Page 39 of Sportsball is for Lovers

thirteen

. . .

Sadie

Arielle takesone look at me and grins.

“Someone got laid,” she sings out.

“Fuck you,” I tell her with an exasperated smile.

“Nah. Seems like you already did.”

I press my lips together. “Well, for those of us who don’t have our own personal pleasure humans at our beck and call…”

She rolls her eyes. “First of all, gross. Second of all, I love that you call Asher that.”

Her fiancé is a giant teddy bear. They were childhood friends, having feelings for each other over the years but never quite connecting until last Chanukah. Now, they’re planning a wedding.

I’m the flower girl. I wanted to be maid of honor, but I can concede that their shared best friend from childhood, Estee, is probably a better bet. Especially since Yoni will be the best man. Besides, I kind of like the idea of flinging flowers at people. It won’t be a dainty toss-toss like Galinda teaching Elphaba how to whip that hair back and forth. I’m going to lob those fuckers like softballs.

Arielle sets her hand on my arm and smiles. “I’m happy for you. Are you going to see him again?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Okay.” She accepts this easily. “I’m glad you got laid.”

“Me, too.” I laugh. “It had been a while.”

A woman down the aisle looks over at us, eyebrows raised.

Arielle sputters out a laugh. “Come on,” she says, pushing the cart forward.

We’re grocery shopping together. The local Costco isn’t quite so local; it’s a trek to get out to Everett each month, and then transporting our supplies home.

We started doing this when we lived together, acquiring the household supplies. Now that we aren’t constantly on top of each other anymore, it’s a way for us to get together when everything in life gets crazy. Rachel sometimes joins us, but since Erik’s family is in town this week, she’s busy with them.

We shop and catch up. Arielle’s gearing up for the busy season—she works for the Boston baseball team in their social media department and travels to every other road game, sometimes gone for a week at a time. Asher is a teacher and his spring break lines up with spring training, so they took a nice working week down to Florida together. It’s a good thing he’s a baseball fan.

When I was writing baseball books, she got me access to the clubhouse and I was able to interview players for background research. It was insanely helpful to have a friend in the industry. Now, I’m writing hockey, and lucky for me, Vanessa works for the Boston Grizzlies and her boyfriend Sven plays for the team.

I went to my fair share of hockey games this season. Like every other Boston resident, I’m hoping they go far into the playoffs—2011 was way too long ago!—and I’m attending now partly for research and partly because I genuinely love the team.

Also, between Vanessa’s employee perks and Ceci’s… Ceciness, I can usually get in for free, so it’s easy to justify paying $25 for a single beer.

Next up, I have basketball books on my radar. I don’t know anyone involved in the Boston basketball world…

… yet.

“What are you doing next weekend?” Arielle asks as we make our way through the bakery.

“Work.” Most weekends I’m at the bookstore. It makes more sense to be there during our busiest times, plus it lets my staff take some weekend days off.

She rolls her eyes. “For Passover, you dolt.”

“Oh. Who’s doing the Seder this year? You’re not going home.”

She shakes her head. “Nope. We’re low contact with his parents, my parents are being dicks, and, well…”