“I hate parties,” Eva says with a roll of her eyes.
Gwen pushes her and huffs. “Shut it, Ev, suck it up. We’re only young once. One day, you’ll be old and married and you won’t have time for luxuries such as this. You’ll be too busy wondering what baby needs changing or which beer your husband is on while your ass gets stuck with housework! Live it up while you can!”
Both girls round the corner as Melissa ushers them back for a shampoo and looks at me with a grin.
“Yeah, that’ll be the day,” Eva says while I grab a bottle of our finest wash and motion for her to sit in a chair. Melissa does the same and I watch as Gwen takes the seat next to her. “You won’t catch me shacked up anytime soon. Goals Girl! It would take one hell of a man to knock me off my feet and make me lose sight of what I want most. And that sure as shit ain’t him pounding back beers while I am barefoot and pregnant in the damn kitchen.”
Gwen laughs. “I’ll remember you said that.”
“Remember it. Write it down. Take a picture. Just promise me this. If I ever, ever, lose sight of what is most important to me, you’ll kick me in my ass and make sure I get my head back in the game. Some things just aren’t worth giving up everything you ever wanted.”
She’s got that right. I take the faucet and start to wet Eva’s hair as she adjusts in her seat. But still, I can’t help but think that given the right man, at the right place and time she would quickly find herself back stepping on that promise.
Gwen laughs. “I’ll remember you said that, Ev. But trust me, sometimes, even meeting someone at the wrong place and wrong time can twist you, turn you, make you wish you had a second chance. If only for one night.”
Something about what she says hits home. I pause for a moment as her words resonate.
“Oh, you’re getting deep on us now. Anyone, in particular, you have in mind, Gwendolyn? You wouldn’t be talking about someone with the last name Roberts now would you?”
I lather up the blonde’s hair and look up at Melissa. She smiles back and gives me a wink, trying to conceal a laugh she has been holding in. The one thing about this line of business, you hear everyone’s gossip, if you want to or not.
Gwen lets out a huff and waits a moment to respond.
“That’s what I thought,” Eva says with a laugh.
“Fucking Rex Roberts, why do you always assume I am talking about him?” Gwen says as she leans up and tries to look at her friend, causing Melissa to have to ask her to sit back because she is getting shampoo and water everywhere.
“I’m just saying,” Eva shrugs. “There is a lot there that you aren’t telling me, or anyone else for that matter. Hell, I think you’re even lying to yourself.”
“When I need your holier than thou opinion I’ll ask for it, Eva Monroe,” Gwen snaps before lying back in the chair. Eva looks up at me and winks, laughing at the way it is too easy to obviously rile her friend up on the subject of whoever Rex Roberts is.
Still, the name sounds familiar, and yet I still can’t place it.
“You know, I ran into his cocky ass yesterday at the bar,” Gwen says as she settles back in the seat.
“You don’t say,” Eva says, looking up at me with a wink.
“Well, not so much as ran into him but overheard him talking to a friend. I stopped because I heard his friend ask him what happened to his nose. When I turned to look, the damn bastard sure as hell broke it, or had it broken by someone else.”
We finish wrapping the girl’s hair in towels to dry and Melissa ushers them to two chairs. She hands me a drape and I wrap it around Eva’s shoulders before stepping on the lever under the seat and adjusting her height.
“Well, who broke it? God, stupid Rex. I swear that man has given me more heart attacks with the shit he pulls throughout the years. Sometimes, I wish he wasn’t my brother’s best friend at all,” Eva says.
Gwen rolls her eyes before continuing. “I don’t know, never met him. But I swear I overheard Rex say his name was Hunter. He plays ball for the university’s baseball team.”
My heart stills and I look at Gwen. “Hunter Alexander?” I ask, dumbfounded and needing answers.
“Yeah, you know him?” Gwen asks, but I am too shocked to speak. I look up at Melissa who gives me a concerned look and starts to brush out her client’s hair. “Anyways, I guess they got in some stupid male fight because this Hunter guy is who Rex is supposed to room with next year at Ole Miss.”
The brush drops from my hand and bangs against the tile. My heart drops to the pit of my stomach. I look up at Eva in the mirror. She gives me an odd expression before turning to her friend. Grabbing another brush to use, I go back to my task, the whole time my hands shake like a leaf.
“I guess it’s been planned for a while,” Gwen continues. “They’re both supposed to play for the Bulldogs. Ole Miss’s baseball team. But now this Hunter guy might be pulling out. But Rex was pissed because I guess this is a great opportunity for him and could be his ticket to the MLB. I guess that was the guy’s dream or something. I dunno.”
“So why is he changing his mind?” Eva asks, but I already know the answer, my heart breaks having to hear it from two strangers.
“Some girl, or some shit. Whatever. That was the part I didn’t hear so well, but I gathered that much and we all know how Rex feels about giving anything up, especially for a girl.”
Gwen rolls her eyes and my heart breaks in two.
