Page 28 of Hard Hitter
“Oh, no!” Georgia’s face filled with sympathy. “What did he do?”
“He was just being a dick. Yelling at me.”Trying to break into my home. She’d outlined her tale of woe to Georgia last month on a road trip. But today she didn’t care to elaborate. “You and Becca were dress shopping, and O’Doul was in the neighborhood. So I went home with him. No sex happened. But I got drunk and passed out on his couch in front ofFace/Off.”
“Bummer.” Georgia shook her head. “I like my version of events better. More hot sex. Fewer terrible exes.”
“I know, right? But it’s not like that.”
“Could it be, though?” Georgia picked at her last dumpling. “I was kidding a second ago, but I’m serious now. I used to think O’Doul was an ass. But now I think he’s just really lonely. My gut says that if the right girl softened him up a little, he’d be the most loyal man who ever lived.”
Ari thought the idea had merit, but whoever finally got through to O’Doul would not be her. “Someone else will have to win that prize. I haven’t been single since I was twenty-one. I need a break from men.” Looking back on the last year with Vince, she didn’t like what she saw. Did she stay so long out of loyalty? Or was she afraid to be alone?
Only one way to find out.
“Was he awful? Your ex?”
Yes. “I don’t even know how to answer that. I put up with too much from him. I was like a frog sitting in the water on the stovetop. The water got hotter and hotter, and I didn’t jump.”
“But then you finally did,” Georgia pointed out.
Too late, Ari chided herself. She hated being out of town right now, wondering what trouble Vince would stir up. How crazy was he willing to get? She should have left the storage room locks alone. But then he’dneverhave left. God, would she ever extricate herself from this asshole?
It was time to execute an emergency change of subject. “So, don’t keep me hanging. Did you find a dress last night?”
Georgia laughed. “I found a dozen of them. Becca made me try on so many they’ve all blurred together in my mind.”
“Ah. You overshopped.”
“I did! Becca has some serious stamina. I swear to god, she has a special notebook just for my wedding, with dividers and sections, and a place to put pictures she’s clipped. No wonder she’s such a good office manager. But it’s killing me. I can’t wait to marry Leo. But the ceremony is twenty minutes, right? Is it awful that I’m way more interested in making it to the play-offs than in flower arrangements?”
“It’s fine. But you do need to choose a dress.”
“I think I did. Hang on—you can tell me what you think.” Georgia dug into her purse and pulled out her Katt Phone. She flipped to a photo and handed the phone to Ari.
“Nice. Wow.” The dress was sleek and strapless, and showed off Georgia’s athletic body to a tee. “Did you buy it? That’s kind of perfect.”
“Not yet, but I will. In fact, I’ll call them today and ask them to put it aside for me. Becca has this idea that we’re going to look at some other shops. But I don’t see the point. I’m going to wear it once. Why shop twice?”
Ari loved this about Georgia—her pragmatism. “It really suits you, too. It’s not fussy.”
“Thanks. I had no idea just how fussy those suckers could be. I put my foot down when Becca wanted me to try one with beads on it. Beads!”
“The horror,” Ari teased.
“I know, right? I made the mistake of asking Becca if she thought I could get away with a dress that wasn’t so weddingy, so I could wear it again. The poor girl almost had a coronary. So I tried on a dress with lace on it just to make her feel better.”
“I don’t see you in lace,” Ari admitted. “Buy the one in the picture. You look amazing.” She handed back the phone. “When I was a little girl I did that thing where you put a white T-shirt over your hair and pretend to get married. I couldn’t wait to plan my wedding.”
“Hmm...” Georgia said, her eyes on the guys skating drills below. “I didn’t play wedding. But I did practice standing on the podium at Wimbledon, and curtseying for the queen. So I can’t claim to be any less vain. And that Wimbledon thing isn’t happening for me, so I might as well throw a wedding.”
Ari watched the younger woman with fondness, and once again had a moment’s appreciation for the new friendships her upheaval had brought. “When I was twenty-two years old, I was sure that Vince and I would get married. Andeven as things sort of fell apart with him, I still hoped he’d pull it together so we could plan our future. God, that was stupid.”
Georgia turned to her with a soft look. “I’m sorry. But there are better men out there.”
“Yeah.” She cleared her throat. “Last night I was trying to explain to O’Doul why I stayed with Vince for so long. Everything I said sounded lame. And I didn’t even tell him the worst reason.”
Georgia’s eyebrows rose. “What’s that?”
“I want a child. I’ll be thirty next year, damn it. I was hoping things with Vince would get better so that we could start a family.”
