Page 41 of Game Day

The girls are standing around wearing various forms of athletic wear. From Mari's sleek black outfit to Brooke's gold cropped top and shorts to Kat's yoga pants and tank and Chloe's leopard-print outfit.

"We're doing a pole class to get you moves-ready, wifey," Brooke announces.

Excitement washes away any bad feelings from earlier. I love dancing, and the idea of shaking away my frustrations is immensely appealing. Still, the poles are slick and silver, and all I can picture is J.Lo doing upside-down splits halfway up one through some magical core strength that's not available to us mortals.

"I warned you—Nova's not coordinated.” Mari laughs.

“I move to my own rhythm,” I counter.

My sister puts her hands on her hips. “What about the time you tripped racing on flat pavement when you were ten?”

“For the thousandth time, there was something lying across the road.”

“Transparent aliens? Invisible roadkill?” Mari says helpfully.

"Let's do it," I decide. I need to unleash my energy on something.I love the idea of swinging around the pole in elegant circles, even if I have no idea how I'd get there. “But can I have a drink first?”

The girls cheer and it’s settled.

A bartender brings us margaritas—or “Bridearitas” as he calls them—and we toast. I take a long gulp of one before setting the rest on the coffee table in front of a chaise longue facing the stage.

The instructor comes over and introduces herself as Anna. Her blond hair is pulled back in a stubby ponytail, and her strong, toned legs are clad in yoga shorts."Over the next ninety minutes, we're going to have fun and get a hell of a workout, and on top of that, there's a prize for whoever does the best routine at the end."

Brooke hollers, clapping.

"I love a prize," Kat declares.

"But first, you need the proper uniforms." Anna grabs a basket full of feather boas from the corner and passes them out to us.

"Don't strangle yourself," Chloe warns.

“They’ll break if you put weight on them,” Anna assures us.

Our instructor starts us off by moving around the pole, hooking an arm around it, and going into a back bend.

"I'm too old for this," Mari complains, her hair brushing the floor.

"Maybe you're just too married," Chloe teases. "Your motivation decreased. Harlan's head over heels and divorce is expensive."

My sister throws a boa at Chloe, which flutters to the floor halfway to its target.

"Good job, ladies. It's getting harder." Anna goes to crank up the music, the bass getting under my skin until I feel as if I'm part of it.

My sister taps out, going for her margarita.

"What, you're done?" I complain.

She drops onto the couch facing the poles with a sigh of satisfaction."I'm rehydrating. I got three hours with my eyes closed last night. Sleep regression is a real thing." She takes a long sip of her drink and motions to Chloe, who finishes her move and joins Mar.

The rest of us throw ourselves into moves of increasing difficulty. There's no J.Lo inverted split, although Brooke gets impressively close.

I catcall at her. "Has Miles seen those moves?"

She tries to flip me off but can't from her position.

"Who's Miles?" Kat asks, grinning.

"He's on the Kodiaks," I say, enjoying my role as instigator for a change. "Plays with Clay. And Brooke’s brother, Jay."

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