Say Something: Second Chances, Book 6

by Mari Carr

  Please God, let it come to pass.

  “I’m not trying to get back with Phillip, but I do think I should apologize to him for running. And give the ring back.”

  “You didn’t talk to him after the game?” Shelly asked at the same time Josie said, “You still have the ring?”

  “I haven’t seen or spoken to him since that night.”

  Kristen nodded slowly, though Georgie didn’t think she was completely appeased by her response. “Okay. Fine. So Fist Bump isn’t the one. Tell us about fiancé number two.”

  Nick raised his hand to catch the bartender’s attention. He lifted two fingers, pointing to his and Jason’s empty beer bottles, to order another round.

  “So let’s have it. You’ve managed to avoid me for a few weeks.”

  Nick frowned. “I’m not avoiding you.”

  Jason chucked. “Sure you aren’t. I’ve called you half a dozen times to get together for happy hour and you’ve managed to give me some lame excuse every time.”

  “Work is a lame excuse?”

  “The lamest. So put me out of my misery. Tell me why you went into Blue Moon after I told you Georgie was there.”

  Nick sighed. Jason was right. He had been putting his friend off. Problem was he wasn’t sure he knew the answer to that particular question himself. For a year, he’d avoided Georgie like the plague, told himself he’d had a near miss and he was better off without her. Hearing she was in the bar had triggered a jealousy he hadn’t been able to control.

  Which probably told him something he really didn’t want to know in regards to his feelings toward her.

  “I wanted to check on her. Hadn’t seen her in awhile.”

  Jason shook his head. “Shit. Here we go.”

  “What?”

  “You’re going back, aren’t you?”

  “Fuck no.” Nick had never meant two words more. He’d been down this road before and it hadn’t ended well. He wasn’t about to take another chance on Georgie. She was too big a flight risk. “I’m a divorce lawyer, for God’s sake. I’ve seen the agony that can result from mismatched couples. Georgie and I are as different as tequila and chocolate milk. The way I see it, she did me a favor, saved us both a lot of heartache and money in divorce court.”

  “Then why did you go into Blue Moon?”

  Nick picked up the beer the bartender set in front of him and took a long swig. “That’s the part I haven’t figured out yet.”

  “What’s to figure out? You were friends. Then you fucked. Then you proposed. Then the wedding march played and she ran. Game over.”

  “It’s the friend part I’m kind of stuck on.”

  “You miss her as a friend?”

  Nick nodded. “Yeah. I think I do.”

  “You realize how insane that is, right? I mean Georgie drove you crazy on a good day with all that, that…” Jason was clearly struggling for the word.

  “I think you’re trying to say she’s eccentric. And flighty. And nowhere near normal.”

  Jason tapped his beer bottle against Nick’s. “All that and more, brother.”

  Nick grinned as he considered Georgie’s quirkiness, the expression making Jason scowl.

  “And despite all of that you’re going to start hanging out with her again,” Jason muttered.

  Nick shrugged. “Yeah. I am. Seeing her the other night reminded me how much fun she was to be around. I haven’t had fun in a damn long time.”

  “I’m trying not to take offense.”

  Nick rested his hand on his best friend’s shoulder. “With the exception of our drinking nights, of course.”

  Jason rolled his eyes. “Forget it. I was there all of those nights. I know we weren’t having the time of our lives. You were too depressed over Georgie and I’m just too damn tired of the meat market. You’re probably right to try to find some way to shake things up. And hey, at least it’s not Cheryl.”

  Nick groaned. “We had a pact, man. That name is not to be spoken in my presence.”

  “Sorry. Just wanted to make sure this nostalgia for girlfriends past wasn’t taking you to dark places.”

  Nick snorted. “Georgie wasn’t a dark place?”

  “She wasn’t even dusk compared to Cheryl.”

  “Yeah.” Jason sure as hell wasn’t wrong about that. He’d remained in his relationship with Cheryl for way too long. That was a year and a half he’d never get back. The woman had been a cold-hearted bitch with a capital B.

