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“She’s originally from outside of Philadelphia but lives in San Francisco now. She’s the prettiest one out of all of us,” Gemma said, bobbing her head along to the three-piece band playing Celtic folk music.
“I highly doubt that.” I placed a kiss behind her ear. “She’s the one getting her doctorate?”
“No, that’s Sam. She’s in Michigan right now for school.”
“I think I need a diagram or something.” I drew an imaginary square on the table. “Okay.” I tried again. “Sam is the one in school with the purple hair?”
“I think it’s mermaid-colored now, actually.”
“You know what? I’ll figure it out eventually.” Though, I didn’t have to wait long. Laney and her boyfriend showed up, and the two girls squawked in excitement while I introduced myself to Bobby Magnate.
“Hey, mate,” he said with an Australian accent, which had Gemma leaning back out of Laney’s embrace.
“Hey, mate. I’m Gem.”
“Laney’s told me a lot about you. Shall we?” Bobby asked, holding his hands out so we would all take our seats.
Over our few hours together, the girls mostly chatted, while Bobby sometimes added in some colorful sayings of Aussie slang I had never heard. Laney, with blond hair, blue eyes, and a tiny mole by her nose, did have a kind of old-school Hollywood vibe about her, although she munched on peanuts, drank beer, and laughed louder than anyone in the place. She told great stories about her travels and job with the Giants, but the only thing I cared about was how happy Gemma was to be with her friend.
“So, Jason,” Laney said, setting her elbows on the table and her chin in her hands, “you’ve managed to capture our pixie friend. You got Gem trapped in a drawer likePeter Panor what?”
“Captured? I don’t know about that. I think it’s the other way around.”
Laney smiled wide. “I’m happy to finally be able to do this. We never get to see each other.” She looked to Gem. “When’s the next time?”
“I don’t know. Sam mentioned she was going home for New Year’s for a few days, but Bronte will probably be with Hunter.” She rolled her eyes, and I briefly wondered what that was about before she continued. “Maybe your birthday?”
“Oi, babe, January, right?” Bobby toyed with a few ends of Laney’s hair. “I’ve got the restaurant opening then.”
Gemma snapped her fingers. “Oh yeah. I want to hear all about that.”
Bobby leaned back in his chair and gave us a short summary about how he’d made a name for himself in Sydney as a restaurateur, then moved to America to open up a place in New York City. He was apparently really popular in the food world, even had some guest judge gigs on Food Network shows. He had plans to open another restaurant in the Bay Area, which was where he met Laney. “I’m trying to convince the missus here to become the communications director for the Magnate Group, but I’ve yet to win her over.”
Laney lifted a shoulder. “I drive a hard bargain.”
“So, not January for the girls’ weekend, then?” Gemma said. “Might be a while till we’re all back together again.”
Laney agreed with a frown, and I took that as my cue to get up. I invited Bobby to head to the bar with me, giving the girls a chance to talk alone for a bit. Bobby was a nice enough guy, although he had a wandering eye when it came to the female bartender and the woman sitting opposite us at the other end of the bar.
At the end of the night, Gemma and Laney hugged, kissed each other’s cheeks, then hugged again. I shook Bobby’s hand, and we parted ways.
Back at Gemma’s apartment, I plopped on the sofa. George Clooney curled up in a ball next to me. “I think he’s starting to like me.”
“He should, you’ve been around long enough.” Gemma took a seat on my other side and wrapped my arm around her neck. “Did you have fun tonight?”
“Of course. I always have fun with you. It was nice to see you with Laney. You guys are obviously really close, so I’m happy you got to spend time with her.”
“The four of us are all really different, but they’re like my sisters. I don’t have anyone else in my life like them.” She craned her neck back, her eyes droopy with sleep. “It was important for me that you meet Laney. I wish it could’ve been all of them, but thanks for coming tonight.”
I kissed her forehead. “You don’t need to thank me for that. I had fun, and I really like her. Jury’s still out on Bobby, though.”
“Really? Why? He’s so hot and with that accent…” When she bit her lower lip theatrically, I jostled her.
“I guess he’s hot,” I said with a surly shrug, and she laughed. “But he didn’t seem real interested in Laney or, like, in anything you two were saying. It was all about him—at least, that’s the impression I got.”
“Interesting.” Her eyes went unfocused, probably thinking through that nugget, and I rested my cheek on her head, confessing the one thing I’d been contemplating for a while now. “We should move in together.”
She jerked back, forcing my head up. “What?”
