Page 95 of Double Play

I walk out of my building to the giant party bus where I can already hear loud music and even louder voices. I step on and see Ezra, Quincy, Trey, and Cheetah with drinks in hand, dressed in their tuxedos. I board to a sea of catcalls. I smile and do a little curtsy and ass shake for them all.

Trey pours me a glass of whiskey so I can catch up with them. We enjoy our drinks and conversation on theway to pick up the ladies. Arizona invited Gemma to get dressed with them, which I appreciated.

As we pull up to their apartment building, they all walk out of the front doors together. The second my eyes find Arizona, I think my heart skips a beat. She’s in an elegant, strapless, long, form-fitting dress with a high slit. I’m not sure of the color. It’s somewhere between pink and purple. She’s in heels, which puts her over six feet tall, most of which is leg. Her hair is down with some sort of curls in the front. She looks like a movie star. And she’s mine.

I practically jump out of the bus before it stops moving. I hear the boys laughing but I don’t care. I grab her hand and kiss it. “You take my breath away. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my life.”

She smiles softly as she straightens my bowtie. “And I’m thinking my teenage self had excellent taste in men. You look so handsome.”

I suddenly hear a woman screech. “Eek. Trey, put me down.”

I look over and see Trey carrying Gemma like a bride. “Umm…we’ll be back in twenty minutes. My wife is hot.”

She giggles as she playfully slaps his chest. “Put me down and get on the bus, crazy man.”

He smiles down at her before carrying her up the steps onto the bus. The rest of the girls, who all look stunning, follow suit.

I whisper in Arizona’s ear, “I’m going to rip this dress off you later.”

“You’ll probably want to wait until after we drop off Q.”

“He and I had a good talk today.”

Her eyes widen. “You did?”

“Yep. We’re good. We came to an understanding.”

“What was that?”

“That I’d treat you like a princess, or he’d remove my kidney…with a spoon.”

She lets out a laugh. “That sounds fair.”

I help her onto the bus and see that Ezra saved a seat next to him for Bailey. He has a crush on her, but she has never shown any interest in anything more than friendship. It hasn’t stopped him from trying, in his own subtle, Ezra way. She sits next to him though.

Cheetah pulls Kamryn onto his lap as she walks by him. She shakes her head. “Nope. You had your shot, kitten. You blew it. Literally.”

Trey gasps. “Did things end,prematurely? Shame on you, Cheetah.”

Cheetah practically growls at him. “It ended because her bed exploded.Literally. Her waterbed burst. I had to surf out of her bedroom. Naked.”

I turn to Arizona, and she nods her head in confirmation with an enormous grin on her gorgeous face. I definitely need to hear this story.

Quincy smiles at me. “Lancaster, you’re now officially the last one on the bus. You know what that means.”

I’m about to protest when Arizona places her hand on my chest and whispers, “I’ve got this one.” She turns to our friends. “Technically, I was last since he was already on the bus. Here’s a fun fact for you. Harry Styles has four nipples.”

Kam’s mouth drops. “No way.”

Arizona nods. “Yep. Look it up.”

Every single person pulls out their phones to google it. Sure enough, he does, in fact, have four nipples.

Trey peels himself away from his wife long enough toopen two bottles of champagne. “Let’s put Harry and his four hairy nipples away for now to toast the man and woman of the hour.” He pours everyone a glass and we all toast to our big night.

The entire ride to the party is spent drinking champagne and making fun of Cheetah. I almost feel bad for him, but he takes it all in stride.

We arrive at the party venue, which is a big, fancy hotel in Midtown Manhattan. There’s a red carpet and several photographers. Everyone else gets out of the bus and walks the red carpet ahead of us, leaving Arizona and I alone for a few minutes before we make our grand entrance.

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