Tonight’s dance was Lady’s Choice. The guys were all back at the lunch table today so the girls could all talk about ... I don’t know ... dresses, I guess. We all gathered at another table to stay out of the way. I looked around to make sure no one else was listening.
“I got some of the pictures from my trip to Miami this morning,” I said, catching their attention. “Twenty-three models in bikinis.”
“No way,” Ed said.
I put the tablet on its stand and started the slideshow. Kendal had added some tropical music that I’d forgotten about. I quickly turned it down. The first one was a group shot of all the models. Adrienne and I were in the center. The twins were on their knees in front of us.
“Holy cow! That’s Adrienne!” Jeff said. “I thought you were just teasing us.”
“I’ve heard rumors that the dressing rooms are open. Did you see Adrienne naked?” Wolf asked.
“Where did you hear that?” I asked him.
“I saw it on one of those Making of a Victoria’s Secret shows. So, is it like that?” he pushed.
I guess my blush gave it away. The guys were throwing stuff at me. I knew it was too good to be true.
“Who did David see naked?” Gina asked.
The girls had come over from their table. The bunch of wusses all went mute like they’d been caught doing something. I guess I’d better enlighten the guys that if you act guilty, you are guilty. I restarted the slideshow and turned up the music.
“All of them,” I answered with a big grin.
“You got some ’splainin’ to do,” Tracy said in her best I Love Lucy Ricky Ricardo voice.
“It’s like Wolf said. When you go to a photo shoot, they have a dressing and makeup area. Most of the time there isn’t much privacy. Models are used to showing their bodies, so it’s really not a big deal to change clothes. Plus, they all thought I was gay, at first.”
Everyone looked at me, waiting for me to explain that last statement.
“More ’splainin’, Gringo,” Tracy said.
I wondered who made her the spokeswoman for the group. I think we also needed to look into our Spanish classes at Lincoln High. Tracy was not getting the kind of education she deserved.
“This tan is not exactly normal. I had to strip off and get spray-tanned. I was naked in front of them, parading around without getting aroused.”
“I call bullshit. You get aroused when you just bump into something,” Tracy said.
Everyone at the table was nodding. Thanks, guys.
I gave Tracy a patient look.
“Do I really need to explain how a guy keeps from having an erection?”
Tracy went beet red and Gina looked confused.
“I don’t get it,” Gina said.
“Obviously,” I said without thinking.
I got hit from behind with a napkin.
“Shut up!” Alan threatened me.
I turned back to him, and winked as I said, “Sorry, dude, I couldn’t help it.”
“So, what gave you away?” Lily asked.
I was going to have to fire her. What am I talking about, she worked for free.
“What?” I said to stall.
“You said ‘at first they thought I was gay.’ Something had to happen for them to realize that you were straight.”
I took a deep breath. Eve’s eyes were dancing, so I knew she was amused and not pissed off.
“Okay, can we all agree that Adrienne is smoking hot?” I asked, and saw the guys’ heads bobbing in agreement. “Ever since I could ... ah ... she’s been one of my fantasies. I think I have every Victoria’s Secret catalog and Sports Illustrated she was in. So when she walked over to get her tan evened out, she got a reaction out of me.”
“What do you mean?” Gina asked.
I started to believe she was just playing dumb.
“Like that,” I said, pointing to Wolf’s obvious bulge.
Every other guy at the table was sporting wood, and I’m the dumbass that points out the guy that’s a few inches taller and forty pounds heavier. When I heard him growl, I thought of something to calm him down.
“Hey, careful! I wouldn’t want you to trip over that.”
That got him to laugh. Thankfully, his new girlfriend sat on his lap to help hide it. I’m sure that didn’t help him with his problem.
ANGEL SHOWED UP AT baseball practice. She was giving Eve and me a ride to the hotel where the interview was going to be held. Then we would eat dinner at the hotel. The plan was to change for the dance there.
Coach Haskins ran my ass ragged. I had messed up a double play at the start of practice. His bat still had some pop to it. Years of muscle memory and strong wrists allowed him to smash screaming grounders and line drives my way. He would barely give me time to get set when another one came flying at me. It got to the point where I just reacted. Shortly after that was when he stopped.
“Do you feel the difference? You’re too smart for your own good, because you’ve been thinking before you move. That little hesitation can cost you. I could see when you got out of your head. The last ten were by far your best!”
He then sent me to Coach Herndon to pitch. They were working with us to slowly build up our pitching endurance. I was in great shape and had thrown the football quite a bit during the seven-on-seven season. But there was a big difference between pitching and throwing the football. There was much more pressure on your shoulder and elbow. My problem wasn’t really arm strength, it was more technique. Coach Herndon was trying to get us ready to pitch as quickly as possible without anyone getting hurt.
ANGEL TOOK US TO EVE’S house to change for the interview. When I opened my bag, I couldn’t believe it.
“Are you kidding me?” I yelled out of the bedroom door at Eve.
“Settle down. It’s just for the interview. You get to wear your model clothes for dinner and the dance,” Eve yelled back at me.
She was having me dress up like a cowboy again. I understood that her record was going to be country, but that didn’t mean I had to wear it. Then I froze. Did she say ‘model clothes’?
I went back to my bag and pulled out what was packed, and it wasn’t so bad. There was a blue t-shirt by Shanghai Tang that had twin gold dragons. It sounds goofy, but it was cool. There was a pair of jeans that were great. Adriano Goldschmied, AG, jeans has what they call AG-ed jeans. They’re jeans that are high-end secondhand clothes. I had gotten the Tambourine AG-ed 15Year pair. I also had boots that looked like stylized army boots. They were black with black laces. What made them unique is that they had a big silver zipper on the side. The designer in New York said his friend handmade each set of boots, and they were all unique. You stuffed the jeans into the boot top, which came up about three inches over the ankle. You zipped the boots three-quarters of the way up. They were very comfortable. Angie got a gold star for picking this outfit.
I came down in my cowboy gear, complete with the Range Sports cowboy hat. Angel hooked her thumbs in the side of her jeans.
“Howdy, pardner,” she said with her best cowboy accent.
It wasn’t very good. I just tipped my hat to her.
“Evenin’, ma’am.”
“Will you two cut it out? We’re late,” Eve said as she bounded down the steps.
I thought we were home free until I heard her dad.
“Reach for the sky, you varmints. Your ma says she wants pictures,” Pops Holliday informed us.
I was glad everyone was enjoying themselves. I figured they would have us go out to the barn to get the right setting. I was smart enough to keep my mouth shut about that idea. Her mom took the pictures in the living room. Finally, we were ready to go.