Page 13 of Last Night Was Fun

Beth threw her head back, laughing a warm, generous sound that made a few people look over. Their attention was quickly pulled away by the sound of a ball cracking off a bat. The crowd roared in delirium while the runner on first took off. To Emmy’s shock given Hollander’s stats, the ball stayed in play, narrowly skipping by the shortstop out into left field. It allowed the runner to score, putting them in the lead, and left Hollander on second base with a double.

“Huh,” Emmy said, impressed.

The crowd continued to cheer while the next batter approached the plate.

“Do you have a date to the wedding yet?” Beth asked in another reroute of conversation, paying minimal attention to the activity on the field. “I can’t believe he-whom-we-do-not-speak-of is going to be there.”

Emmy palmed her face with her hand. “I know. And no, I don’t. Can I borrow Lenny?”

“I don’t think I’m willing to share. But why don’t you ask your texting guy?”

The thought had honestly occurred to Emmy, but she hadn’t let it grow to more than a blip on her mental radar. Because that was absurd. Right? She couldn’t ask this guy—thisstranger—to be her date to her sister’s wedding when they had never even met before. Could she?

But when she thought about it, she knew him better than anyone else she could get to know in the time between now and the wedding, so he was less stranger than it might seem.

“I don’t know, Beth. That might be a littletooweird.”

Beth shrugged a shoulder. “Get to know him more. Ask him to meet in person. If you’re still into him, see if he’s willing to go with you. I mean, a trip to Cancún with a bunch of free booze? Who’s going to turn that down? Speaking of, I am still willing to be your plus one. I’ve kept my calendar clear, just in case.” She pressed a hand to her chest like she was humbly offering up her services. “I am willing to make the sacrifice.”

“That’s very generous of you.”

“Always happy to help. So, what’s up with work? You and Gabe going to duke it out for the senior analyst title?” Of course Beth knew every detail about the bane of her existence.

Emmy squared her shoulders, feeling confident. “Yes, and I am going to win.”

“That’s my girl. Screw all these boys who think they run the world.”

“Screw ’em,” Emmy said, and tapped her margarita once more. The sound made her remember she had another pending night out to plan for. She only had so many in her system; she’d need at least two days to recharge her introvert battery after this simple happy hour with Beth. “Except,ugh.” She threw her hand to her face again. “I’m supposed to go out and celebrate with them this weekend. My whole team. Alice set it up.”

Beth smirked at her. “So that’s what it takes to get you to go out? Your boss has to mandate it?”

Emmy smirked back at her. “She thinks it’s a good idea I hang out with them. Some kind of team bonding thing, I guess.”

Beth sourly frowned into her drink.

“I agree,” Emmy said. “And, the worst part is I’ll have to make nice with Olson in public.”

“You know you can call him by his first name with me. This isn’t the dugout dungeon you all work in.”

“Sure, but calling him by his first name humanizes him, and the last thing I want to do is think of Gabe Olson as a human—especially when my plan is to destroy him at work.”

“Killer,” Beth said with an approving grin.

They decided to share nachos and another round of margaritas. Beth lasted until the seventh inning before she lost interest in the game and decided her maxi dress was in fact not suited for the chill of a nighttime ball game after all.

Emmy was ready to head out too; she could see the rest of the game play out in her stats app anyway. By the time she made it home, she was ready for pajamas. The drinks and pile of food had gone straight to the sleepy center of her brain. She kicked off her shoes inside her front door and peeled off the sweater she’d thrown over her blouse to fight the brisk seaside air. She fished her phone from her back pocket and saw she had two messages from Axe Murderer.

A warm flush curled into her cheeks as she immediately tapped her screen to open them. The first showed a ten-minute gap between it and the previous message he’d sent about her parents being cool.

Sorry. Family a hot button?

He’d waited another ten minutes before messaging again.

Bird Girl? Did I mess up?

Emmy leaned her elbows on her kitchen island and chewed her lip, feeling bad for leaving him wondering.

Sorry! I was out at happy hour with my friend. Just got home.