Page 34 of No More Heartbreakers

“You said you moved a lot as a kid, right?”

“Yeah. It was kind of lonely. Not all bad though—it teaches you to be strong, makes you flexible. You realize you can go anywhere and be okay, and then when it’s time to go, you can just pick up and do it all over again.”

And it gives you a short attention span, makes you someone who can break ties without a thought.

“Well, it sounds kind of cool—to get to see all those different places. Not boring, anyway.”

“Right. What about you? Planning to crank out a rugrat or two?” He slid his eyes over to me then back to the highway.

“Oh, God no. I’m like you. I want to focus on my career. Besides, gotta be married before you start thinking about babies. Or, at least that would be my preference.”

“Colleen says you practically are. Married. To some, like, big-time rancher or something. What was his name—Kale?”

I shot him a withering glance. “Hale. And we’re not ‘practically married.’ We’re not even engaged. In fact—”

I stopped short, remembering the story I’d relied on so heavily since meeting Aric. The farce of having a boyfriend was unnecessary now I knew Aric had someone special in his life, but I’d already said it, and I didn’t know exactly how to un-tell the lie.

When I didn’t pick up and finish the sentence, Aric tried finishing it for me.

“In fact… you’re what? Getting engaged soon? Engaged to be engaged? Don’t worry—I’m sure old Kale is planning some big stunt—like he’ll rent a suit of armor and come riding across his vast estate on a big white horse with an armful of roses.”

Aric’s mocking tone irritated me.

“His name isHale.And it’s not an estate. It’s just a… really big farm. And he doesn’t have a white horse.” I sniffed.

Hale’s favorite horse was a Palomino, so she was actually anoff-white color.

I continued, enjoying pointing out how wrong Aric’s assumptions were. “And—henevergives me flowers.”

Aric blinked. “Really? You’ve been together how long?”

“Almost four years.” I lifted my chin in defiance, though he wasn’t looking at me.

“And he’s never given you flowers. Don’t you like flowers?”

“Of course I do. I’m a girl.” I shrugged. “But Hale thinks it’s stupid because they’ll only die in a few days and it’s a waste of money. He’s very practical. He’d be more likely to drive me out to see a pretty pasture full of wildflowers than to send some from a florist shop.”

Though, now that I thought about it, he’d never done the pasture thing either. Suddenly, I was tired of this conversation.

Thankfully, we’d arrived on the University of Georgia campus, and it was time to get back to work. We fought our way through the game-day traffic, parking in a reserved media spot outside the stadium.

As we unloaded our gear from the trunk, Aric pulled out a white plastic bag.

“So, I told you I’d bring everything we needed.” He reached into the bag and produced two scraggly fake beards, one blond to match his hair, one brunette like mine. “Check it out.”

I laughed. “What are those for?”

“It’s Beard Day at the game. You know, like the players?”

Most of the players on the Georgia team had allowed their beards to grow this season, making them look like a band of identically-dressed, heavily-padded lumberjacks on the field. I had to admit it was pretty funny.

A few die-hard fans had grown their facial hair in support, and others had started sporting fake beards during the games. The beard-wearers were featured almost every Saturday in televised coverage.

“So everyone’s supposed to wear one of these today?” I asked.

“If they want to get in for a buck.”

“That’s hilarious. I wonder if anyone will actually do it?”

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