Page 78 of One Sweet Day is Never Enough

“Are you sure you should be doing this for a living? I mean—event planners are supposed to throw parties that stay together at the end.”

She laughed again. He could always do that for her. She sighed. “You know that time you offered to come over and make me feel better and I told you I’d take a rain check?”

“Of course I do.” Tom sounded more serious.

Gia was quiet again for a few seconds before she spoke. “Can I cash in that rain check now?”

“Absolutely, sweetie. I’ll be right over.”

Gia changed into sweats and a T-shirt and twenty minutes later, Tom was at her door. She let him in with a short hug and they stood in her living room. He seemed to have had a few drinks. But then again, he’d been at the local watering hole. Gia didn’t mind.

“Nick dropped me off. He and Courtney were just leaving the bar, anyway.”

“Aw, that was nice of them.”

She’d tell Courtney and Kira about this tomorrow—they’d want to hear about it.

He set his phone down on the table by the door.

Gia nodded. “Thanks for coming over.” She put her hands on her hips and made a pouty face.

Tom gazed at her. “You look like you need a real hug.”

Gia looked at him. “That’s because I do.”

Tom reached out and wrapped her in a bear hug. Finally, he pulled back. “So what happened? Start at the beginning.”

They settled in on the couch together.

Gia explained about the party, how well it had gone, and how Stacey had shown up unannounced. And then how things had gone downhill from there.

Tom sat back. “Wow. What a night.”

“So isn’t this the part where you tell me how awful Seth is?”

Tom shook his head. “Nope. Not really. I mean, I’m sure he could’ve done a few things differently, but sounds like he made the best of a lousy situation.”

Well that was a surprise. Gia nodded. She felt a lot better having talked it all through. “Okay, well good. Thanks for listening, sweetie. I’m so lucky to have you as a friend.”

He reached out and pulled her closer to him on the couch so her head rested on his shoulder. He put his arm around her casually. Still, it was just a friendly embrace.

“So, what’s going on with you and Seth then? Why didn’t you callhimtonight? Besides the fact that his extremely territorial ex-girlfriend is having a sleepover at his house?”

Gia laughed. “Oh, right.That.”

“Yeah, that.” Tom grinned.

“I needed a breather, I guess. It was a lot to take, and I feel like if he’d have handled this breakup differently in the first place, she might never have shown up here at all. Do you think so? Or am I way off?”

Tom nodded. “I have to agree with you there. He probably could’ve handled things differently.”

“I mean, what if he’s like this with me six months down the road if things aren’t working out between us? As badly as this girl behaved tonight, I couldn’t help but feel for her on some level. I imagine Seth would be a difficult guy to lose.”

“But I can’t see you losing your mind like that and pulling some girl’s ponytail.”

Gia laughed. “True. That’s just not my style.”

Tom nodded, but stayed quiet for a bit. Finally, he cleared his throat. “Gia, when I called you earlier tonight, I was trying to get through so I could warn you.”

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