Page 134 of The Best Men
I laugh out loud. “You’re hilarious.”
“Can I assume from the beard-burn on your face that you two got reacquainted?”
“Yeah.” My laugh turns embarrassed. “About that . . . We’re, uh, leaving. Sorry to take off. But he’s going to spend the weekend so . . .” I feel my face burn bright red.
Hannah doubles over laughing. “This is great. I’m going to tease you about this foryears. Remember when Flip turned thirty and you spent five minutes at his party and then left to have sex?”
“We’ll probably go out to dinner first,” I sputter.
She laughs harder.
“Weekends are short, and then he’ll go back to France.” I clear my throat and try to clear my head. “This is our only chance.”
“I see how it is.” She gives me a little shove toward the door. “Go on. You know you want to.”
“Thanks.” My face is still aflame. But it’s totally worth it. I lean in and kiss her cheek. “Love you.”
“Love you too, Marky Mark. Now scram.”
I don’t make her say it again. With a wave and a smile, I head for the door. On my way I spot Asher, standing beside Flip, the two of them lost in conversation. So I head outside alone to wait for him on the street.
Because, unfortunately, there’s someone else I need to talk to.
Bridget answers on the second ring. “Talk fast because I’m frosting cupcakes.”
“About that,” I say slowly. “I’m sorry, Bridge, but I can’t do T-ball tomorrow.” Icoulddo it. But I don’t want to leave Asher in my bed at seven-thirty in the morning to handle something that’s Bridget’s problem. Not this time. Not when I have less than forty-eight hours with him.
“Mark! I’m literally frosting the cupcakes.”
I take a deep, slow breath so I don’t explode. “Look. Earlier I said I could do it. I was wrong. You can find a way. Ask Valencia. Ask Morgan. There’s a friend in town that I never get to see, and I’m going to do that. I’m going to live my damn life.”
“A friend in town? At seven-thirty tomorrow morning?”
Clearly, she doesn’t think I deserve a life if she can’t do the math here. My silence fills in the blanks for her.
“Oh,” she says, with a sigh. “Well, look, like I said earlier. I’m glad you’re doing your thing. That’s great. But what if you swung by the ball field later? At nine? We could do a handoff.”
“No,” I say immediately. “We’re not negotiating right now. Ineversay no to you. Never. I’ve spent the last year terrified that Rosie would think I don’t care about her. But you take advantage of that, Bridge.”
She makes an irritated squeak. “I donot.”
“Not intentionally,” I concede. “But you never hesitate to ask me to step in. And for once in my life, I’m saying no.”
“Fine,” she snaps. “Fine. I’ll figure something out.”
“I’m sure you will,” I say softly.
She hangs up.
Huh. I guess I won’t be getting any more of those tacos anytime soon. But damn, that felt good. A whole lot better than tacos. I take another deep, cleansing breath and wait for myweekend surprise?yes, I like the surprise of Asher very much?to emerge from the preppy mansion.
He doesn’t make me wait too long, either. Only two minutes have passed when the door opens for the man who’s got a weekend bag slung over his shoulder. “All right, Banks. Where to?”
“Let’s see . . .” I check the time. “It’s barely past seven, and you’ve been on a plane all day. Want to walk a bit in Central Park?”
“That sounds great,” he says. “Although, you’re probably hungry. I could find us somewhere to have dinner.”
“Actually . . .” I eye the V of golden skin that’s visible in the open collar of his shirt. “I already ate.”
