Tyler loaded up everyone and headed for the Gramercy Tavern for lunch. Chuck, Adrienne and I went to the next shoot.
TATTOOS SUCK. THE MAKEUP gal had to cover them all up and then put a wig on me. It was nice to see the normal me again in the mirror. They had me in jeans and a football jersey. I came out to see them shooting Adrienne and Hannah together. They both had baby bumps.
I could tell the mood was a little tense due to the serious subject matter. They both looked like they’d been crying. When they wrapped up this portion of the shoot, I stepped out and hugged them both. They gave me strained smiles, so I waggled my eyebrows and ‘woofed’ at them.
Who could blame me? Seeing Hannah and Adrienne pregnant was sexy as hell. I had impure thoughts while I imagined them carrying our babies. If Adrienne hadn’t broken my focus, I might have seen how far I could get. I was glad Hannah gave me a warm smile.
The idea for this shoot was for me to stand with my back turned, as if I’d abandoned my pregnant partner. I had to endure two hours of that. It went against everything I believed in, so I wasn’t surprised when I was emotionally wiped out by the time the shoot was over. What made it worse was the raw emotion both Adrienne and Hannah brought to it.
When we were done and looked at the pictures, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. The girls gave me a funny look when they saw me smile.
“What’s up with you?” Hannah asked.
“I’m just proud to say I was part of this—something this good. You were both magnificent. I’m humbled by your talent. Ladies, any time, any place. If you ever need me to work with you, just let me know; I’d be honored to be there.”
“You keep it up and I will be going to Prom with you,” Hannah teased.
I got serious.
“Hannah, I wasn’t just saying that. I mean it. No strings attached. Just call. And I hope you do.”
Hannah gave me a funny smile and hurried back to change. I looked at Adrienne to help explain what I’d done to cause her reaction. She just shook her head and went to find Hannah.
ON OUR FLIGHT BACK, I sat with Gina, against my better judgment.
“Your sister’s worried about you. How are you doing?” I asked.
“I have good days and then bad. It’s gotten easier as time goes by.”
“What happened?” I asked.
Gina thought about it for a moment, and from her look I thought she was going to tell me it was none of my business. I had pointedly not taken sides, even though Alan was one of my best friends since grade school. Gina had become a good friend in her own right. I think they both appreciated I never asked or pushed them to get information.
“I really don’t know. I think a lot of it was we were each other’s first. Neither one of us knew what a real relationship was. I’m pretty sure we still don’t. Over the last few months, we came to understand we weren’t each other’s soul mate. Alan and I like each other a lot, just not enough to go out anymore.”
She reached over and took my hand.
“Thank you for not making me uncomfortable. I know Alan’s your best friend. It would’ve been easy to make me feel bad. I think Alan took his cue from you, and we’re still friends,” she said and then squeezed my hand. “Kara’s going to be calling you.”
“Why’s that?”
“You’re supposed to find someone to go out with me.”
“Why me?” I asked.
“She knows you’ll make sure I go out with a nice guy, but don’t make him too nice.”
“What are you looking for in your next guy?”
“No dumb jocks. I want someone who’s cute and who can carry on a conversation.”
“I can’t ask you out?” I asked, to measure her reaction.
“No, I need you as a friend.”
I could understand that. I didn’t want to lose her as a friend, either. I was also attracted to her sister. I didn’t need to cause problems there. Then it hit me: Mike. He wasn’t currently dating anyone. He was consistently in the top ten when the class rankings came out, as far as grades went. Mike never seemed to be one to love ’em and leave ’em. The kicker was I knew they liked each other, and as more than just friends. I’d caught each of them checking out the other.
“I have just the guy for you. Do you trust me?” I asked.
“No,” she said, and she pulled her hand out of mine and crossed her arms.
I just gave her an evil grin. She’d be dating Mike by the time lunch was over tomorrow.
WHEN I FINALLY GOT home, I found Peggy waiting for me in my apartment. She had Duke curled up next to her with his head in her lap. I just ignored them as I went and unpacked. I came out and kissed her on the cheek. She turned off the show she was watching and gave me a serious look.
“We need to talk.”
I could tell by her body language and the tone of her voice I wasn’t going to like this. I sat down in the chair across from her.
“Okay, what do you need to tell me?”
She looked down and I knew we were over. Peggy had gotten word she had a partial scholarship offer from Arizona State. I knew Mitch had already been accepted there. He didn’t plan on going out for sports, but he wanted to get as far from home as he could. I also remembered they had spent some time together over the holidays.
“Mitch,” I blurted out to let her off the hook.
She nodded and started to cry.
“Hey, no tears,” I warned her. “What’ve we said all along? We’re just dating because we both knew this day was coming. It’s just come sooner than we expected. Does he make you happy?”
She nodded.
“Then I’m happy for you,” I said, then asked, “Can we still be friends?”
“Yes! Yes, please. I would hate this if you weren’t my friend,” Peggy said, and then got up and put me in a fierce hug. “I’ll always love you. Don’t ever doubt that.”
“Can I kick his ass if he doesn’t treat you right?”
“I’ll be sure to tell him that,” Peggy said, then kissed me on her way out of my apartment.
Then she was gone. I was lost in my own thoughts when Duke nudged my hand. The thing about a dog was their love was unconditional. It was either that, or he needed to go out. I elected to believe it was love, but I let him out anyways. Better safe than sorry with a puppy.
Monday February 9
BY LUNCH, WORD OF PEGGY and me no longer dating was all anyone wanted to talk about. I had grabbed Yuri when he saw Peggy and Mitch holding hands. My little Russian tough guy had to be convinced I was okay with it. I appreciated that he would be willing to deal with that. Peggy nodded to me to say thanks. Luckily, Mitch was none the wiser.
I walked into lunch late because I’d had to fend off Lisa Felton. She’d gotten it in her head I should take her to the Valentine’s Dance on Saturday.
“What was the reason you couldn’t go out with me last spring?” Lisa asked as she slowly moved towards me.
She herded me into a corner like I was a frightened colt.
“My friends told me I couldn’t,” I admitted.
There was no way would tell her they all thought she was a prostitute.
“Where are all those friends now?”
“They’re in college,” I admitted, another factoid she felt was important.
“This year, what was your excuse?” she asked as I took an involuntary step back.
“Ummm, I was dating Peggy.”
“Why else?” she goaded me.
“You dated Brad Hope,” I said as I felt my back touch the wall.
She gave me a smirk. She finally had cornered the guy she had chased since freshman year.
“Let’s call Brad a really bad idea on my part. Since then I’ve gone out with a few guys on dates. None of them got past second base. I’ve always known you were the guy for me. Word is you don’t like to share your toys, so I didn’t want to give you the wrong idea. Plus, I’m trying to restore my reputation. I think you’re just the guy to help me with that.”