  For some fucked-up reason that he still couldn’t quite figure out, at that point in his life, he’d thought her the perfect partner. She was a marketing exec with an MBA from Stanford. She was classically beautiful and well spoken. Jason had called her smart eye-candy. Maybe that was what it had been. He’d been trying to build the reputation of his law practice and his standing in the community.

  In other words, he’d been following in his parents’ footsteps. And he had almost been sucked into that black hole, but two things held him back.

  One was Georgie. The two of them had built a solid friendship prior to his relationship with the bitch, which drove Cheryl insane and led to some pretty epic arguments. However, regardless of his desire to follow what he thought was the appropriate path, he couldn’t give Georgie up. She was the complete opposite of everything he thought he wanted. And he liked it. A lot.

  Then the veil slipped away from Cheryl. He’d attended a charity benefit for a local orphanage with her late one September. His parents were there as well. Sitting across the table from his mother and girlfriend, he watched the two of them cut on everyone in the place with vicious, judgmental malice.

  His father leaned over, made some hushed comment about how nice it was that the ladies got along so well. However, when Nick glanced at his father’s face, his expression didn’t match his words. Instead, Dad’s eyes seemed to scream, “Run!”

  The realization that he was marrying his mother fell on him like a ton of bricks. Nick loved his mother—in small doses. But with each progressive year, she became colder, snobbier. Or perhaps as he got older, he noticed it more. Either way, when he looked at Cheryl, he saw his future and he knew he didn’t want it. It looked just like the “put on a good face for the public, then yell and scream and sleep in different rooms” one his parents resided in.

  He’d taken Cheryl home that night, broken things off, and then driven straight to Georgie’s place. She’d poured them both a bourbon, welcomed Nick back to the world of poor white trash, then put on his favorite movie, Alien, and watched it with him, even though he knew she hated it.

  He’d gone to her house, worried that he’d made a mistake with the break-up. Within minutes, Georgie had shown him how easy life could be if he stopped overthinking it and trying to put everything in appropriate boxes. That brief moment of anxiety faded fast and he’d never—not once—second-guessed his decision.

  Nick had kissed Georgie that night. Their first kiss. She’d giggled afterward and told him he’d regret kissing her in the morning. Then he’d kissed her again and he’d known the only regret he had was that he’d wasted so much time getting his lips on hers. For nearly two and a half years, Georgie had been a huge part of his life. The crazy friend who was always there to split a pizza, commiserate about work shit and make him laugh when he was down.

  Then he kissed her and it all changed. For the past year, he’d tried to forget all the stuff that had come before the sex, but he couldn’t do that anymore.

  “Cheryl and I were never friends,” Nick explained. “Georgie and I were.”

  “The two of you were great friends. I remember that. I’m just not sure…”

  “That it’s smart to strike up a conversation with Georgie. To get sucked back into all the crazy.”

  “I don’t want to see you get hurt again, man.”

  Nick picked up his beer, but didn’
t take a drink. “Thought you believed she was perfect for me.”

  “She is. Or was,” Jason corrected, then he waffled back. “Hell, I don’t know. Maybe she still is. But she’s got some hang-ups. I don’t want to see you get caught in that noose again.”

  “I’m not looking to date her. I just miss talking to her. Hanging out. As friends,” he stressed, more for himself than Jason.

  “And all that wedding stuff is just forgotten?”

  Nick wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Truth was thinking about it made his chest ache. But after seeing her in Blue Moon and talking to her, he realized he’d have to tuck that hurt away. Because he’d rather go back to their just friends status than not see her anymore. He’d tried living without her for a year and it had sucked.

  “Yeah,” he said at last, “I guess it is.”

  Georgie waited until Laura returned from the kitchen with another bottle of wine, then she tucked her legs beneath her on the large chair and started her second story. “My second fiancé was Leo. The lion.”

  “Oh,” Shelly perked up. “Was he a big guy too…like Nick?”

