Page 26 of Fielder's Choice

“I wasn’t,” Cole shrugs, sipping his beer.

“That’s because you did it backward, fucker,” Knox shakes his head.

Cole smiles at him reassuringly. “Breathe, man. You know exactly how it’s going to go.”

“How did Fort Knox turn into the simpiest motherfucker of us all?” I laugh loudly.

Knox scowls. “That goddamn nickname.”

“Cheer up, Spence,” I smile.

“Hate that one, too,” he grumbles.

Yeah, that’s precisely why I use it.

Ari’s look is devious as he turns to face me. “Something tells me you’ll give Knox a run for his money in the simp department.”

“Cole already has him beat,” Josh chuckles.

“Like you’re any different with Ella, dick,” Cole mutters.

“Okay, I get it. We’re all down bad simps here.”

“The fuck I am,” Ari scoffs. “I don’t simp over anyone in my bed.”

“I bet Luc could change your tune,” Knox prods. Since he started dating Harlow, he’s turned into such a little shit.

“One, I can’tstandLucia,” Ari chides, holding up one finger before throwing up a second. “Two, she has a fucking boyfriend. I don’t touch any woman with a boyfriend. I might fuck around, but I still have morals.”

“Shit,” I say as a thought pops into my head. “Should we start inviting Matt to these nights?”

“Fuck no.”

The emphatic response doesn’t come from Ari—it comes from Josh.

I cock an eyebrow at him. “Not a fan of Matt?” I ask.

He rolls his eyes. “Don’t act like any of you are. But Lucia is my wife’s best friend. We’ve had multiple double dates with them. And I swear to God, if I have to hear about how he works on Wall Street one more goddamn time, I’ll push him into traffic myself and make it look like an accident.”

“Fucking Christ,” Knox mumbles.

“Holy hell, man,” I say, surprised. “I thought nobody hated him more than Ari.”

“I’ve hated him longer,” Ari shrugs. “I had him pegged as a douche the moment we met him. Lucia could do so much better.”

“She could, could she?” Cole teases, saying exactly what we’re all thinking.

I don’t think Ari hates Lucia as much as he lets on. Whatever happened between them soured him, and I have a strong feeling Matt is in the middle of it. If he were out of the picture, he might be singing a very different tune.

“It’s getting late,” I say, standing and stretching myself out, sparing Ari from any further commentary. “Rory has Sage asleepalready, but she still likes to wake up at the ass crack of dawn. I need some sleep myself before that.”

“Good idea,” Josh yawns. “I’m fucking exhausted anyway.”

The five of us clean up the beer bottles on the table before we break apart for the night, ready to relax and get some sleep.

Tomorrow is Sunday, which is one day closer to Sage’s next ballet lesson. And I have more than one reason to be very excited about that.

“Daddy pwetty!” Sage chimes. She’s perched on a chair around the small table in her bedroom while I’m sitting on the floor, a pink feather boa draped around my neck and a floppy purple hat atop my head.

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