“Guys, this is Jessica, my new partner,” I stated to Jordan and Gavin as I felt my heart start to race a bit. I was shocked at how nervous I was to introduce Jess to myfriends.
Her bright blue eyes lit up as she made introductions and took a seat between Gavin andme.
We all made small talk for a while, and I was glad Jordan and Gavin both took the time to get to know Jess. I’d been nervous as heck for no reason and was glad to be pleasantly surprised at how well they all seemed to get along rightaway.
“You know, this is the first time Sean has introduced us to someone he works with.” Gavin took a long gulp from hisManhattan.
Jessica’s face lit up and she jabbed my arm with her elbow. “I guess I made a good first impression.” She giggled a little at the end of her sentence, and I couldn’t help but feelflushed.
“You ain’t half bad, rookie. First partner I’ve had who’s at least entertaining to talkto.”
Right then, Gavin’s attention was diverted to the door as it was opening. A well-dressed guy was holding it for a woman who had my best friend completelymesmerized.
As Gavin picked his jaw up off the floor, Jordan threw an olive at him. “Hey, creeper, see a ghost orsomething?”
The woman shot a quick glance in our direction before she was ushered away by herdate.
“I feel like I know her from somewhere. Did she go to school with us?” Gavin asked quietly, eyes still glued to the spot the woman had justleft.
“Gavin, she’s a little younger than we are—though I’m sure you would have hit that in high school anyway,” Jordananswered.
He shrugged. “Maybe she just has one of thosefaces.”
Chapter 5
McBee
A little over a yearlater
“Hold on,guys—Seven needs a water break.” Huffing, Myla poured water into her husky’s Otters-themed travel bowl. It was downright adorable how engrossed Myla was in the Otters fandom—from her matching red and blue sweats to Seven’s collar and leash, all the way down to her backpack and keychain, Myla screamedGo Otters. I mean, it did make sense since she was the wife of the Otters’ captain and the sister of the previous year’s MVP, but sometimes it was a littlemuch.
Stretching, I took in a deep breath of chilly air then checked the running app on my iPhone. “Three miles down, ladies. We’re kicking ass for sure.” Central Park was bustling with early morning runners, bikers, joggers, and even a few roller-bladers, all decked out in their winter sports gear to work off their Thanksgiving feasts and gear up for the rest of the holiday meals that were right around the corner. It was my favorite time of year and I was soaking it all in. The crispness of the air, the energy of the city, the excitement of all of the festivities—it was truly the best time of the year in New YorkCity.
Karla checked on Lilly in her pink and white jogging stroller. “Yeah, if we keep this up, I’ll finally lose this baby weight before NewYear’s.”
My phone started buzzing in its strap on my arm. Retrieving it, I saw my partner’s name lighting up the screen with a fewtexts.
Whistler: Are all three of you ladies still joining ustonight?
Whistler: The Cask and Barrel at six, Jordan has seats saved for all of us to watch thegame.
Me: How could we miss it? We’re obviously gonna be there. Just about to finish up our run. I’ll text yousoon.
Whistler: 10-4
“Judging by that goofy-ass look on your face, let me guess—Sean?” Myla had a shit-eating grin while packing up Seven’s bowl and waterbottle.
Rolling my eyes, I secured my phone back in place. “He was just checking to see if we were still going to The Cask and Barrel to watch the Otter’s gametonight.”
Karla had Lilly up in her arms, rocking her back to sleep. “How could we not watch our guys kick some Islander asstonight?”
It was crazy to think that only a little over a year had gone by. Our group was so close, and it was hard to imagine a time when Karla and Myla weren’t my best girlfriends or when Sean wasn’t my partner. I had finally found the group of real friends I had always wanted ever since I was a littlegirl.
“One more mile?” Myla asked as she started to jog in place. “It’s too cold to just stand around for toolong.”
Right as we were all about to start back up, a brown and white dog sprinted past us, hell-bent on catching a squirrel that was bee-lining it for a tree as a short woman chased after him, screaming, “Dozer! Stop! Dozer!” at the top of her lungs. Her long dark hair flew around as she frantically tried to catch herpup.
I was close enough that I ran up and quickly stomped on the long black leash flapping behind him. The dog hastily halted, trotting over to me with a wagging tail as his owner caught up tous.
