I clutch my chest even though I know he can’t see me. “Ouch, and here I thought we were friends.”
I hear his loud exhale. “Fine, we’re friends. I miss you and your creepy long hugs.”
“That’s more like it,” I say, smirking. “What’s up? How’sImogen and Taylor?”
“They’re great. This whole retirement thing is fucking awesome.”
I can hear the truth behind his words. We worked together for three years, and in that time, he became the older brother I always wanted. He knows me and I know him, and I’ve never heard the man sound so peaceful and happy as he does now with his fiancée and kid by his side. “That’s good. I’m happy for you.”
“Thanks. So, season’s over. What’s the plan? Heading back east?”
I consider his question. Other than my parents, the rest of our family is in Ontario, including some cousins I’m sort of close to. “Nah, sticking closer to home this year, I think. Spend some time with the folks, help them out. That kind of thing.”
“And that decision wouldn’t have anything to do with a certain trainer getting hitched, now, would it?”
“How did you hear?” I say nervously. All the guys on the team know I’ve got a thing for Lark, but Rafe’s the only one who knows just how much of a thing it really is. He was there that day when I was going to ask her out. He’s the one who explained she was with Baron and had been for a while.
“I might have retired from the team but that doesn’t mean I don’t hear things.” He pauses for a second. “How’re you doing, Monty?”
I’m silent for a second. Maybe two. “I mean, I don’t know. Nothing’s changed, not really. If she’s happy, that’s all that matters.”
“Does that mean you’re finally gonna move on?”
“I date.”
Rafe scoffs. “You’ve gone on a handful of first dates that somehow never turn into a second. You’ve never brought a girl to a team event or a game. You’ve never even talked about a girl. And hey, it’s your life, you live it however you want. But at some point, you gotta get over her.”
“Yeah. I know.” I lean forward in my chair and let my head hang low. “But what if she was it for me, Pops? What if Lark is the only woman out there for me, and I never get a chance?”
“Monty, there’s no good answer for that. I’m sorry, man.”
It’s my turn to exhale. “Thanks.”
“What are you gonna do if she asks you to be in the wedding?”
I snort. “What, like as a best man? She won’t, she’s got Willow and Sadie, and Baron’s got a sister, I think.”
“Yeah, but you guys are close. She might want you involved.”
I swallow around the lump in my throat. “Then I’ll be her friend and whatever else she needs me to be. Just like always.”
Chapter four
Lark
“I want to see her in the ball gown next.” Cordelia’s imperious command reaches me in the changing room and I don’t bother hiding my grimace. It’s not like the salesgirl who has been helping me in and out of dress after dress cares that I have yet to try on one that I actually like. She only cares about the hefty commission she sees coming her way.
I take in a full breath when she finally gets the last button undone on the current monstrosity I’m wearing. Any sense of modesty is gone as I place my hands on my hips and breathe in and out slowly. I’m wearing a strapless bra and a thong and have already been informed by my future mother-in-law that it is unbecoming to wear that style of underwear. How did she know? Apparently, the line of my underwear was visible underneath the first dress I tried on, a satin sheath that clung in all the wrong places, and hung off me like a sack in others.
The salesgirl steps out and I take a second to text Monty a quick photo of the last dress with a one-liner fromStar Wars.
LARK: I’ve got a bad feeling about this…
The man knows those movies inside and out, and I know he’ll appreciate the joke.
The four laughing emojis he immediately sends back fortify me just enough. I can get through this.
I think.
