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“Then a drink you shall have.”
I smile at him and squeeze his hand. “I didn’t expect you to show up here.”
“It sounded like you might need the moral support if you aren’t going to collapse under the pressure given the text conversations we’ve had lately.”
I’d been asking A.J. how Operation Get the Wife Back was going and complaining about my own predicament with my would-have-been husband. Mostly I’d been lamenting the fact that I still find him attractive, and explaining how my lack of recent non-fake boyfriends is leaving me incredibly vulnerable to Quentin’s particular brand of charm.
“I appreciate it.”
“Unless you want to fall back into old habits.” A.J. gives me a curious look.
“I mean…” I look up, scanning the room to make sure I don’t see him anywhere nearby before we have a repeat of him overhearing things he shouldn’t. “I do, but I shouldn’t. Not just because of us, but the fraternizing wouldn’t look good either. You and then him? At least from the public’s perspective, I’m pretty sure I’d get a scarlet letter for that.”
“It’s none of their business what you do or don’t do with your personal life.”
“Yes, but the team is likely to have questions about my ability to manage him if I let him… manage me.”
We pause in our conversation to put our orders in with the bartender and then slide to the side while we wait for him to make them.
“I maintain it’s none of their business.”
“Yes, but then there’s the reality of it. Not to mention how some of the players might react.”
“I worry for my daughters,” A.J. mutters, shaking his head.
“Speaking of, how are they?”
“Good. Mia is still working the getting-her-parents-back-together angle pretty hard.”
“Well, that might be to your advantage.”
“Yes and no. Maya’s told her that she needs to accept you as my girlfriend, and we all need to collectively move on.”
“Oof. Well… Maya never was the jealous type. I can’t blame her really. She’s trying to do the right thing. Maybe you should tell her about us?”
“I don’t know. I’ve thought about it. But then I worry that it’ll just make me look pathetic. She’s out there on real dates, figuring out a new life without me, and I’m just sitting at home wishing I could have my family back.”
The bartender slides our drinks to us and A.J. places a tip on the counter before we move to a cocktail table to finish chatting.
“You’re doing more than that. You’ve been working on yourself. You’ve been working on trying to get a better work-life balance and proving you can be a good dad and pull your weight there. I’m sure she sees all of that. Some of this might be bravado on her part too, you know. That she wants you to think she’s fine and moving on even if she’s not.”
“Maybe…” A.J.’s eyes focus on something behind me, and I tense.
“What?”
“Your guy is incoming, and he doesn’t look happy.”
“Is he with her?”
“Her?”
“I tried to set him up on a date tonight. Was hoping he’d be with her, and it would keep him occupied.”
“No. He’s very much alone. He’s getting a drink at the bar, but he’s already looked this way twice.”
I take a step closer to A.J.
“Look at me and talk like we’re having some sort of intimate conversation. I really need some distance from him. I made a little mistake yesterday, and he’s desperate to make me pay for it.”
