I shrug. “I’m just trying to teach her how to interact with humans in a normal way.”
Looking back at Bridgette, Maggie says, “It doesn’t suit you.”
“See?” Bridgette falls back on the bed. “I should just be me. I’m good at being me.”
“Fine. I’m sorry I tried.” I give my attention back to Maggie. “But how are you and Jake doing?”
Bridgette sits up on the bed again and throws a hand out toward me. “Why does it sound so normal when you say it?”
Maggie and I both laugh. She looks in the mirror and fingers her hair. “We’re good,” she says, smiling into the mirror. “It’s all been so easy with him. He’s just…simple. He likes to have fun, doesn’t take anything too seriously. Until he needs to.”
“But is he good in bed?” Bridgette asks.
I see a pattern here. The only conversations that come naturally to Bridgette always have to do with sex. Does Ridge moan during sex? Is Jake good in bed?
“He’s very good,” Maggie says without hesitation.
“Who is better?” Bridgette asks her. “Ridge or Jake? Or Warren? Wow, you’ve slept with all three of our boyfriends.”
I slap a hand to my forehead. She’s a lost cause.
Luckily, Maggie just laughs it off. “Yeah, Bridgette, let’s just not do the whole conversation thing, okay?”
Bridgette pouts. “But I actually want to know the answer to this question. I bet it was Warren.”
Maggie looks at me and scrunches up her nose while shaking her head. “It wasn’t,” she mouths.
Bridgette mutters something about wanting a snack, so she heads to the kitchen. I hand Maggie a purple button-up shirt. “Try this one on. I think you’ll like it better than the black one.”
“What’s it even matter? Jake is on call all weekend, so he won’t even be there.” Maggie goes back to the bathroom just as Bridgette walks back into the bedroom, crunching on chips. She looks at herself in the mirror, turning so she can see her ass. She holds up a Pringle and positions it so that it covers her but in the mirror.
“What are you doing?” I ask her, just as Maggie comes out in the purple shirt. “Definitely that shirt. It’s perfect.”
“Maggie,” Bridgette says, still looking at herself in the mirror. “When you said my ass looked like two Pringles hugging, was that a compliment?”
Maggie laughs. “Have you seen your ass? Of course it was.”
“I don’t see it.” Bridgette pulls another Pringle out of the can and holds both chips back to back so that they’re curved away from each other. “This is not attractive.”
Maggie walks over and grabs the two Pringles, turning them inward. “Like this.”
Bridgette stares at the chips and nods, like it finally clicks. “Oh. Yeah, it kind of does look like that.”
???
Ridge and Warren have been at the venue helping the band set up for the show, so Maggie and I rode with Bridgette. Ridge isn’t playing tonight, though. He said sometimes he just likes being a spectator.
Maggie has a smile on her face as we get out of the car, but I can tell it’s strained. She pauses as she looks up at the building. “I wish Jake could have made it,” she says quietly.
I grab her hand. “He can come to the next one. Just try to have fun.”
I’m anxious to get inside, so I pull her after me and text Ridge to let him know we’re at the back door. A moment later, the door opens and Ridge walks out. He’s followed by Warren. I feel bad because Ridge is giving me a hug, and Warren is giving Bridgette a hug, and Maggie is just standing there, awkward and alone.
It won’t last long though.
Just when the door slams shut, it’s pushed open from the inside. Jake walks out.
It’s been hell keeping it from her, but he really wanted to surprise her. He was able to switch his on-call weekends, but he didn’t want her to know. He’s planning on staying with her until Monday morning.
As soon as she realizes he’s actually here and she’s not seeing things, she lights up all over and runs at him. She jumps on him and wraps herself around him like a spider monkey, her feet locked around his back, her wrists locked behind his neck. He’s holding her with little effort, and it makes me envious that I can’t jump on Ridge like that. I mean, I guess I could. But I’m not as tiny as Maggie. We’d need to plan it. We’d need a spotter. And a mattress for when we fell.
They’re so in love. It’s so adorable.