Free Changing Scenes (Changing Teams #2) by Jennifer Allis Provost

know if that would be cool or dweebish. And less is more, you know? At least, in cooking it is.
    The guy at the door had my name on a list, just like Astrid said he would. Entry accomplished, I made my way to the bar, grabbed a beer, and headed toward the left side of the stage. The place was packed, but there were a few empty seats in the row Astrid had reserved. I picked out a seat next to a woman with dark hair, who was furiously typing on her tablet.
    “When does everything start?” I asked the woman next to me.
    “Soon,” she replied, looking me up and down. “Who are you here with?”
    “My girlfriend’s one of the models,” I said. “Astrid Janvier, you know her?”
    “Astrid?” she asked, giggling behind her hand. “Oh, everyone knows Astrid.”
    What the fuck was that supposed to mean? Instead of jumping down her throat, I said, “Yeah, she’s pretty awesome. I love her to death.” I stuck out my hand. “I’m Donnie.”
    She looked from my hand to my face, and asked, “You’re Donnie? As in the Donato?”
    I blinked. “I’m a Donato. I don’t know if I’m the Donato.”
    She leaned close, and whispered, “Talk is that a Donato—that may or may not be you—has swept Astrid off her feet. She’s been talking about him and nothing else for weeks. Even though he brought her to,” she wrinkled her nose, “a fish store.”
    I grinned rather stupidly, if I must say so myself. “It’s a fish market,” I said. “Wholesale, for restaurants.”
    “So you are him.” She gave me another once over, then she looked at the stage. “We’ll talk later. It’s starting.”
    The lights dimmed and the music rose, and I stared at the stage. The first model wasn’t Astrid, and neither was the second or third. Then she was there, wearing this hot pink dress and strutting down the runway like she owned it. My girl.
    “Doesn’t she look great?” the woman asked.
    “She’s beautiful in anything. Everything,” I said.
    Astrid reached the edge of the stage, did this little hip thrust and winked at me. Then she was off, and another lesser woman replaced her.
    “When is she coming back?” I muttered.
    “Soon,” said the woman. “I think there are four other models in the show.”
    I nodded, and watched the stage. Girl one came down, then two, then three…
    No.
    What the…
    Astrid, girl number five, was strutting down the runway in an orange bikini bottom, some kind of see through flower print shirt, and nothing else. Not even shoes. And the shirt wasn’t even buttoned, leaving the skin between her neck and her belly button as naked as the day she was born.
    Man, I wanted the first time I saw Astrid’s tits to be in bed, or at least when we were alone. Okay, I’d seen them a bit in the van, but it had been dark so I hadn’t really seen them. Now there they were, front and center with five hundred other people staring at her. It was the least sexy way to see the sexiest part of her.
    Astrid’s brows lowered when she reached my end of the runway, which meant my face matched my thoughts. And well it should; where I came from no self-respecting girl would walk around half naked, especially not in public. If my grandmother knew, she’d beat both of us, along with Astrid’s parents for raising such a girl.
    “What’s wrong?” asked the woman.
    “Huh? Nothing,” I said.
    “Liar. The first time she came out you were all googly-eyes. Now you’re pissed.”
    I felt my teeth grind, and looked away. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She laughed, raising my hackles.
    “Who’s got googly-eyes?”
    I looked to my left, and saw Astrid’s friend Britt sit beside me. Next to her was a tall guy that held Britt’s hand as if she was his lifeline; that must be the husband-to-be. “Hi, Donnie,” Britt said. “You know Melody?”
    “Melody who?” I asked.
    “Melody me,” the girl on my right replied. “I’m Britt’s cousin. And Donato is the one with the googly-eyes. Well, he had