"She's not," Rhaven said, flashing me a smile.
But I caught as her eyes flicked over Tanner. From the way he smiled, I was pretty sure he'd seen it too. Before he could say anything, I decided to change the subject.
"Check out the plushie!" I said, thrusting it at him.
J.D. huffed and made his way over. "I want one!"
"We've only made one so far," Rhaven admitted. "And Cody, if you're ok with that, we'd like to sell them in your booth during the events, as well as online. You'll get a royalty off the sales."
"Damn," Tanner said, turning the bull and rider over in his hands.
I wasn't sure if he was talking about the royalty or the toy. It was cute - but in a tough way. The sort of thing that didn't make me feel like Deviant was trying to "girly" me up.
"I like it," I said.
"I do too," J.D. admitted, snagging it from Tanner's hands so he could see it himself. "Oh! She has a braid! And she's in pink and black!"
"I know!" I agreed, pushing in to look at it again. "Do I get to keep this one, Rhaven?"
"All yours," she assured me. "So, do we move ahead with this?"
"Yes," J.D. said before I could answer. "And if you want a ride over, I'm about to take Cody."
"No, I have a car," Rhaven said. "I also want to get there early today."
Which gave me an idea. "You know," I told the guys, "I could probably ride over with her, then you wouldn't have to make two trips, J.D."
"You can also get her into the back," Tanner pointed out. "Means she wouldn't have to mess with the press."
"And tell me about this strike you riders are doing," Rhaven said. "Yeah, I'm good with that."
"Ok, let me grab my gear," I said, hurrying back into the bedroom.
I could hear them talking in the other room while I found the last few things I needed. Their voices were soft, but friendly. I quickly tossed my stuff together, slung both bags over myshoulder, then hurried back to the main room. But as I stepped in, I saw all three of them clustered together, and Rhaven was showing them a few details on the stuffed toy.
She was a bit taller than J.D., surprisingly. Half an inch, if I had to guess. Then again, she was wearing combat boots and he was barefoot. Tanner had on his boots, making him just a bit taller, but like this? They were cute. Rhaven looked all thoughtful, but the boys were far too invested in the toy.
"You know," I said as I made my way over, "if you signed with Deviant, J.D., then you could get one of your own."
"Tempting..." J.D. said, flashing me a little smirk. "But you get to be the hotshot for once. Now go pick a fight, rookie."
"Yes, sir," I said, darting in to give him a quick kiss.
Then Tanner shifted over to get his. Since Rhaven already knew about our situation, this was ok. It felt a bit weird, though. I kept waiting for her to judge me, but that was my own problem, not anything she'd done to make me expect it.
And when we made it into the elevator, heading down to her car, she proved it. "You know, it has to be easier when your guys are dating each other too."
"Than what?" I asked.
She chuckled. "Um, one of my boyfriends is bisexual. The other's straight. I mean, they're good with the situation, but I feel guilty when I leave them curled up in bed together."
I nodded, thinking about that. "But the straight one's ok with you dating the other?"
"Yep," she said. "Granted, they've been friends awhile. Well, sorta. They knew each other." Then she waved that off. "It's complicated. Plus, I work with one, and the other kinda works for us? No, is sponsored by us." She murmured as if that wasn't quite right. "Competes in events we host."
"A gamer," I realized.
Which made her flash me a smile. "Yeah. I mean, we all are, but that's how I met him." But she bit her lip like she was trying to hide a little smile. "In truth, they're my first boyfriends. Not a lot of guys who want to date a trans woman."
