I al owed myself another moment to marvel at her ability to pul off this ridiculous outfit as if it was the height of couture before she snapped, “Wel ?”

I grabbed my sky-blue lace undies and pul ed them on while saying, “I think I just did something stupid.”

“More stupid than not just lettin’ Mace back into your life without this idiotic rigmarole? Bul ets flyin’, Hot Bunch boys puttin’ their asses on the line, threats against al you al …” Shirleen whirled her finger around to take in al the Rock Chicks. “Stil , you al act like getting a booty cal from one of the Hot Bunch was like being tortured. I just don’t get it.”

“It’s hardly a booty cal , Shirleen. They get in your head, move into your house, push you around, tel you what to do, so damn bossy,” Indy sprang to my defense heatedly as I walked toward the kitchen. In fact, Indy’s words were so heated it seemed she was having a flashback.

Shirleen put a hand to her chest and reared back. “Oh is that it? Wel excuse me! You poor child!” Then she made a snorting sound. “Shee-it, any one of those boys wanted to push me around, I’d say bring it on. Hel , I’d pay for one of

‘em to move into my house. They don’t even have to do me; just walk around so I can watch. Maybe in a towel.” Jules looked at me and rol ed her eyes.

“You don’t understand,” Roxie put in.

“Nope. That’s right, girl, Shirleen does not understand.

So what trauma are we up against now?” Shirleen’s eyes moved to me. “You havin’ too many orgasms or what?”

“Is there such a thing as too many orgasms?” Annette asked before I could answer. Even though I barely knew her and she’d never been to my house in her life, she was opening and closing my cupboard doors, searching for I didn’t know what.

“No, child, that’s the point,” Shirleen replied with barely restrained patience.

“For what it’s worth,” Annette went on, giving up on her search and turning to the group. “I’m with Shirleen on this one. Jason ain’t no slouch in the orgasm department but we got a deal, him and me. It’s like those lists you make with movie stars. If, say, you got a chance at The Rock, you could take it without getting in trouble with your partner. Me and Jason got a list, me, the Hot Bunch, Jason, the Rock Chicks.”

Everyone went silent and stared at Annette.

Al except Shirleen, she said, “Mm, girl, you got good taste. That Dwayne Johnson is one shit-hot black man.”

“He’s Samoan,” Annette informed Shirleen.

“That boy is black,” Shirleen shot back.

“Half and half,” Annette, clearly a bevy of The Rock Information, went on.

“I want the black half,” Shirleen returned.

“Oh my God, can we stop talking about The Rock?” Jet yel ed.

“I don’t mind a short conversational switch to The Rock,” Daisy said. “Have you seen Walking Tall? ”

“Yeah, about seven thousand times,” Annette replied.

“I prefer Faster, ” Shirleen shared her opinion. “There was no sex scene, which was a minus, but the role required two hours of him bein’ broody. Him bein’ broody for two hours is a definite plus.”

“I made a DVD of half an hour, continuous loop of him fighting Vin Diesel over and over and over again in Fast Five, ” Annette shared. “You wanna come over and watch it, I’l make popcorn.”

“Oowee, Vin Diesel,” Shirleen breathed.

“I am so there,” Daisy stated.

“Count me in,” Shirleen said after recovering from visions of half an hour continuous loop Johnson vs. Diesel action.

I sat on the edge of a platform, fel to my back and stared at the ceiling.

Were we real y talking about The Rock?

He was, of course, hot, but I had other, slightly more important things on my mind.

Al y’s face fil ed my vision.

“You with us, Stel a?” she asked.

“No,” I replied.

“Okay, maybe we should quit talking about The Rock.” I heard Shirleen give in.

My eyes moved to Al y. She was on her hands, leaning over me.

“What was in the paper?” I asked.

Her head came up and she looked over her shoulder.

There was a weird noise made by one of the Rock Chicks, which one I didn’t know.

Al y moved out of my eyesight but sat down beside me as I lifted up to sitting position.

Everyone was again silent.

Oh dear.

Final y, Daisy answered, “Wel , the whole thing is out.

Indy and Lee, Jet and Eddie, Roxie and Hank, Jules and Vance, Luke and Ava. Someone talked. I don’t know how they flew under the radar this long but it’s out now. The whole thing. There’s a three-piece exposé about the whole Rock Chick on Hot Bunch experience. Today’s piece was the first one; they did Indy and Lee, Jet and Eddie. They’re gonna fol ow you and Mace as it goes along.” I stared at her.

She caught my stare and went on, trying to make me feel better (but failing). “If it’s any comfort, sugar, they got a great picture of Mace carrying you out of the club last night.

You can’t see much of you but your ass but Mace sure looks good.”

That’s when I said, “You… are… fucking… shitting…

me.”

“I stil wanna know who spil ed,” Ava noted, clearly not recognizing my immense freak out.

“I’m guessing Tex,” Al y said.

“Uncle Tex wouldn’t talk. I’m thinking Duke. Duke can have a big mouth,” Roxie replied.

“No way it’s Duke,” Indy put in.

“Tod?” Jet asked hesitantly.

“Tod’s a definite possibility,” Indy said, crossing her arms.

I was looking from one to the other, thinking that they were focusing on the wrong thing.

“How about May, do you think May might say something?ght say Al y asked Jules.

Jules sighed then nodded.

I’d had enough. “Who cares who did it! We have enough to worry about, someone wants us al dead. And Mace and I just had a very unhappy conversation, very unhappy, where he was about to let me in and instead of getting a piece of him, I threw it in his face. And he told me that was the only chance I was going to get. And, I repeat, I threw it in his face! I don’t want a chance but I do! I don’t want to care that I might have hurt him by not listening to what he had to say but I think I did, and furthermore, I think I care. Effing bloody hel , my life’s a shambles. I don’t know what to think!