5. Hadley

five

Hadley

" Y ou made it!" Teagan opens her front door and pulls me into a tight hug. We're glad you're joining our little group." She steps back and motions me inside her home. It's tastefully decorated in warm blues and greys, with mahogany wood floors and trim—masculine with a hint of feminine touches.

"Thanks, I appreciate the invite—I don't get to hang out with friends very often." Not wanting to see the pity in her eyes over the poor little famous actress who doesn't have any friends, I don't elaborate.

"Come on, I'll introduce you to the girls." She loops her arm through mine and leads me to her insanely large kitchen, which has high ceilings and an enormous island with seating for ten people.

I scan the faces of the women sitting at the island. I only recognize Cassi—the other two must be Britt and Gemma.

Teagan introduces Britt and Gemma, confirming that they are who I thought they were. "Britt and I have been best friends for as long as I can remember, and if my dumbass brothers would pull their heads out of their asses and ask her to marry them, she would finally be my sister too." Her eyes stray to an open door as two handsome men walk through.

"Me? What about Uncle Colt?" he hits the other guy in the arm. " When are he, Beck, and Jamison going to ask Gemma to marry them?" There's a twinkle in his eyes as he drops a kiss to Britt's waiting lips.

"First of all, Tarek, this isn't about Uncle Colt, even though it would be amazing to have Gemma as my aunt. We're talking about you, Torin, and Talen marrying Britt."

"Did someone say my name?" Two more guys walk through the door and move to stand next to Britt, each taking turns kissing her. These two are identical to one of the original two guys—obviously, they are Teagan's triplet brothers and Britt's boyfriends.

More guys file through the door, and it almost feels like one of those clown cars you see on TV, leaving you to wonder how many clowns are in that tiny car and when they will finally be done filing out of it.

Two guys stand next to the first guy, who has his arms around Gemma, whispering in her ear, causing her face to turn a light shade of pink. It's so cute that I have to turn away only to come face to face with the three guys circling Teagan, each taking a turn kissing her.

Once Teagan has finished kissing her boyfriends, she scans the room. "Where's Holden, Caspian, and Barnett? Didn't they come home with you?" She questions the guys surrounding her, and my heart speeds up. I didn't know they were going to be here tonight.

I look down at my casual outfit consisting of black yoga pants and a crop top—sure, my boobs look amazing, but the first time I see the guys, I want to impress them with a tight little black dress with sky-high heels and full makeup. Instead, I have zero makeup on and bare feet, having kicked off my sandals a few minutes ago—at least my toenails are painted.

"Yeah, but they're still downstairs in the game room playing the new College Football video game." The blond one says.

"Football? They do know they're hockey players, right?" Everyone laughs at Teagan's joke. Okay, now all of you get back downstairs. It's ladies' night. Stop bothering us." She pushes at her guys, who make sure to sneak in one last kiss before they go back downstairs. This behavior is repeated with Gemma and her guys and Britt and the triplets, who all get in a kiss before being banished to the basement.

What would it be like to have three guys fawning over my every move?

Cassi's eyes meet mine as we wait for the room to clear out, "It's like this every time we have ladies' night—the guys decide to have a men's night at the same time—same location." She rolls her eyes, but I notice a flash of something in her eyes—jealousy, perhaps. "It won't be the last we'll see of any of them."

"Sorry about that." Teagan says sheepishly, "Where were we?" She snaps her fingers, "Gift. We bought you a gift." She hands me a box wrapped in what appears to be tiny dancing penises on the paper. I raise an eyebrow at her. "What? I can't wait to throw someone a bachelorette party."

"You know you'll be the first one out of all of us to get married." Britt laughs.

"You're not wrong." Teagan smiles, "Now open your gift."

I fight the urge to rip at the wrapping paper. It's not normal for me to receive gifts—being rich and famous, everyone assumes I'll buy them whatever they want. That's another reason I don't have many friends. I open the box and find an engraved wine glass with the words . I make pour decisions etched in the glass.

