While the line went quiet, Shay had a moment to consider whether she’d overstepped the boundaries of their situation. Did this stray into real friend territory? She supposed they were already there given their connection to Gabe and Lori.
“Hey, I’m back,” Rosie said.
“Uh, is this okay?” Shay asked. Better to clear up the confusion than dwell in uncertainty.
“Is what okay? Calling me for something other than sex?”
Rosie’s gentle chuckle made Shay smile. She could imagine the look on her face, and that made her smile wider, so she figured theyhadcrossed from bed buddies into friends’ territory. “Yeah, that.”
“It’s fine. I’m happy to help,” Rosie said. “I’m sorry to hear they’re having problems. Is that why Janie wasn’t at the auction?”
“Yeah. She didn’t want to be at the center of another scene with Solo after what happened at Lori’s birthday dinner.”
“Mm, totally get that. If they can’t work it out, what happens with her share of the garage? Will you buy her out?”
Shit. “I can’t say that I’d thought that far ahead. We’re all hoping it’s just a blip. Solo just needs to pay her wife more attention and stop being so obsessed with the babies?—”
“God, the triplets… Things get even more complicated when children are involved, don’t they?”
Shay thought about the complications in her own family with her five brothers and their ever-growing brood of babies. “Being around things like this are a good reminder to stay simple.”
“Like us.”
“Exactly. You don’t want to hear about the inanity of my troubled daddy relationship and knucklehead siblings.”
Rosie laughed. “And you don’t want to hear about my mom going missing in Mexico.”
“Exact—wait, what?”
“I thought we weren’t going to talk about complicated stuff?”
The lightness of Rosie’s words wasn’t matched by her tone. Talking about family stuff shouldn’t affect their dynamic, and more than that, it sounded like Rosieneededto talk about it. “Maybe it would be okay since we’re not in bed.”
“Okay, I’ll run with that, though I don’t get your logic. But not tonight. I’m planning my pitch, and you’re busy with your friends—who you’re going to ask about my proposal, right?”
“I will, just as soon as we’ve scraped Solo off the floor and blown some life back into her.”
“Of course. Right. Rae Trent is amazing with couples’ therapy,” Rosie said. “I’m sending you her card now. She often takes emergency appointments over the weekend, especially if there’s any possibility of self-harm… Is Solo stable?”
Shay looked back out onto the yard, where the conversation seemed to have animated since she’d left it. “I’m pretty sure she’s not about to do anything stupid, so I’d say she was stable, yeah.”
“That’s good. But look out for any changes in her behavior. Marriage troubles can trigger all kinds of past trauma, and it could also be those past traumas affecting the marriage in the first place. Do you know if Solo is holding onto anything or keeping anything buried? Sorry, don’t answer that. I don’t need to know. Rae will figure that out with Solo. Just keep a close eye on her, okay?”
“Will do.” Shay looked out onto the yard again and saw Gabegesturing for her to come back out, but she wasn’t quite ready to end the call yet, so she waved back and turned away. “I’ll call you tomorrow. We can go for drinks and exchange sad stories about our families, but you’re definitely going first.”
Rosie laughed. “Okay, and we can talk about how you and your garage bois would love to be part of my pitch, yes?”
Shay laughed. “You’re incorrigible. One of myboisis in emotional hell right now. I’m not sure she’ll want to talk about fancy tools.”
“Fine. I’ll leave it with you, but I’ll need an answer as soon as you can. Otherwise I’ll have to find another bunch of hot lesbians to work with.”
“I’m hanging up now—and you better not. You promised me sex on the hood of my Javelin after a dark and moody photo shoot.”
“I remember talking about those two things but not making a promise to combine them. That said,” she whispered hoarsely, “I’m more than happy to go with it, stud.”
Rosie hung up, and Shay sighed deeply, enjoying the intense throbbing between her legs in response to the image of Rosie face down, legs spread on the hood of her car. She had finally met her match, and she couldn’t be happier about it.
CHAPTER 10
