“No pressure, but I am about to have a baby so I really need the money,” Mav says in a loud whisper-voice.
Jack rolls his eyes. “Oh, please. I’ve seen the nursery. You couldn’t fit another baby gadget in there if you tried.”
“Better than the overpriced liquor you’re likely to buy with it.”
I rub my forehead with two fingers.
Of course, they bet on this. I’m not even surprised. I’m sure I would have done the same thing.
“So?” Mav asks me. “Which one is the perfect girl for you?”
“Perfect girl? I’m just trying to get my boy back in the game.” I’m sure there’s another eye roll with the snort that comes from Jack, but I spin in my seat and look toward the dartboard where Kennedy is standing with Meredith.
“Thank you both. I know you meant well, but—”
“You’re still hung up on the nurse, even though she turned your ass down like a dozen times?” Jack asks with a smirk.
Mav has an equally annoying smirk on his face as he adds, “And the more time you spend with other girls, the more you realize that the connection you had with her was unique?”
Jack snorts again. “I so don’t get that.”
“You will someday,” Mav tells him.
“No,” Jack says, like he can keep himself from falling for someone that easily.
For a second, I get lost remembering Bridget’s turquoise eyes and the dimples that are only present when she smiles for real. I’ve never been so emo about a chick before. I’ve always felt like if things didn’t work out, then it was for the best. But I can’t seem to shake off Bridget.
“First of all, she turned me down twice. Not a dozen times. And secondly, I don’t know if what I felt for her was unique or if I’m just not in a good head space to date right now. Harmony and Kennedy were both cool and maybe I’ll see them again, but tonight I am going home alone.”
“Fair enough.” Mav places a hand on my shoulder and gives it a reassuring squeeze. “The best love is self-love.”
“But if you had to pick, which one did you like best?” Jack asks.
Laughing, I stand and watch as Kennedy heads toward me. “You two are idiots.”
I walk Kennedy to her car and grab her number with a promise I’ll text to make plans next week. I’m not sure about a lot right now, but I know that it’s time I got myself out of this funk. Joking around with the guys today was the most fun I’ve had in weeks. I need to get back out there and stop sitting around feeling sorry for myself.
When I get in my truck, I start it up as a notification pings on my phone.
Little Sharpie
My new roomie is all moved in! Thanks for passing on my info to Bridget. She seems great. How’s the shoulder? Any word on when you’ll be able to play?
11
HOME
BRIDGET
Snow is falling hard as I get home from work. Home. I shake my head as I turn off the engine and stare at the adorable yellow house where I now reside.
It’s been almost two weeks since I moved in, and it still doesn’t seem real.
Keeping my head down, I jog from the car up the front sidewalk and onto the porch. I stomp my feet on the outdoor rug and then push inside. Warmth greets me with the smell of coffee and sugar.
Everly looks up from the dining room table where she sits with her schoolwork laid out in front of her. “Morning. I just made coffee.”
“Thanks. I grabbed some at the hospital before I left.” I hold up the to-go cup in my right hand, then get out of my snowy coat and hat, and hang them to dry.
She nods and goes back to her schoolwork, and I head to my room. Grace is still sleeping. She’s never up as early as Everly. With my schedule, I tend to only see each of them once or twice a day. Everly is usually up and out in the kitchen in the mornings when I get home from work, and Grace and I have the same lunch break.
They’ve both been so nice and welcoming. They’re really close and spend most of their evenings together in the living room, watching TV. Sometimes Grace’s boyfriend Lane comes over and sometimes the three of them all go out. If I’m around, they always do the polite thing and ask me to join them, but I try to give them space. The three of us don’t have to be besties to live together, and I don’t expect that from them.
By the time I shower and get ready for school, I can hear both of them in the kitchen. They walk to campus together in the mornings. Their first classes are farther away than mine, so I leave a few minutes later.
I’m checking to make sure I have everything I need in my backpack when there’s a knock at the door followed by Grace’s voice. “Bridget?”