Page 80 of Curveball

“Where’s your husband now?”

She motions her thumb toward the door. “He’s right outside. He’s the big guy that carried my stuff in.”

My mouth drops. “I thought he was a bodyguard. He’s huge.” He must be at least six feet, eight inches.

She smirks. “That’s why everyone calls him Tank. That, and because he’s packing a giant cannon.”

We all start laughing.

She smiles. “Not pierced or anything, but I do like to dress it up in cute hats.”

“Your husband?”

“No, his dick.”

We hear a deep, authoritative, gravelly voice from the hallway. “Stop telling people about that. It’s private.”

I whisper. “He’s kind of scary.”

She shakes her head. “He’s nothing but a teddy bear. Maybe a bit of a tongue magician too, but a sweet little teddy bear.Bigteddy bear.”

The deep voice again rings out, “Bris, cut it out. I have a rep to protect.”

Her shoulders shake in laughter.

They’re adorable.

She looks around at all of us. “I don’t even know why we’re here. Are you guys models? Do you have an event tonight?”

Arizona lets out a laugh. “Umm, no. Definitely not. We’re professional softball players.”

Bristol’s gorgeous eyes light up. “That’s awesome. I played basketball in high school.” She mock blows on her fingernails. “All state my senior year.”

Bailey nods. “I played basketball too. I preferred it tosoftball, but my sister sucked at it and forced me to play softball with her.”

I didn’t know that.

Kam scrunches her face. “True story. I was so bad, and Bails was amazing. She popped three-pointers like Caitlin Clark. She was better than all the guys at our school too.”

Bristol rubs her hands together. “Don’t you love when men underestimate you because of the way you look, and then you school them by showing off your athletic prowess?” She shouts a little louder, “Right, honey?”

He shouts back, “You’re a basketball queen, sweetness. She hustled my friends like a pro when we first started dating. They never saw it coming given how irresistibly sexy she is. They were busy staring at her ass while she was dribbling around them.”

Bristol smiles. “Yep. He loves me for my mad basketball skills.”

“I love you because you have no gag reflex.”

She lifts a smug eyebrow. “True.” Looking around at us, she asks, “Seriously, where are you all headed tonight?”

Arizona answers, “We have a party forSports Illustrated—”

I interrupt, “Arizona and her boyfriend modeled for their body image issue. We’re going for moral support.”

Bristol gasps. “Omigod, my friend Blaire and her husband did that a few years ago.” She fans herself. “It was so fucking hot.”

Kam asks, “What sport does Blaire play?”

“She doesn’t. She’s a doctor. Her husband is Axel Broxton.”

---