All three of my friends had rolled their eyes after I’d spoken and Victoria had changed the subject, but now we had so many emotionally charged issues between us that it was hard to find something neutral to talk about. Kiya was still agitated about her former Cado, Taylor was having trouble with her hook-up friend wanting more from her, and of course there were Vic’s own major problems with Mr. Gowan. Beau. I mentioned him as we approached the buffet tables. “I had a weird talk today with my boss,” I said. “Beau. He asked me to call him that.”
“Huh.” Ronan frowned. “He wants to make friends?”
“He said he realized that it sounded weird to be so formal,” I explained. “He seemed to be reaching out.”
“Screw him and don’t reach back. Have you met Alonzo?” He pointed across the room at a man eating from a plate of barbecue that was as big as my car. “That’s the best nose tackle in football. Let’s get dinner and I’ll introduce you.”
The food was definitely good and the people, like Alonzo, were generally nice. I did get an odd reception from one woman (she was dating a Woodsmen safety). “But whoareyou?” she demanded more than once.
“I’m Cate. Cate McNaughton,” I had told her, and I added “Alexis” when she asked again. But that wasn’t the information she was looking for from me. She kept posing questions about my relationship with Ronan and when I still didn’t answer with what she wanted, she stomped off, obviously annoyed.
“Don’t worry about her,” another woman told me. “She gets upset whenever there’s a new face. She feels threatened.”
“By me?” I asked.
“Yes, because you’re a very pretty girl. But it’s not all about you,” Morgan explained. “It’s her thing because she and Van are arguing about getting married. I keep telling her that it doesn’t matter but it makes her worried and insecure, especially since he’s probably moving to a new team after this season. She says that she doesn’t feel permanent.”
“They’ll be fine,” the first woman said, and Morgan nodded.
“Xavier and I dated for nine years before we finally decided to get married. I got crap about it at the first game I went to after he signed with the Malamutes. I remember a running back’s wife flashing her ring and telling me that I was never going to move into the inner circle without one. I was like, ‘I don’t want to be in the circle if you’re in it.’” They all laughed.
“Not everyone wants the same things,” I stated. I had three friends who were very divided about their future plans.
“Exactly,” Morgan agreed. “Come on and meet more people. Ronan told me that your goal is to make friends with everyone.”
“Did he say that?”
But I did meet a lot of people and by the time we got ready to go, I had fourteen new contacts in my phone. That meant I had over twenty for the first time ever, and I planned to use them.
Ronan was yawning as we went to the truck/car and I offered to drive. He leaned the seat way, way back, and settled in. It wasa kind of a long ride from where the Hurleys lived out in the country.
“We’re going past your apartment building,” he noted. “We shouldn’t have met at my house because you’ll have to drive right back there.”
“I don’t mind,” I said.
“We could stop and get some of your stuff,” he suggested. “Polyphemus, for example. You could do a trial run with the two of you staying over at my house. You’ll warm up to it, like taking practice golf swings.”
“We could do that. We could also play golf,” I said. “Some people, and I’m not going to mention names, could win their own crocodiles with some more work.”
“Who do you mean?” he wondered. “You’re probably talking about your boss, Mr. Dapper. I hate that guy.”
“I feel a little sorry for him,” I admitted.
“Really? I can’t stand him and his bullshit, running out on his responsibilities.”
“How do you know what happened?” I demanded, shocked. “Did Kiya tell her ex-Cado?”
He grimaced. “I thought you weren’t going to say that name anymore. I’m talking about him avoiding work with his constant vacations.”
“Oh, right. His vacations.”
“What’s going on?” he asked me. “What did he do?”
I hesitated but then ended up telling him about Victoria and the baby. “Please don’t repeat any of this,” I requested. “I wasn’t supposed to say anything, either, but the news is going to come out soon.”
“Yeah, babies don’t stay secret for long.” He shook his head. “I knew that guy sucked.”
“You felt that way before you knew about Victoria. Why? Just because he takes all those vacations and doesn’t ever work? Because his actual job doesn’t require any work? Because he wears ties every day? I know how you hate them.”
