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Charlie comes shuffling across the room to me. When he reaches my feet, I sink to the floor so that he can crawl into my lap. I should probably get a couple of things done before Nancy and Gina get here, but everything can wait a few more minutes.
“Such a good boy,” I tell him as I scratch behind his ears. “You and me—we are just a couple of broken souls, aren’t we?”
“I can’t believe you talked me into wearing this,” I tell Gina across the table.
“Are you kidding? You look fucking hot,” she replies, sucking the lime out of her margarita.
I look down at the lacy black top. “This shirt is missing the bottom half. My poochy belly pokes out, making me look like a certain honey-obsessed bear.”
Nancy starts laughing so hard she chokes on her drink.
Gina holds up her fingers, ready to tick off the reasons why this outfit was a good idea. “One, you’re wearing high-waisted jeans. No one can even see your belly. Two, those jeans make your ass look fantastic. And three, your tits are out of this world.”
My eyes glance at my chest. The push-up bra that Gina picked out from the bottom of my drawer makes my large breasts look perkier than normal. As a woman who lives in t-shirts and leggings the majority of the time, this outfit is way out of my comfort zone.
My two best friends also talked me into wearing my hair down, putting on makeup, and rocking cowgirl boots.
Gina is always used to looking her best. With no kids and no serious relationships, she constantly looks like she’s ready to have a night out on the town. And Nancy has one of those gorgeous, naturally pretty faces that looks good no matter what. It’s obnoxious.
Between my full-time job, motherhood, and life in general, I’m usually the haggard-looking one of the bunch. I have to admit that sometimes, I feel a bit jealous of my friends. Not in a malicious way or even in a way that makes me wish my life was different. It was just hard watching them live their best lives in their twenties while I was up to my eyeballs in dirty diapers.
I love my kids, and I wouldn’t trade them for anything. But before they came along, I wasn’t even sure I wanted kids. I wanted to go to college and try my hand at writing books while I traveled the world. Then, a boy convinced me to settle down with him. I got three awesome kids out of the deal, so I don’t want to complain. It was just rough being knee-deep in motherhood while my friends were climbing their career ladders during the day and adding notches to their bedposts at night.
Gina gets up to get us another round of margaritas while Nancy and I giggle at the girl on stage who is slurring the words to a popular Britney Spears song.
When she finishes, Nancy turns to me. After taking a sip of her drink, she asks, “So, how are you doing?”
Without even thinking about it, I sail into talking about the kids. I talk about how they’ve been and what they’ve been up to.
When I come up for air, she says, “Erin, you know I love those boys more than I love myself, but I asked howyou’redoing.”
“Oh,” I reply. “I’m okay, I guess.”
“How are things with Judd?”
“Same, I guess. He still makes me a nervous wreck. At this point, I’m not sure if I’ll ever get over it.”
She sets her hand on top of mine. “You will. It will just take some time.”
Another woman gets on the stage, ready to sing. Karaoke has never really been my thing. I’ve been told I have a nice voice, but that doesn’t mean I want a room full of people to hear it. I figure tonight, I can probably get out of it because it’s a mad house, and it looks like there’s a long line.
But I’m about to find out that I’m not going to get that lucky. Gina shows back up at the table with three margaritas and a black binder.
She hands it to me and says, “Pick a song.”
I try giving it back to her. “I don’t think so, Gina. Looks like there’s quite a few people in front of me.”
“Sweet cheeks, I added our names to the list when we got here. Nancy and I are doing a duet next, and then, you’re up.”
I could argue, but Gina’s stubbornness is legendary. There’s no way I’d win the battle before it was time for me to sing. Instead, I start chugging my margarita for some liquid courage. I’m going to need it.
Chapter Two
Tanner
“Areyougoingtotake your shot?” I ask my older brother, Devon, who has been holding his pool cue for the better part of two minutes.
“Why do I do this to myself? Why do I say yes to coming to play pool with you when I know you’re going to wipe the floor with me?”
