Page 12 of The Plus Ones
“Mmm! Send me pictures! I love this dress, by the way. You look amazing. Are you seeing anyone?”
And there it is. The question I have come to dread. I take a big gulp of wine. Nobody wants to hear about how the holidays make you feel even more single than ever. My married friends just want to hear about my sex life and how terrible the dating world is so they can simultaneously envy me for getting someandfeel great about the fact that they don’t have to deal with all the crap that goes with it anymore.
Well, I’ve had a great time with a lot of guys and had a lot of great sex over the years. I’ve had fun. A lot of fun.
But I guess you get to a certain point in your life where having fun just isn’t fun anymore.
What I haven’t told anyone, not even Aimee, is that almost a year ago, I made a decision. A promise to myself to stop having sex with guys who wouldn’t make a good baby daddy. Not that I’m trying to get pregnant. I’m not. It’s not my goal to be a single mom or anything. But I’ll be turning 35 soon. If I should accidentally become pregnant—as people do—the truth is, I would probably want to have the baby. And I’d at least want the father to be involved somehow.
And it’s shocking just how few of the men I had been seeing were actually men I could imagine raising a hypothetical child with. In my twenties, I found the more money a man made, the less capable he was of giving me orgasms, so most of the guys I fooled around with were really good at sex and really bad at maintaining a career or a respectable credit rating. The foxhole has basically been sealed up, so Foxy Roxy’s got a whole lotta nothing to report on the man front.
“Not really,” I say. “No one serious.”
She groans. “I wish we knew someone we could set you up with. I keep asking Chase, but he’s so protective of you. It’s like no one’s good enough for you.”
“Well, that’s sweet, I guess. And probably true.”And so hilarious that you guys don’t think Keaton is good enough for me.
Aimee polishes off her glass of wine. That was quick. “You got any vacation plans or anything coming up?”
“Nope. Do you?”
“Kind of, yeah.” She goes over to the sink—to wash the wine glass or maybe just to turn her back to me. “Something just came up for February.”
“Sounds like a great time to get out of New York.”
“Exactly. We thought it would be a good time to go to an island. None of us has ever been on vacation without the kids, and we’re planning to try again.”
“Oh, you’re going without the kid? Do you need me to look after him?”
She laughs. “No! I mean—thank you. But he’ll stay with Chase’s parents.”
“Right. Wait. You’re gonna have another kid?”
“Yeah. I mean, we’re all planning to start trying again. Bernadette and Nina too.”
“Oh. So all of your kids will be the same age. That’s so cute.”
“Anyway, Matt’s aunt went to this couples-only resort in Antigua a few times, and she had great things to say about it. She travels a lot, you know, and she has impeccable taste. So Matt called the resort to see about reservations, and it turned out they only had three cottages available for the week around Valentine’s Day. So he booked them. For the six of us. Are you mad?”
Whaaaaaat?
“I’m not mad.”I’m so freaking happy you’re all going to be together, getting a tan on the dumbest day of the year, and I’ll have to fend for myself in the middle of an ice storm probably.
Her shoulders slump. “I feel guilty.”
“Enough with your Midwestern guilt. I’ll be fine. I’m sure there will be all kinds of parties to go to.”
And that’s when Nina and Bernadette walk in. It’s almost as if they were waiting and listening right outside the door for Aimee to break the news to the lonely single girl about their awesome couples vacation. I still remember the days when Aimee was single andIwas the wisecracking wise one with more experience than her, who gave her great advice and got her out of her comfort zone. Now I’m the problem child. Well, I’m one of two in this crew.
“So Keaton isn’t going either?”
“No. He isn’t dating anyone seriously.”
“Oh.”
“That we know of.” She looks over at Bernadette and Nina to confirm. “Right?”
Bernadette shakes her head vehemently.
