.
Not that I’d ever been taken to a guy’s house, or ever taken my pants off in front of a guy. I was way too awkward for that.
Ebony laughed, her dark eyes brightening with the compliment. “Thanks. I’d take credit, but Ford decorated everything. I just added a couple things here and there.”
She’d never smiled much or laughed much when we lived down the hall from each other, so I assumed her new man was to blame for her newfound rosy disposition.
I hadn’t seen Ford naked, but I mean, come on. The dude was a damned skyscraper; if I was banging a sexy skyscraper, I’d probably be rosy too.
And from what I’d seen of him, he looked like a guy who knew he’d found a good woman and didn’t plan on walking away. “He’s your man; take credit for it.”
We stepped outside, and I looked over the yard.
Hot freakin’ damn.
Men.
So many men.
So many skyscraper-sized men.
What the hell kind of sexy cult had Teagan and Ebony joined?
Four hotties playing football—one cooking—and one sitting at a plastic picnic table.
Hot friggin’ damn.
Did I already say that?
Shit, I was getting tongue-tied and I hadn’t even tried to talk to any of them.