  Georgie shook her head. “No. He was actually sort of tall and slim, gangly. The nickname came from his hair. It was completely spectacular. He had this huge bushy mane of bright auburn dreds. I loved it.”

  Kristen rolled her eyes. “Of course you did.”

  Georgie ignored Kristen and continued. “He’s a musician. Not like Rob,” she said to Zoey, referring to Zoey’s gorgeous and uber-talented songwriter roommate. “But more like a garage band, going to play a gig in someone’s barn for a case of beer, kind of way.”

  “In other words, he was unemployed,” Kristen said sarcastically.

  Georgie shook her head. “Oh no. He had a part-time job at Food Lion, stocking shelves at night, and a full-time job getting stoned in his mom’s basement,” she added with a giggle.

  Laura gestured for Georgie to hand her glass over so she could refill it. “And how long did you date the lion?”

  “Hmmm. Not as long as Phillip. Maybe five or six months.”

  Kristen took a sip of her wine. “I’m struggling to figure out why you were with this guy. Sounds like a bit of a loser.”

  “Oh no. I don’t mean to make it sound that way. Leo was really beautiful—inside and out. He was so chill and sweet and I loved it when he strummed his guitar and sang to me. He might not have been the most motivated man I’ve ever known, but he was really good to me.”

  “And the wedding?” Shelly asked, always anxious to get to the romantic part.

  “Leo looked at me one night and suggested that we elope. I thought he was joking, but he persisted, convinced we were perfect for each other. Said we could meet at the Justice of the Peace the next afternoon and just do it.”

  “And you agreed?” Josie leaned closer.

  “Well…yeah. I mean we’d just had some pretty amazing sex, so I was all loose and lethargic and limber.”

  Josie rubbed her forehead. “Your reasons for agreeing to marry these guys astound me.”

  Georgie flicked a strand of hair from her face. “I’m telling all these stories after the break-ups, so, of course, the guys come off sounding bad. I’m just picking out the funny bits. In truth, there were lots of very likeable things about them. If I asked you to describe Tony to me right now, wouldn’t he come off sounding like an ass?”

  Josie had gone through a really bad divorce, dumping her cheating husband and taking on the role of single mother to the most adorable little six-year-old boy on the planet. “Yeah. I’m sure he would. But that’s because he is an ass.”

  Georgie laughed. “Point taken.”

  Shelly reached for a celery stick from the veggie tray she’d brought to share. “So did you go to the Justice of the Peace?”

  Georgie shook her head. “No. I woke up the next day and realized what Leo and I had wouldn’t work in the long-term. For pretty much all the reasons we’ve just discussed. But I didn’t want to hurt him, so I asked Nick to go to the courthouse to tell him I couldn’t go through with it.”

  “You what?” Kristen asked, sitting up in her chair.

  “Not my proudest moment, but I was totally weak with Leo. He was so sweet and that hair was so sexy. I was afraid I’d go to break things off, he’d get upset and I’d cave and marry him.”

  “And Nick agreed to go?” Zoey asked.

  “Yeah. We were really good friends. I called and begged and cried and he said he would go let Leo down gently. Problem is he hit roadwork traffic and got there late. Leo was gone by the time he arrived. I stopped by Leo’s place later that day once I got my shit together, but his mom said he’d taken off, left town. She didn’t know why, but I did. I still feel really horrible about it.”

  “Okay. So you’re apologizing to Fist Bump and Leo. Which brings us,” Kristen said, “to Nick.”

  Jason leaned back in the barstool and popped a handful of peanuts in his mouth. “Gotta hand it to you. I’m not sure I could forget something like being left at the altar. You’re a better man than me.”

  Nick grinned. “I think we’ve always known that.”

  “Asshole.”

  “I guess it just comes down to my life is boring, predictable, completely run-of-the-mill nowadays. I’ve never considered myself much of a fan of drama, but I’m sort of in the mood for some crazy. Something to shake up the monotony.”

  “Yeah. I get that. Kristen drives me nuts on any given day, calling me an overgrown kid or a gigolo or chastising me for not taking shit seriously, but I still miss her nagging voice when she’s not around.”

