Chapter 32
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Jack
I watch Maggie walk away with Marissa, fighting the urge to hop out of my chair and go with her.
“Calm down, Bouchard,” Dozer says. “Your girl’s fine. Marissa’s not going to do anything to her.”
Turning in my chair to face Dozer, narrowing my eyes at him as I sip my beer. “Then why’d she insist on going with her? Shouldn’t I be the one doing that?”
Chuckling, Dozer shakes his head. “Dude. You need to chill. Marissa wants to be her friend. She sees Maggie as someone she can get along with. She’s friends with Tina, but most of the other wives and girlfriends have their own cliques and groups already and aren’t open to adding someone else.
Plus, she has a job and isn’t available for all the random weekday brunch and group spa day things, even though she’d probably love that.
” He gets a thoughtful look on his face.
“Do you think Maggie would do a brunch and spa day with her? Maybe on a weekend?”
My eyebrows climb my forehead, and I shake my head slowly. “Uh … I’m not sure. You’d have to ask Maggie about that.”
He waves that away. “ I’m not going to ask that. That would be weird as fuck.”
“I thought we were watching our language with kids around.” If he’s gonna bust my balls for flipping him off, I’m happy to turn it back around on him.
Rolling his eyes, he continues. “Marissa can handle making her own friend outing plans. I just know she’s had a rough time making friends since she moved here.
It’s easier for us, you know? You get to know your teammates, and there’s usually at least a couple guys you hit it off with right away, even when you’re new.
But she’s the boss in her office, so that doesn’t really lend itself to making friends, she works a lot, she fixes up cars in her free time, and she spends a lot of time with me. ”
I shrug. “Maggie’s pretty busy too. Single mom, has a job too, all that.
But …” I shrug again. She and Marissa were having a pretty good conversation about baseball.
“I’m sure she’d be happy to have another friend.
” Especially since, now that I think about it, I’m not sure she has that many friends.
She talks about her parents and has briefly mentioned some of Liam’s friends’ moms, but she’s never called them her friends.
Dozer nods. “Well, if you ever want to go out as a group, let me know. Especially if we do it before September.”
“Okay. Yeah. That might be fun. And likewise. If there’s something you and Marissa want to do that you want to do as a group, let me know, and I can see if Maggie’s available.”
“Awesome. Marissa’s mentioned wanting more couple friends. We hang with Nick and Tina sometimes, but it’s always nice to have other people. Maybe we can catch another ball game.”
“That would be fun. I’m sure Maggie’d love that.” And with something like that, she could even bring Liam along if she wanted to. “I’ll check the schedule and see when works for Maggie.”
“Perfect. Let me know, man.”
Liam drags his feet to the car when it’s time to go, hating to leave, which I take as a good sign. The kid’s having so much fun that he wants the night to last forever.
I can tell Maggie’s tired, though, and ready to head home.
And while he starts the car ride chattering away about how much fun he had and the new friends he made for the first half, by the time we pull into their parking lot, he’s quiet, his head lolling against the seat back so much, I think he might be asleep already.
He lifts his head and blinks slowly when I stop, though.
“He’s gonna crash hard once I get him inside,” Maggie whispers to me.
“Huh?” He sits up straighter, rubbing his eyes and yawning so wide I’m worried his jaw might dislocate. “No’m not.”
“I’m glad you had fun,” I say to Liam as Maggie climbs out of the car and puts the seat forward so Liam can get out too.
“Thanks. I did. Thanks for inviting me,” he says, his sincerity undimmed by the sleepiness in his voice. “Cool car, bro,” he tosses out as he finishes stepping out.
Laughing, I unbuckle my seatbelt and climb out too, walking them at least to their stairs. I want to give Maggie a kiss goodnight, but I’m not sure if I’ll get the chance.
She obviously wants the same thing, though, because she whispers, “Wait here a sec,” at the bottom of the stairs before climbing up and unlocking the door, saying something to Liam before jogging back down the stairs to me.
Standing on her tiptoes, she wraps her arms around me, and I grin at her exuberance. “Thanks for inviting us,” she says quietly.
“I’m glad you were both able to come. And I’m glad you had a good time.”
“I did. I made a couple new friends, and I think Marissa and I are going to hang out soon.” Her brow pulls together, a distant look coming over her face. “I’m not sure how or when I’ll find the time, but …” She shrugs, her face clearing. “I’ll make it work.”
