Page 51 of The Pucker and the Princess
“No problem.” I pull a hand out of my pocket to wave away her apology, but feel like a weirdo who’s making overlarge gestures for no reason, so I stick my hand in my pocket again. I haven’t felt this awkward in my body since I was in seventh grade and had a huge growth spurt. I kept bumping into things and knocking things over because I wasn’t used to being that tall yet. Once again, I pull my hand from my pocket to rub the back of my neck, feeling awkward and not knowing how to resolve it.
“Want to go out for a drink?” Tina almost shouts. “I mean …” She looks between Nick and Marissa and me. “You won your game. And the kids are with the nanny. Shouldn’t we celebrate? We don’t need to rush home, after all.”
“Yeah,” Nick puts in after getting a meaningful look from Tina. “Let’s all grab a drink together. Whaddaya say, Marissa? You have time to grab a drink?”
“Of course she does!” Tina answers before Marissa can even open her mouth. “Come on!” She links her arm through Marissa’s and starts tugging her away, leaving Nick and me to follow behind. Marissa shoots me a panicked look, but can’t get a word in to Tina. She’s chattering like if she stops talking, the jig’ll be up, and the entire ruse will fall apart.
It’s possible she’s not wrong.
If she lets Marissa say anything, I’d lay odds on it being that Marissa’s too tired or has something early in the morning and can’t go out.
“Why don’t you just ride with Nick and me?” I hear Tina say. “We’ll give you a ride back to your car afterward, and then you won’t have to fight the traffic.” She leans in close like she’s trying to be conspiratorial, but she barely lowers her voice. “It’s so much easier to get out of the player’s parking lot than anywhere else around here, I promise.”
“Oh, uh, well …”
“Awesome!” Tina declares, as though Marissa agreed instead of the hemming and hawing she actually gave as an answer.
“I’ll take my own car,” I toss out, as though anyone’s paying attention to me at all right now.
“Perfect!” Tina chirps. “That way, if we have to dash off to the kids, Marissa won’t be left high and dry without a ride.” She follows that up with a wide grin and a thumbs up.
I don’t miss the wild-eyed look Marissa sends me. I’m not sure what she expectsmeto do. Tina’s the one driving this bus, and we’re all just passengers, including Nick.
Though if I were a betting man, I’d put money on me giving Marissa a ride later.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Marissa
I knewthis would end up biting me in the ass the second I agreed to come to the game. I knew it, I knew it, I knew it.
But I second-guessed my instincts because who could’ve ever predicted this?
Nothing about this evening has gone according to my expectations. Not a single thing.
First, I expected to just go and have a normal game experience, but nothing about it was normal. From the surreality of being there at all to Tina coming to claim me and take me up to the family box complete with a buffet and a gaggle of stereotypical WAGs who clearly didn’t like me any more than they liked Tina. And now Tina’s dragged me to a bar I’ve never been to—and frankly, I’m not sure Nick or Dozer have been here before either—and stuffed us into a tiny booth where Dozer and I are pressed together like sardines.
I’ve always admired his broad shoulders and muscular chest, but in this space, they’re liabilities. I feel like I can barely breathe.
“They’re a handful,” Tina says, wrapping up another story about her kids, “but god, I really love ’em.” She checks her phone. “Sorry. I’m talking about the kids too much, aren’t I?” She turns to Nick for affirmation or reassurance.
He wraps an arm around her and pulls her in to kiss her cheek. “You know I never get tired of stories about the kids.”
Sighing, she smiles at Dozer and me. “You’ll understand someday.” She waves her hands. “Maybe. I mean, sorry. Obviously, you might not want to have kids. In which case, you won’t understand.” She covers her mouth with her hand. “God. Sorry. That sounds super judgy. I just mean, like, being a parent is a whole different experience. Nothing really prepares you for it. Even if you think you’re ready, you really aren’t. You can’t be. And if you’re not a parent, there are things you just can’t possibly understand about being a parent, not because you’re not smart enough—because of course you are. You’re so smart! But it’s just an experience thing. Like, like”—she looks all around, casting about for a comparison—“like I wouldn’t know what it’s like to kiss Dozer.” Then she slaps her hand over her mouth, her eyes wide above it.
My cheeks grow hot, and I blink rapidly a few times, forcing myself not to look at Dozer. If he weren’t blocking me in, I’d be tempted to say I need to go to the bathroom. Though, that would probably be a tactical error. So I’m stuck here, brazening out the embarrassment. Because, what the fuck, Tina knows about the kiss? Of course she knows. Obviously she knows. Dozer clearly told Nick, and the way Nick and Tina are together, I doubt there are any secrets between them.
“I mean, I mean,” she continues, her hand still covering her mouth and muffling her words, her eyes darting around as she searches for another comparison or a way to make things better. “Like, I wouldn’t know what it’s like to grow up in Texas! Yes! That.” She pulls her hand from her mouth and points at me. “I wouldn’t know what it’s like to grow up in Texas. I mean, I know what it’s like tolivethere. At least a little. Because Nick played for Dallas for a few years before he got traded to Detroit and then from there to Seattle.” She waves a hand around. “Obviously that’s not the same, though.”
“Right,” I say, hoping to punctuate the sentence and let it end.
Nick shoots me an apologetic smile from across the table. “Sweetheart,” he says to Tina. “I think we should get home. I’d like to check on the kids.”
Turning to face him, she puts her hands on his cheeks, gazing into his eyes dreamily. “You are just the sweetest man. I’m so lucky I married you.”
He kisses her, just a quick peck. “Not as lucky as I am that I married you.”
It’s enough to make me want to go, “Awwww,” out loud. Or it would be if it didn’t mean they’re about to abandon me here with Dozer.