  Jason’s confession confirmed something Nick had been noticing lately in regards to his friend’s feelings for his prickly law partner. Which oddly comforted Nick. Because now he knew Jason was going to be riding the same what the fuck’s going on roller coaster he was on. Misery loves company.

  “You know, that’s weird, right?” Nick teased.

  “Don’t try to change the subject. It’s your dysfunctional life we’re discussing.”

  “Fine. When I really think about it, it’s not like Georgie had such great role models when it came to what constitutes a normal relationship. It’s no wonder she keeps screwing it up.”

  “What do you mean?” Jason asked.

  Nick picked up a peanut and held it up to Jason. “Her parents are nuts.”

  “They seemed nice enough at the wedding.”

  “Believe it or not,” Nick said, “in her family, Georgie’s the boring one.”

  Jason’s eyebrows rose. “Fuck off. No way.”

  “Her mom and dad never married. Apparently they’ve got this open relationship thing going where Georgie’s mom is free to sample other varieties from time to time.”

  “Seriously?” Jason asked. “They seemed like a regular old married couple.”

  “Oh, they’re a couple. When the spirit moves them to be. Clearly you didn’t see Geraldo sitting in the back row of the church.”

  Jason shook his head. “No. Who’s that?”

  “Georgie’s mother’s boyfriend.”

  “I’m completely confused.”

  “Georgie’s dad is filthy rich. Inherited a bundle of old money. The man’s never worked a day in his life. Not one. Met Georgie’s mom, fell head over heels in love, but didn’t want to marry her, run the risk of divorce, and have to give her half. I guess a pre-nup never occurred to him. So they’ve been living together—off and on—for nearly forty years. The old guy gets to keep his money, while the free-spirited gypsy Georgie calls Mom gets to keep her boyfriends. It’s insanity.”

  “When you provide that background, it’s sort of amazing Georgie is as normal as she is.”

  Nick raised his hand. “You get my point.”

  “It also puts an interesting spin on her failure to make it all the way to t
he altar.”

  Jason wasn’t saying anything that Nick hadn’t considered a thousand times. The problem was his pride wanted to believe that he’d been different. That she would have been able to overcome those fears with him. To think that he’d been lumped in the same category as Fist Bump and the guy who needed to wash his fucking hair hurt.

  It hurt bad.

  “I’m not her dad.”

  Jason chuckled. “Thanks for the creepy visual. And that’s not what I’m saying. Maybe it’s Georgie who’s like her mom. Not willing to tie herself down to just one guy.”

  Nick nodded slowly. “Yeah. I’ve considered that. Which is why I’m not going down that road again.”

  Jason studied his face a bit too closely for Nick’s comfort. “I’m not sure you can help yourself.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It means,” Jason said, leaning closer, “you’re still in love with her.”

  Nick didn’t reply. Jason would see through any lie he told anyway. “So you think I should steer clear?”

  Jason grinned, though it wasn’t exactly a cheerful one. “Oh damn, man. There’s not a chance in hell you’ll be able to stay away from her. Just be careful. And smart. Keep the upper hand and maybe you’ll stand a chance at coming through it unscathed.”

  Nick wanted to find comfort in his friend’s advice, but it was hard to do that when Jason’s tone made it clear he knew Nick was screwed.

  And yet despite that, Nick was going to take a second chance.

  Because there didn’t seem to be any other acceptable choice.

  Georgie climbed the stairs to her bedroom sluggishly. She’d managed to avoid sharing her Nick story by claiming to have a killer headache brought on by too much wine. Her friends had given her a bye, mainly because it was pretty late and they all had work tomorrow. Though Georgie was sure Kristen would revisit the subject again at a future wine night.

  Maybe by then, Georgie would be able to tell them the story without betraying her feelings. Or falling apart. Nick’s story was the one she couldn’t tell with a smile, that she couldn’t make funny. It had been too painful. Even now she couldn’t think of that day without her stomach aching and tears filling her eyes.