Page 87 of The Pass
“My moves?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Did you have a special song picked out?”
“A special song? What the hell are you talking about?”
Her mouth puckers into a smug smile. “I believe I was promised a striptease on date number five. Don’t think I forgot.”
I toss my head back and laugh. “Anything you want, babe.”
Epilogue
Sydney
Two yearslater
“I think I might puke…or shit myself,” Tanner says, voice high and tight.
“Charming. I’ll be the laughingstock of the Wags section. They’ll call you Skidmark and I’ll be Skidmark’s girl.”
“Skidmark’s fiancée,” he corrects me, suddenly sounding calmer.
“You’re going to be great. I’m going to FaceTime Tara and the new boyfriend so we can watch the game together.”
He grunts.
Over the past two years, Tara has dated a series of guys, each one worse than the last. I admire her perseverance, but I really hope this one works out so Tanner can stop adding guys to his glitter bomb hit list. She and I have slowly become friendly. We don’t have girls’ nights out or gab on the phone, but we both always show up to support Tanner and I think we’ve found a mutual respect for one another.
“All right. I’ve got to go. We’re pulling up to the arena. I’ll call you after the game. Will you still be up?” he asks.
“You think I’m going to bed early on my superstar fiancé’s first night playing in an NBA game?”
“Well you’re like four hours ahead.”
“Three. You’re really going to have to figure out the time zones.”
“If the other states would stop doing daylight’s savings time like Arizona did, it would be so much easier. Half the year it’s two hours. The other half it’s three. Who can store all that useless information?”
“You’re rambling,” I say, biting back a smile. It’s rare that I’ve seen, or heard, Tanner this spun up. Not that I can blame him. He’s worked hard for this. The past year since we graduated from Valley hasn’t been easy. He signed with the Celtics and the Red Sox. The media went nuts and my boyfriend—now fiancé—became a sensation. His handsome face was everywhere I went for a while—magazines, TV, social media. It was super trippy.
So was moving to Boston. In what universe did I end up living somewhere so cold? At least I have the beach.
Then, he got hurt. He was nervous that it was all going to blow up, but he worked twice as hard and tonight he finally gets to play in their game against the Lakers in Los Angeles.
“I’m fucking nervous.”
“You are going to be amazing,” I say for what is probably the hundredth time this week. “I can’t wait to watch. I’m going to call Tara; do you want to stay on the line and say hi?”
“Nah, we’re getting off the bus. Tell her I said hi and apologize in advance that she’s about to be known as Skidmark’s sister.”
“You’re so dramatic. I am not telling her that. Good luck. I love you. Don’t shit your pants.”
He chuckles. “Love you, too. Bye, babe.”
I drop my phone into my clutch as I approach Tara.
“Was that Tanner?” she asks as we share a quick hug hello.
“Yeah, he says hi.”
