“Hello, Melody. I wanted Willa to meet you.”
Melody turned to her, her smile wide as she stuck out her hand for a shake. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Thank you. It’s good to meet you.”
“She’s new to the group.”
Melody glanced over their shoulder. “I’m guessing she’s with Cy based on how he’s making a beeline over here.”
Willa glanced over her shoulder, a thrill shooting through her when Cy met her gaze. He put his hand on her back before shaking Melody’s hand.
“Melody, I didn’t know you and Tex were going to be here.”
“Hey, Cy, it’s good to see you,” a man said as he stepped over and pulled Cy into a hug.
“Tex, good to see you.”
“Thanks, buddy. This is Willa.”
“Nice to meet you, Willa. I’m Tex.”
“Tex and Melody. Sorry, I’m trying to learn everyone’s name. There are a lot of people here.”
Melody threw back her head, laughter spilling out. “It takes a while. But don’t worry, no one will be offended if you have to ask their names about fifty times.”
“I hope they understand. There are so many names to remember.”
“And this isn’t even the bulk of them,” Tex said.
She shook her head, shock filling her. “I’m surprised.”
More guys came over to talk to Tex, and Bree said she needed to check in with Smiley. Cy led her over to another group of guys. She caught some of their names. Ellis was with Trip, and Zip was with Talia.
After two hours, she was still dealing with a swirl of names for people who seemed to be the nicest group she’d ever met. They included her in conversations, and a few of them recognized her from Aces.
She was surprised by how easily all these people accepted her. There was hope that some of these women would end up being friends. She would love to have friends again.
After Robert, and losing everyone to his jealousy, she’d lost hope of having people who were close. These men seemed to like that their wives and girlfriends had other people around them, and interests outside of themselves.
Another difference was that all the guys seemed to be helping with food and kids. They fed children, changed diapers, played with kids, and took care of stuff. There were a few pregnant women in the group, and they were told to sit and relax. If they got up, their men helped them or rubbed their backs. It really was an amazing group of people. Maybe some of the nicest she’d ever met.
“You good?” Cy asked after coming back from talking to a group of guys.
“Yeah. I’m just shocked.”
His eyebrows shot up high. “Shocked by what?”
“Everyone is nice. The men are actually helping the women. Like, do you know how weird that is?”
He looked around and shook his head. “They’re just being themselves.”
“Maybe you’re used to this, but I’ve never seen guys actually treating their women like this.”
He draped his arm over her shoulder and leaned in. “This is the bare minimum. If you get with someone, this is what you’re supposed to act like. I’m not saying they don’t have arguments, because I’ve seen these women stand up for themselves and tell their guys no.”
“And they don’t get slapped?”
“No. If one of these guys hit his woman, you’d better believe he would get ten times worse if not more.”
