Page 37 of Between the Paragraphs

“I don’t know. I guess we’re all growing up. We might have been asses in our early twenties, and we’ve all done some things we aren’t proud of, but that doesn’t mean we can’t change,” Tom says.

“Yeah, you’re a great guy, Mason. I know that ex of yours was a piece of work, but to be serious for a very brief moment, you’re a catch. Be yourself and I think this will all work out beautifully. Hell, I love weddings. I’m ready to attend another one,” Kevin says.

“Well then why in the hell won’t she text me back?” I grumble. I’m regretting the words as soon as they come out. I don’t want these guys to know how irritated I am that I can’t get ahold of her. It makes me seem far too clingy. They know me well, and know I’m the one who’s most vocal when a woman is bugging me when I’m with my friends. My, how the tables have turned.

The guys laugh and I finally shake my head as I join them. There’s no doubt I’m acting ridiculous. As much as their teasing might annoy me, they’re right. Maria’s thrown me off my game, but in far more good ways than bad. I need to pull my head out of my ass.

They finally lay off of me and we finish our meal. We eat, then move inside to play a game, or ten, of pool. Each one of us is competitive so we like to play anything that involves a winner and losers at the end.

Kevin racks the balls while Tom chalks his cue stick. “Ready to get your ass handed to you?” Tom taunts.

“In your dreams,” I shoot back, forcing myself to focus on the game and not my phone.

We take turns, the clacking of pool balls and the guys’ laughter filling the room. My mood improves dramatically. Playing is a good distraction for me. My mind doesn’t drift too far from Maria for long, but I’m not going to pathetically sit in some corner and sulk either.

The afternoon turns to evening as we continue to play, eat, and drink far too much. We joke about everything under the sun. While there’s always a lot of ribbing between us, these men mean just as much to me as my brother does. We’re family. We play hard, sweat together, and have each other’s backs. It’s the way it’s supposed to be with friendship.

“Remember that time in college when you swore off all relationships?” Nathan asks of Tom. They roomed together then were lucky enough to end up on the same pro team.

“I love this story because now you’re married with two kids,” Kevin says.

“Based off of that pattern, Mason should be expecting a kid soon,” Tom teases me. “Didn’t you swear off all women, too?”

“Yep, five years ago I swore to never get serious again,” I admit.

“How’s that working out for you?” Before I can reply, Nathan jumps in.

“Well, he’s checking his phone every ten minutes even if he thinks he’s doing it discretely, so I don’t think he’s doing too well at swearing anything off.”

“It’s not every ten minutes,” I grumble. I need a hell of a lot more beer for this amount of ribbing.

“Okay,” the men say. They’re far from agreeing with me, but they know I’m not going to share more. As the sun begins to set, and the guys finally head out, I check my phone again, telling myself I’m doing it for the last time this entire weekend. I’m disappointed when there still isn’t a message from Maria. I let out a heavy sigh, feeling a mixture of frustration and worry.

I realize the bottom line is that I might be utterly wrong about no one owning me. Because right now in this moment Maria has a pretty strong hold over me. I’m not even worried about that part of it. I’m worried about her in general.

I finally go to bed where I toss and turn. It takes a while, but I do fall asleep assuring myself I’ll feel different the next day. It will all be okay. This is just one more day in my life. With this thought, I shut down my brain and refuse to dwell on it a single moment longer.

Chapter fourteen

Maria

It was so much harder leaving Mason’s house than I expected it would be to do so. Thankfully I’d set an alarm on my watch earlier in the evening when Nikki and I made these plans or I never would’ve made it happen. Pulling away from him, his warmth, and that hard body was pure torture.

I don’t know why I didn’t tell him about the weekend. Maybe because I feared he could easily talk me into staying and I can’t ditch my best friend. I’m already spending a ton of time with Mason as it is. Nikki and I have always promised each other we won’t ever let relationships interfere in our friendship. That’s easier said than done when the hormones are raging and you feel like maybe, just maybe, you’re falling in love with someone for the first time.

Nikki and I have at least two weekend getaways a year, sometimes up to four if work permits. These are important for recharging our souls. When we’re together there’s no stress and we come back feeling completely refreshed. The past few weeks my boss has been on me about the interview with Mason, and about closing the deal with Miles and Ruth. I’m not usually stressed at my job, but I have been lately.

When I add to that these new feelings I have about Mason, this weekend is essential. Nikki and I have a way of calming each other down that no one else has a chance of doing. For those who have never had a best friend, I feel sorry for them.

After a few hours on the road, I finally arrive at the beach house we’ve rented for the weekend. We normally ride together, but Nikki wanted to get here last night, so I took a ride share this morning. We’ll at least ride back together. I feel a bit guilty for not coming with her the night before. I didn’t find out she’d left early though until I woke up. Had I known, I wouldn’t have stayed with Mason last night.

“It’s about time you got here,” Nikki says as she gives me a hug.

“I’m sorry. I got on the road super early . . . leaving thirty minutes before we were supposed to take off this morning,” I tell her. “You changed plans on me.”

She laughs as she shakes her head. “After a night of romping around,” she points out. I cringe as I look behind her. The place is absolutely beautiful, right on the beach, and though there are other places around us, there’s still a feeling of seclusion. It’s just what the doctor ordered.

“I’m totally guilting you. I’m shocked you’re allowing it. I’m the one who got done early with things and was lucky enough the place was available for me to come early. Stop with the guilt,” she says. We like to rib each other, but never push it to the point the other truly feels bad.

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