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I smiled, grateful that Benny and Annalise were surrounded with such a great support system. Inside, though, I was more conflicted than ever. Taking the kids to New York no longer felt like the clear choice.
Nina was right—life was messy sometimes. There didn’t seem to be a way out of this that didn’t involve someone getting hurt. But it couldn’t be the kids. Neither Wes nor I would allow that.
Chapter Eleven
Wes
“Wes, are you mad at me?” Gina asked, her full red lips drawing up into a pout.
Or was it Jenna?
Shit, I couldn’t remember. It had been pure luck that I’d run into her at the grocery store this morning while picking up a birthday card for Annalise. My girlfriend of six months had dumped me last night, and the last thing I wanted to do was show up at Annalise’s first birthday party without a date. Hadley was in town, which meant she would be busting my balls from the minute I got there, and in a moment of temporary insanity, I’d invited Gina or Jenna—Jeannie?—to come with me. We’d hooked up a few times last year, when I’d first moved to St. Louis, but that had been nothing but sex. This was an actual date.
And I couldn’t even remember her name.
Dammit.
“Wes?” She looked sad now and I absently shook my head as I opened the passenger side door of my new Mustang for her.
“Sorry, doll. I’m not mad. You look beautiful. It’s just, you know, you’re dressed for a grown-up party and this is a kid party.”
She looked down at her hot pink miniskirt and red, four-inch fuck-me pumps. “But you love this skirt.”
“I know. I do. It’s just…never mind.” It was too late now and it wasn’t Gina/Jenna’s fault I was an asshole.
“Don’t worry, kids love me,” she said, sliding into the passenger seat and fluffing up her hair.
She kept up a steady stream of chatter the whole way to Ben and Lauren’s suburban McMansion, and I pulled into their wide, circular driveway. I grabbed Annalise’s huge, brightly wrapped gift from the back and walked around to the backyard with Gina/Jenna following me.
We followed the sound of laughter since Ben and Lauren were cooking out. Initially, the party was supposed to be indoors but when it turned out to be unseasonably warm, they’d moved it outside. Which made Gina/Jenna’s stupidly high heels stand out even more.
“Hey, handsome!” Lauren called out as she swung past me carrying a tray of cupcakes and blowing me a kiss.
“Hey, beautiful.”
Lauren put the cupcakes down and came over to us, a curious smile on her face since no one yet knew Sadie and I had broken up. “Who’s this?”
“This is my friend…Ginnie…” I said her name under my breath, so low Lauren couldn’t possibly hear it.
“I’m sorry…” Lauren turned to Gina/Jenna holding out her hand. “What was your name?”
“Jeannie.” Jeannie smiled and looked around, her eyes wide. “Wow, this place is something. I hope I get to live in a house like this one day.”
“Thank you.” Lauren gave me a funny look before pointing at Ben. “Ben’s started cooking, Annalise is still napping, and a few of the Mavericks are wandering around somewhere.”
“Hey, man!” Ben lifted a hand, waving.
“Hey.” I started walking in his direction but Jeannie grabbed my arm.
“I didn’t know we were going to be outside,” she said. “My shoes are getting dirty.”
“Then let’s go inside,” I said. “You can sit in the kitchen for a while.”
“By myself?” She looked sad again.
“Er, no. I’ll, uh, sit with you after I say hello to everyone.”
Christ. What had I done?
Bringing Jeannie with me today had been stupid, but I’d been bummed about the breakup and really didn’t want to show up without a date, knowing Hadley would be here. Instead, I’d just made it worse. Sometimes I couldn’t get out of my own way, and nothing made me stupider than being around Hadley.
“Yo, Kirbs!” Nash came over and shook my hand.
“Hey, man.” I grinned. “How’s it hangin’?”
“Oh, you know, a little to the left.”
We both chuckled and Jeannie giggled. “That’s so hot.”
I opted to ignore her and said hello to a few other guys on the team, wondering if I could just take Jeannie home and call it a night. Ben would never forgive me if I left, but I had a bad feeling already and we’d just gotten here.
“Wes, aren’t you going to introduce me to your teammates?”
I really didn’t want to, but I did the polite thing and made the rounds with her, avoiding where Hadley and Lauren were chatting with a few of the WAGs.
“How about a beer, Jeannie?” Nash asked her.
She blinked. “Ew. Gross. I don’t drink beer. Is there any wine? Or better yet, tequila?”
“It’s a kid’s birthday party,” I said gently. “Just beer and wine. Let me get you a glass.”
