Sabrina

Cars lined the driveway and I maneuvered my way around them to my usual parking space in front of the garage. I stepped from the car and sounds of the party floated from the back of the house.

Dan said he had enough main course and side items, but Lexi and I had stopped along the way to pick up a few deserts. The first supermarket we stopped at didn’t have any good options, so we ended up going to a store a little out of our way. The trip was worth it because they had a huge selection, but we ended up taking forever to decide what to get. In the end, I purchased everything that caught our eye. Otherwise, we may have been there forever.

Lexi ran to the front door and through the house, a container of chocolate chip cookies in hand while I followed at a more sedate pace with everything else. I piled my bounty on the kitchen counter next to the cookies Lexi had thrown there. Dan spotted me through the open patio doors and gestured for me to join him at the grill. I made my way across the patio, avoiding getting hit with a beach ball along the way.

Just before I reached Dan, Cal Chase approached from the other side.

“Sabrina, you remember Cal? He’s going to be moving into the pool house for a little while.”

I’m not sure what I’d been expecting him to say, but that wasn’t it.

“Oh, okay.” I looked at Cal and smiled.

“It’s just temporary, I promise” Cal said.

“No, please, stay as long as you’d like.”

“You soon to be newlyweds don’t need me hanging around.”

“Oh please,” I chuckled. “You could be living in the house and we could go weeks without seeing each other. Don’t worry about being out here.”

“Thank you, I appreciate it,” he said. “You’re a lucky man, Dan,” he said. “I’m going to grab a couple bags from the car and put them inside.”

“You okay?” Dan asked.

“Never better,” Cal replied. “Thanks again,” he said to both of us, then he was off.

I turned toward Dan, who was busy flipping burgers. When he turned my way, I raised my eyebrow.

“He and his wife just separated,” Dan said. “He planned on staying in a hotel.” He moved chicken legs to one side of the grill and lowered the heat. “We have room here, so what the hell?”

Before I answered, Lexi yelled from the patio door. I glanced over and saw that she had changed into her swimsuit.

“Can you fix my hair?” she asked. It seems that in her haste to get her shirt off, she’d ruined her braid.

“Duty calls,” I said to Dan.

With Lexi’s hair emergency dealt with, I took the opportunity to freshen up myself. With all my stray hair in place, I reapplied my lip gloss and returned to the party.

There was a different vibe than just fifteen minutes before and I stood on the fringes looking around trying to figure why. Dan had finished cooking and everyone seemed to be enjoying the food.

I looked over and saw Dan standing next to Jack Reagan, who had a brunette with legs up to her neck hanging on one side and a bleach-blonde on the other. The brunette transferred herself to Dan and whispered something in his ear. He smiled and shook his head, extracting himself from her embrace. She sauntered away, putting an exaggerated swing in her step. I couldn’t help but notice the signatures she bore on various body parts. After grabbing a beer from the cooler, she returned to her perch between Dan and Jack.

The two men continued their conversation and I went back inside. I pulled a platter from the top cabinet and filled it with a variety of the desserts Lexi and I had purchased and attempted to compose myself. With the platter full and my riotous thoughts somewhat subdued, I brought the desserts outside and set them on a table.

Lexi and some of the other children ran to my side and attacked the desserts. Natalie walked over to my side and snagged a peanut butter cookie.

“Some of us girls go out for dinner and drinks once a month or so. It’d be great if you could join us sometime,” she said.

“I’d like that,” I said.

We exchanged numbers and discussed my schedule and availability, and even though I was engaged in our conversation, my eyes were focused on Dan. Of course, Natalie noticed.

“Don’t worry about that,” she said. “I’m sure Jack is just lining up his off-season and spring companions.”

“So these women just make themselves available and hope he picks them?”

“Some of them. Others put themselves in the running with Jack but also keep their options open.”

I followed her gaze across the pool where Dan and Jack spoke while the two women hung on their every word. For the most part, the women hung on Jack, but the brunette kept eyeing Dan and allowed her hand to brush his bicep twice that I saw. He wasn’t encouraging her, but he didn’t totally move away either.

“Sabrina.” I was pulled from watching that woman eye fuck my fiancé when Lexi approached. “Are there any more chocolate chip cookies?”

“Yes.” I put my arm around her shoulder. “Excuse us, Natalie. We have to fetch more cookies.”

The party broke up a few hours later and Dan and I carried the remains of the food into the kitchen. Despite Dan’s protests, I filled and turned on the dishwasher and wiped down all the countertops. Why should Mrs. Evans have to deal with it in the morning?

Lexi had conked out on the couch shortly after everyone left and Dan went to carry her to her room. I took advantage of the time alone to gather my thoughts and figure out what I wanted to say to Dan.

We’ve been living in a bubble. Now that Dan is better, events like today’s will be a regular thing. I have to be honest with him about my feelings or we won’t stand a chance.

I poured a glass of sweet tea for myself and grabbed a beer for Dan and settled into the couch Lexi had previously occupied. He returned a few minutes later and sat next to me.

After taking a sip of his beer, he said, “Ok, what’s on your mind?”

Despite my serious thoughts, I chuckled. The man knows me too well.

“I’m not comfortable with the groupie thing.”

His eyes widened, then he relaxed. “Bri, that’s not something you really need to worry about?”

“Why’s that?”

“Because I don’t…” he waved his hand around as he searched for a word. “…go there. It’s not something I do. I never have.”

“What about Jack?”

“What about him?”

“Does he bring women like that around often?”

“No,” he said, but didn’t sound convincing.

“No?”

“Not exactly.”

“What exactly does that mean?”

“Jack usually has a woman for each season. Sometimes he brings whoever he’s with to events and or on the road, and sometimes he doesn’t.” He shrugged. “I’ve never paid too much attention.”

“He had two women with him here today.”

“Yes he did.” He took a long gulp of beer, then picked at the label on the bottle before answering. “He was, uh, trying to decide which one he wants to spend the off season with.”

Since Natalie had said as much, his words weren’t news to me, but I still snorted.

“Why choose? I’m sure both of them would be happy to service him.”

“Jack is what he is, but he’s not a total man-whore. He’s pretty much a serial monogamist. At this point, he sticks to one woman at a time.”

“How big of him.”

He rubbed his eyes and sighed.

“Bri, what’s going on here? What are you upset about?”

“The whole groupie thing freaks me out. Theoretically, I’ve always known they existed, I’ve just never seen them up close and personal or heard first-hand experiences of them.”

He cursed under his breath. “The wives do like to talk.”

“Dan, this isn’t about the wives.”

“Then what is it about? And what does it have to do with you and me?”

“You’re good friends with Jack.”

“Yeah, and?”

“If those women are around him, they’re around you.”

“I just told you that’s never been my thing.”

“They’re still around. And that brunette was making it known she were yours for the taking earlier,” I said. “Christ Dan, she was at your home, putting the moves on you in front of your daughter and fiancée.”

“Putting the moves on me?” he asked, obviously getting aggravated. “Bri, that was nothing. You have no idea what some of those women do.”

“If those words were supposed to make me feel better, they failed.”

He shifted. “Bri, I love you. I lost you once because I was an idiot, I certainly wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.”

I nodded and swallowed the lump in my throat. “I’m just not comfortable with it.”

He kissed my forehead and pulled me in for a hug, but didn’t say anything else. After all, what could he say?