Page 61 of Tailored for Them

“They just said dick; do they owe you money for that?” I heard Signe ask Susie from behind us.

“Dick isn’t a bad word. It’s a body part.” Susie replied.

“Don’t forget about me, okay?” Taylor murmured against my lips.

I scoffed, right in their face, making them jolt away from me in amusement.

“Never,” I whispered.

Taylor grinned, a rosy pink that wasn’t there before appeared across their cheeks, before they finally stood up and jogged back to their teammates.

When I looked back at Josh, he was pulling his hoodie up again.

“Did you like your surprise?” Susie asked me. She was sitting cross-legged, but excited energy made her bounce in her seat.

“Yeah,” I replied, glancing behind me. At some point, Jacqueline had scooted far enough back to sit closer to Signe. I gave the two of them wide-eyed looks. Signe was grinning, and Jacqueline had her eyebrows raised.

“Wow, so,” I cleared my throat before turning to face the Madeys. TheMadeys. Not only did I just meet the lead singer of Carbon Cut, but I also met his entire family.

Wow.

“So,” Susie giggled.

“You’re friends with Taylor,” I added.

“To be clear, I was friends with them first,” Courtney leaned forward, as if to remind me that she was also there. I grinned at her, connecting the dots. Courtney became famous because she interpreted Josh’s concert into ASL for her friend, and he noticed her. Apparently, they were high school sweethearts, reconnecting after almost a decade apart. I glanced at the birthmark on top of her hand again, realizing why it looked so familiar.

That birthmark was how Josh knew who she was.

“Really?” I asked her. If memory served, Courtney had been involved in lots of charity work recently. I admired this woman a lot.

“Yeah, and then I married Josh.”

“And I was invited into the circle of friendship.” Josh grinned at his wife before taking their baby boy from her and adjusting him so he could face out toward the field. The baby grinned and started wiggling in his father’s hold, as if trying to get to the rugby players.

“What a small world,” I breathed. Taylor ran by, yelling at Zaid around the mouth guard they wore, and I got distracted watching them take a man almost double their size down to the grass.

I had seen them play before, and even though they were one of the smallest members on the team, they were strong.

Leo and Zaid immediately jogged over and helped Taylor to their feet, who dusted their jersey off before clapping their hands and telling their team to start whatever drill that was again.

“Nicole?” Susie’s voice pulled me back into the present: “Do you want to plan a future with Taylor, or do you just want to hold their hand and kiss them?”

Josh’s eyebrows shot up as Courtney leaned forward to rest a hand on her daughter’s shoulder and say, “Suse, that’s too forward of a question to ask someone you just met.”

I giggled, appreciating Josh and Courtney’s embarrassment.

“That’s okay,” I reassured them before addressing their daughter, “I really like Taylor.”

“We do, too,” Susie replied, “…but I don’t want to kiss them.”

“Well, that’s fine,” I replied, nudging her knee with my fist, “I like that I’m the only one who gets to kiss them.”

Susie grinned up at me, before her gaze dropped to my arm and she pointed at it, “Can I see your tattoo?”

“Sure.” My flannel had ridden up my arm, so she got a peek of the latest one I got. It was still covered in saniderm, since I got it two nights before on an impulse decision. It was simple, a daisy right on the inside of my wrist. I decided to remove my flannel from that arm completely so Susie could admire the random patchwork tattoos I had on my upper arm, too.

“I like this one,” She pointed to the tattoo of a raccoon, holding a bouquet of flowers.

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