“I have every confidence that you will. You make just about everything work.”
She lets out a disbelieving chuckle. “It’s nice that you think so.”
I shrug. “From my perspective, it sure looks like it.”
“You’re sweet,” she whispers.
“Thank you,” I whisper back. “So are you.”
With that, she kisses me. It’s short and sweet, and she’s pulling away before I’m ready. Unable to help myself, I pull her back for one more kiss.
She laughs when I release her, waving at me as she starts back up the stairs. “I gotta go. Liam’s going to be wondering what I’m doing if I don’t get up there before he’s done getting ready for bed.”
“Okay,” I say, sounding like a pouty kid, which makes her laugh some more.
“Goodnight,” she calls down from the top of the stairs. “Talk to you soon.”
“Night,” I call back, and I stand there for a minute, waiting to see if she’s really inside. But when she doesn’t come back down, I let out a sigh, climb in my car, and head home.
Despite the fact that I don’t get to have her in my bed again this weekend, I’m unshakeably happy when I get home.
Not even the text message from my dad demanding that I call him can dim my good mood.
He texted while we were at Nick and Tina’s, and I ignored it, but I’ve been delaying the inevitable for too long as it is.
Might as well call him and get it over with.
I look at the time, realizing as I put the phone to my ear that it’s midnight his time, but oh well. His calls and texts demanding that I call him back have only increased lately. And on a Friday night? There’s a solid chance he’s still awake anyway.
“Hello,” comes my dad’s groggy voice after the third ring.
“Hey, Dad,” I say, forcing every ounce of cheerfulness into my voice. If he’s going to be a pissy bastard, harassing me to call him so he can chew me out, I’m going to be as annoying as I possibly can. And with him, the best way to do that means being furiously happy no matter what.
He grunts. “You finally deigned to call back.”
“I’ve been busy.” It comes out more clipped than I want considering I’m being Happy. Not just happy, but Happy with a capital H. I want him to know deep in his bones that I’m Happy and there’s nothing he can do about it.
This time his grunt is accompanied by a sardonic chuckle. “I’ll say. I’ve seen you all over the gossip rags. Busy gettin’ busy, huh?”
I clench my jaw at his crude turn of phrase. Sure, it’s not that crass, but my dad making inferences about my sex life is gross, and I especially don’t want him acting like Maggie’s little more than a whore.
“I’ve been busy spending time with my girlfriend, yes. She’s great. And I’m happier than I’ve ever been.”
“Girlfriend, huh?” He sounds even more disgruntled about that term.
“Yes.” I keep my voice firm behind the forced cheerfulness of my tone. I stupidly thought that my dad couldn’t ruin my good mood, but he’s barely said anything and I’m already clinging to my happiness by my fingernails. But dammit, I’m not letting go. I’m not letting him ruin this for me.
He sighs heavily, and I grind my teeth, waiting for the lecture I know is coming. “I can’t say I’m not disappointed.”
Ohhh, we’re going the disappointed route.
That was always his fallback when he didn’t think yelling would work.
And I guess he’s yelled at me enough about partying, to little effect, that he thinks it won’t make a difference about me getting a girlfriend either.
I think he was always okay with the partying—within certain limits, of course—as long as it meant I wasn’t getting attached to anyone.
But a girlfriend? That’s a whole different game.
And it requires a different approach. Come to think of it, it was disappointment that he always wielded whenever I was interested in a girl as a teenager, too.
He’d say things like, “I won’t tell you how to live your life.
I’d just hate to see you mess it up and throw away everything you’ve worked so hard for just because you met a nice girl with a pretty face and big boobs. ”
He lets out another heavy sigh, and I bite the inside of my cheek, the ridiculousness of the entire situation washing over me, taking all my irritation with it.
It’s hard to be mad when I’m trying so hard not to laugh out loud.
I’m a thirty-one year old man. Like I need my father’s permission or approval to date a woman.
I could kind of understand if she were actually just dating me for my money or if she were jailbait or if I were in some kind of situation that actually put my career or reputation in jeopardy.
But Maggie? She’s no danger to anyone. Honestly, she’d be better off if her ex saw her as more dangerous than he does. Because he’s clearly of the opinion that he can just continue to take advantage of her indefinitely and she’ll just put up with it for the sake of their kid.