"What does it say?" Britt leans forward in her chair, trying to get a closer look. Cassi picked it out. She said it was perfect for you. We each have our own personalized wine glass." Britt holds up her glass, which looks like water instead of wine, and reads, "Jesus touched my glass. "

Clever. I laugh now understanding the clear liquid in her wine glass.

They each take turns holding up their wine glass for my inspection. From Teagan's One Shot, Two Shot, Three Shot Floor, to Gemma's Save Water, Drink Win e, with the obvious water in the glass just like Britt's, to Cassi's glass stating Bitch Less, Wine More .

"Fun, right? Gemma and Britt don't drink alcohol so that means more for us." Teagan raises her half-full glass in the air in a mock salute as Cassi fills mine with red wine.

I take a drink from my glass and the sweet wine flavor bursts on my tongue. "This is delicious." I set my glass on the counter, pick up the wine bottle and read the label. " Pour Some Vino On Me. Oh my God, you have wine from Kyrie Vince's Winery?" I'm a huge fan of her Pop Princess mom and Rock God dad. We met a few years ago at a red carpet event—I haven't seen Kyrie in a while, but I absolutely love her wine with all its clever '80s song titles.

"I got a whole case from Kyrie last week. She's looking for a new spokesperson, but honestly, I think you would be a better fit than me."

"That's a great idea, Teagan," Cassi says. "We need something adult for you to endorse for your new image instead of those preteen clothes and makeup you've been doing the last few years."

Cassi's right. I do need some new, edgy endorsement deals. "Can you set up a meeting with Kyrie?" I lift the bottle and add more wine to my almost-empty glass.

"Sure thing." Cassi pulls her phone out of her purse and sends a quick text. "Okay, now down to the real reason we are here. Hadley wants to change her image from the sweet girl next door to a vixen on the prowl, and we're going to need your help." Cassi proceeds to tell them my plan to break into the music business.

Teagan, Britt, and Gemma all offer their support. "I can set up a social media campaign." Britt offers.

"How about if Hadley sings the National Anthem at one of the home games?" Gemma adds.

"That all sounds great, but let's talk about Barnett, Caspian, and Holden. If they're going to be your pretend boyfriends, you really have to sell it to the public—touching, kissing, getting caught in compromising positions."

Teagan's right. I need this fake relationship to be believable. "Maybe we could get caught having sex in a public place, or maybe we could make a sex video?"

Are celebrity sex videos even a thing anymore?

"Not bad." Cassi taps her fingernail to her bottom lip. "We need something big to show the world you're a legitimate rising Rockstar and no longer a child actor. Let me think on that, and we can circle back." She lifts her glass to her lips and takes a large drink.

As the four of them discuss my future, my mind wanders to the guys downstairs. Cassi said she talked to them today and that they are on board with the plan, but what if we don't click? I need a backup plan, just in case.

The basement door opens, and my eyes are drawn to the sound. My heart flutters, hoping it's Barnett, Caspian, and Holden coming up to see me, but of course, I'm not that lucky. Standing in the doorway is one of the triplets, with the other two right behind him.

One by one, the guys, except for Barnett, Caspian, and Holden, make their way back upstairs and into the arms of their shared woman. It's still a strange concept, but I don't see anger or jealousy when I look at these couples. I only see love.

This time, I'm officially introduced to each of the guys. Teagan's boyfriends are also her teammates, Coulter, Fin, and Royal. Britt's boyfriends are Teagan's identical triplet brothers, Torin, Talen, and Tarek, who play for the Norse. Gemma's boyfriends are Teagan's Uncle, who co-owns the team with his two best friends, Beck and Jenson, who also share Gemma.

Cassi and I are the two odd men out. Only Cassi doesn't seem to be put off by it as she jokes and laughs with everyone. I, on the other hand, want to be around my boyfriends even if they are fake and we're not in a real relationship.

I eye the basement door confirming Barnett, Caspian, and Holden are not joining the rest of us upstairs.

Here goes nothing.

I take a deep breath and blow it out before walking through the basement door.