Page 80 of Strike Zone

“Hey, bro. Is there a reason why your date just sat down with another guy?” He signals the bartender for a round of drinks, handing me his glass of whiskey, which I down like a cheap shot of tequila on spring break.

“You don’t recognize him? He was at your wedding.” I scrape my hand over my five o’clock shadow, tension rolling off me in waves.

“I remember him. He was her date,” Brooke interjects as she slides under my arm for a hug. “Smarmy bastard. I didn’t like him.”

“I didn’t think I couldn’t love you more, Lexington, but it just happened. I do. I’m ready to become Anders’ brother-husband just for you.”

“What about my sister?”

“I’ll buy us a big compound to live on or something.” I can’t take my eyes off Diana, even for a second, watching for any sign she might need me. Anders replaces my empty glass with a full one. That’s what best friends are for.

She looks to be crying at one point, wiping tears from her cheeks. I’m ready to move, every muscle in my body tensed and ready to pounce, but Brooke rests her hand on my shoulder. “You need to let her do this alone. Whatever happened there obviously wasn’t good.”

“Has she told you anything about him?”

“No. She’s private about relationships, as evidenced by her seeing you and being more than halfway through her pregnancy by the time she told me. How crap a sister am I?”

“I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you we were seeing each other. And I didn’t even know I was going to be a dad for the first trimester. What does that say about me? Diana had her reasons, and everything worked out in the end.”

Eventually, the douche canoe rises from the table, jutting the chair out so hard it falls backward. Being the dickhead he clearly is, he doesn’t bother to pick it up, storming out of the restaurant without so much as a backward glance.

Diana rests her elbows on the table, her head in her hands. Brooke rushes over, and Anders asks me to give them a minute together.

“I need to check on her, man. That guy is bad news.”

“And he was sporting a black eye when he left. Can I assume that was your doing on the way in?”

“Yes,” I say proudly. “He deserved it.”

“Well, all right then. Let’s go have dinner with our girls.”

We weave our way through the tables, everything an obstacle in my path to Diana. I drag my chair closer to her, wrapping my arm around her shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I said what I needed to say, and he had some choice words for me that I don’t feel like repeating right now. Can we just order?”

“Of course.”

A night out with Anders and Brooke is always a good time. They carry the conversation with some hilarious moments and talk about the future until Diana shakes off her encounter and joins in the fun.

“When are you guys going to have a baby? Our kids are going to grow up together. How weird is that?” She throws it out there so nonchalantly as she tucks into a Caesar salad.

“We already have children. Twins actually. Freddie and Mercury. We had them six months ago, and they live in our laundry room. Didn’t we tell you? My bad.” Brooke can’t even get through her own jibe without amusing herself.

“Very funny. I get it. I’m the worst sister ever for depriving you of watching me spend months with my head down my toilet.”

“She did you a favor, Brooke,” I interject. “It’s been so nasty. I’m thinking we’ll just sell both our apartments after she gives birth and buy something new because we’ll never be able to get those bathrooms clean enough to erase the atrocities that have happened in there.”

“And that’s just when you guys were having shower sex. What about where Dee’s been sick?” I can always trust Anders to one-up me.

“It’s like flashbacks to ‘Nam every time I walk in there.”

An idea forms as I polish off my steak, letting the rest of them talk amongst themselves. Diana rests her hand on my thigh, garnering my attention. “Are you okay? You’ve gone uncharacteristically quiet.”

“I think we should move in together.” I ready myself for battle with a list of pros and cons—mostly pros—knowing nothing with us is ever simple. “Just hear me out…”

“Yes.”

“What?” Brooke and Anders echo my surprise, which I find mildly offensive, but now’s not the time for it.

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