We pay our bills, we hug, we make overly ambitious plans to do this again “soon.”At the door, I turn back and find six women watching me with the kind of attention I used to associate with assessment and judgment.I don’t feel that at all, and that’s important for me to remember.
Outside, the day feels brighter, like someone turned up the saturation.I walk to my car with Brienne’s card in my pocket and the oddest ache in my ribs.I’ve never had girlfriends.Never sat at a table and been tugged into a circle like it was the most natural thing in the world.It feels like a muscle I didn’t know I had, finally stretching.
♦
The street outsideAtlas’s house is lined with cars but the driveway remains empty.My first thought is that I’m at the wrong house.My second is that Atlas has added a side hustle as a valet, but then I assume one of the neighbors is having a party.
I shoulder open the front door to the sound of cheering.
From what sounds like an army.
Frowning, I set my purse and keys down on the foyer table and walk to the back of the house where the “man cave” is located.It’s hilarious to me that Atlas actually has one because he hardly spends any time in it, but it’s being taken advantage of today.
The den is full of men.Not packed, but enough that I freeze in the doorway.My eyes go first to Grayce, because she’s perched on the thigh of a man I don’t recognize, babbling like she’s known him her whole life.Two other strangers are on the rug, building a soft-block barricade for her to knock down.She topples it with glee by kicking her leg, and the three of them erupt into laughter like this is a normal day for them.
The TV blares with a hockey game, a ticker crawling blue and white across the bottom of the screen.
Atlas comes up behind me and I turn to find him with a tray of sodas balanced on one palm, bare feet silent against the hardwood.
“Hey,” he says, grin spreading like he’s been waiting all day.“You’re just in time.Third period’s about to start.”
“Third period?”
“The Carolina Cold Fury and the Vancouver Flash are playing game five.It’s one of the most competitive matchups of the playoffs.”
“Oh,” I murmur, and wonder if this is something I’m supposed to know.
“Come here,” he says, voice low and reassuring.“I’ll introduce you.”
He steers me inside and starts introductions.“You already know Lucky.”
Lucky lifts a hand from the armchair.“Winnie said you survived brunch.Mad respect.”
I manage a laugh, tension easing a fraction.
Atlas gestures to the man with Grayce on his knee.“That’s Kace.He’s single, and despite appearances, very safe with babies.”
Kace bounces Grayce once, and she shrieks in delight.“She approves.”
Atlas nods toward the two on the floor.“Penn—you’ll connect him to Mila—and North, who’s with Farren.”
Penn flashes a grin.“Mila texted me already.She loves you.”
North gives me a quiet nod.“Good to meet you finally.”
“And over there,” Atlas goes on, pointing to a man with mischievous eyes, “that’s Rafferty.Tempe’s guy.”
“Ahh,” I say with a knowing smirk.“The man who kisses women in grocery stores.”
Rafferty smirks.“It worked out for me, didn’t it?”
I laugh and then Atlas is pointing to a tall, sharp-eyed man on the other couch.“King.Willa’s man.”
King tips his soda.“She said you’d be tough enough to survive this crew.”
“And last but not least, Foster,” Atlas finishes, gesturing to the boyish grin across the rug.“Mazzy’s fiancé.”
“Hi,” Foster says, sheepish.“Mazzy made me promise to behave.”
