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I left her with my teammates and went inside to get a wine glass just as Hadley was going in. Nope, Lady Luck wasn’t with me today.
“Hello, Wes.” She gave me a perfunctory nod.
“Hi, Hadley.”
“I heard you have a new girlfriend,” she said, her eyes inscrutable as she looked at me.
“That didn’t work out,” I replied.
“So the bimbo in the four-inch heels and barely covered ass isn’t the new girlfriend?”
“She’s just a friend.”
She chuckled. “Really? How much do you pay your friend per hour?”
I huffed out a breath. “Could you be any bitchier?”
“Could you be any less classy? You brought a woman who literally looks like a hooker to your goddaughter’s first birthday party. In front of friends, family, and teammates. You truly don’t have an ounce of decorum in you.”
“So good of you to judge a book by its cover,” I snapped. “She might not be the sharpest tool in the drawer, but at least she’s nice. Something you could try for once in your life. What happened to women sticking together?” I turned and stalked out of the kitchen.
Hadley got under my skin like no one else ever had and the urge to tell her off got stronger every time I saw her.
“I’m afraid to ask where Sadie is,” Ben said, looking up from the grill when I approached him.
“She dumped me,” I muttered.
“Wow, I’m sorry. I thought things were going well.”
“She doesn’t like how much I travel.”
“That’s part of the life. If she can’t deal with it, it’s better to break things off now.”
“Yeah.”
“So, uh, you and Hadley already go at it?” I followed his gaze to where Hadley had just slammed the kitchen door behind her as she made her way back over to Lauren.
“I can’t win with her, man. I literally said hello and she called Jeannie a hooker.”
“Well, you did bring a chick wearing six-inch heels and a skirt that barely covers her ass to a family birthday party.”
“I needed a date! And they’re not six inches tall!”
“Why?” Ben looked at me like I was crazy. “This is Annalise’s birthday. No one’s here but the best of friends and family. Who cares if you have a date?”
“I care!” I snapped. “You invite Hadley to everything and she makes it so that I don’t even want to come! Every fucking minute of the day, every time we’re together, she has something nasty to say.”
“Sometimes you bring it on yourself, buddy.” Ben gave me the same look he sometimes gave the guys in the locker room when they were being dumbasses. But this was different.
“Like I’ve said a dozen times, you always take her side.”
“If you’d just give her a chance…”
I scratched the side of my face. “You know what? I think I’m gonna go. It’s not like Annalise is going to remember who was here today.” I turned and started making my way over to Jeannie.
“Hey.” Ben caught up to me and put a hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I do take her side but it’s only because I don’t see what you see, and the only thing I can think of is that you two are so perfect for each other, while you’re fighting it for all you’re worth.”
I shook my head. “Me and Hadley? Perfect for each other? That’s never gonna happen, buddy. You can take that to the bank.”
“Fine. But please don’t go. We want you here and I promise to keep you far away from Hadley.”
I sighed. “Fine. But you’re buying drinks on the next road trip.”
“Deal.”
The day of Annalise’s birthday party was a bright, sunny day. It was still cool, only in the low fifties with a strong wind, but it was perfect for what we’d planned. Well, mostly what Hadley planned since I’d been on two road trips in the last month. Though the original plan had been to keep things relatively simple, the Avengers theme took root and then it was all hands on deck. We had representation for almost all of them—Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, Black Widow, and even the Hulk.
It had taken a little explaining to get Lars on board as Thor, but once he’d said yes, the rest of the team had jumped at the chance to portray Annalise’s favorite superheroes. Drew was Captain America, Van was Iron Man, and to our surprise, it was Konstantin who offered to be the Hulk. Nina had volunteered to be the Black Widow and the lineup was complete.
“Everything looks amazing,” Greg Brandt said. Greg was Lauren’s father. He and her mother, Tasha, had flown in for the weekend to spend Annalise’s birthday with her. Though Tasha’s MS was in remission, she tired easily and couldn’t always do the things she wanted to do. We were glad to have them, though, because they were so loving and easygoing. Unlike Patrick and Susan, who’d left in a snit. We’d let them see how hard it was to take care of the kids and they hadn’t been happy about how little we’d done while they were here.
