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“And I was wearing that really killer dress. Remember?”
“Yes, but . . .”
“But what? When a guy comes to a party and spends the entire night babysitting his beer in the corner, there’s gotta be something wrong with him. If not wrong, then there’s something off. Either way, not interested.”
“Oh my God! Would you let me get two words out? Quit steamrolling me.”
I giggled at her feistiness. “Okay, okay. Sorry. Please tell me how Tyler is the man of my dreams.”
“I’m not going to tell you shit if you’re going to be an asshole about it.”
I barked out a laugh. “Okay. I’ll stop being an asshole.”
She giggled out a laugh. “All I’m going to say is that I think you should give him a chance. He’s an awesome guy. And any guy that Jackson vouches for should be good enough for you to at least maybe consider giving a chance.”
“I don’t know. Maybe I should take my chance with someone like him.” I showed her a picture from the app that had popped up as a possible match for me.
“Eww. Gross! No! No way! That guy is gross.”
“Fugly, right?”
She made a gagging gesticulation. “Back to Tyler,” she said, diverting us back to the mystery man from New Year’s Eve. “Look, he was in a bad place that night. Jackson forced him to come over so he wouldn’t be alone on New Year’s. I don’t want to tell all of his business.” Her sigh was a little bit sad, a little bit sympathetic. “It’s his story to tell. But he was going through some personal stuff back then. And I just think you might hit it off with him.”
“Okay, what really gives? You’re making a very weak case for this guy.”
“Two weeks before Christmas, he received his divorce papers.”
“Two weeks before Christmas? Seriously?”
“Yeah. Can you even imagine?”
“What a bitch.”
“He knew it was coming. They’d filed a while before that. But it was just the timing of it all.”
“I’ll say.”
“Very poor timing. And even though he knew it was going through, it still came as a shock that he received them when he did.”
“Wow.” I couldn’t imagine how that would’ve felt. Divorce is never easy—even when you want it, it’s not easy. But getting the news that you’re officially divorced right before the holidays, when you’re supposed to be celebrating and having fun, being all joyful and merry and bright, had to have been rough. I couldn’t even begin to imagine having to be in a spirited mood after getting that news.
“If you stay for dinner, you’ll get to meet him.”
“I already met him two years ago.”
“Don’t be a smart ass. You know what I mean.”
I laughed at her sass and brawn. She didn’t take shit from anyone, just like me. That was why we were sosimpatico. She got me, and I got her. There wasn’t any pretense or bullshit with Catherine. And it was one of the things I loved most about her.
Catherine checked her phone when it chimed. “That was Jackson. They’ll be back in a few. Tell you what, meet him and let me know what you think.”
“Fine,” I huffed out. I knew I didn’t have a choice. She’d beat me to death trying to convince me, so I figured I could at least give the guy a chance. If he was as great as Catherine thought he was, hopefully, there wouldn’t be any harm in at least keeping my mind open.
“Thank you,” she said with a know-it-all attitude. She raised an eyebrow and grinned. “And just think, if you guys hit it off, you won’t have to eat your dinner over the kitchen sink like an animal anymore.”
“Bitch.” I sputtered out the word on a laugh, proud and slightly embarrassed that she just called me on my own shit.
