“Busypeople still have futures together,” I quickly retorted, suddenly lit withdetermination to bring her to my side. “You groom dogs, forcryin’out loud, Ali. Dog groomers move in with their boyfriends, and get married,and—”
“Sincewhen is that what you want?”
Mymouth fell open and closed just as quickly. Christ almighty, how was this newsto her? This was a topic we revisited on afairly regularbasis, at least a couple of times a year, and here she was, acting clueless.
“Sincealways?” I questioned her, glaring and wishing this was going a littlemore the way I had hoped it would.
“Baby.”Her voice was damn near patronizing. “Let’s be real for a second here, okay?Listen to me. You have a lot of obligations, to your family and your job. Ialsohave obligations. And I love you,you know that, but some people aren’t meant for all that stuff. You and me?We’re just not meant for it.”
Ifit was at all possible for a heart to launch itself from its chest ofresidence, mine just did. “Every single guy I work with is married,” I weaklymentioned, as though that’d mean something to her. “They all have wives andkids, and—”
“You’reseriouslytellin’ me you’d move out of your parents’house?
“Yes,”I nearly barked.
Herjaw tensed with the impact of my voice. “You can’t convince me you hatelivin’ there.”
Myhead shook disbelievingly. “I don’thatelivin’ there, Ali. I make the best with what I’vegot, but that doesn’t mean I don’twanna—”
“Chad.Baby.” She turned to face me and laid a hand against my chest, suddenly willingto touch me. “We have a good thing, right?”
“Yeah,”I conceded, while wondering if I’d know a good thing from a bad one at thispoint.
“So,if it’s not broke, why fix it?”
3
GetAttention from a Gorgeous Girl
MOLLY
I‘MNOT A VIOLENT PERSON, I reminded myself, as I inhaled and contortedmy body into bow pose. I closed my eyes and breathed through the exercise,finding satisfaction in the stretch of my abdomen and thighs.I’m a veryzen,noncombative woman. I do not want to kill—
“Molly.Oh God, Molly. It hurts.” The strained voice of my roommate broke my meditativestate, and I dropped my ankles to the floor unceremoniously to turn and stareat her. Her face was twisted with pain while she gripped her feet in what wasthe sorriest looking bowposeI’d ever seen. With herwatering eyes trained on my legs, she mentioned, “Hey, you didn’t release withcon—”
“Morgan,”I cut her off with a sigh as I folded my legs intobhadrasana. “You know, you don’thave to do this with meeverymornin’.”
“ButIlikedoing yoga with you,” Morganreasoned, releasing her feet. They landed on the floor with an audiblefwapagainst heryoga mat and she winced in pain. “It’s so relaxing.”
Icocked my head knowingly. “Do you feel relaxed?”
“Well…” She considered it as she tightened her ponytail and shrugged. “I’m gettingthere.”
Morganhad moved in with me over six months ago, and every day since, she had made apoint of waking up with me, at the butt crack of dawn, to get some yoga in. Ihadn’t expected miracles, but I did assure her she’d get better over time. Yetmonths later, her balance and flexibility still hadn’t changed. In fact, ifanything, I’d gotten a little more concerned for her well-being, not to mentionthe furniture she regularly tipped into anytime she attempted a headstand.
Isighed before standing and stretching my arms. Morgan mimicked as though I wasdoing something impressive by reaching one arm over my head and then the other.I suppressed my affectionate chuckle and continued to stretch, twisting fromone side to the other.
Ihad lucked out with Morgan, when I was hunting for a roomie. Lord knows I’d hadsome winners over the years. I mean, there was the girl with the penchant fornever flushing the toilet.Ever. “Toconserve water,” she’d reasoned, seemingly unbothered by the stench waftingthrough the apartment. Then, there was the one who was on a minimalistic kickand argued with me incessantly about throwing away anything that didn’timmediately incite happiness. Oh, and how I could forget the girl whoseboyfriend drank two bottles of wine during a New Year’s celebration and thenpuked all over my couch?
Needless to say, mystandards weren’t exactly high after all of that. So, when I found myself withMorgan at my door, I knew I’d hit the jackpot. After six months of livingtogether, she wasn’t just the best roommate I’d ever had, but also the bestgirlfriend I’d ever made. Not even her inability to muster a warrior pose couldchange my mind about that.
“So,what’s on your agenda today?” she asked as we rolled our mats in perfectsynchronicity.
“Well,I have my show at the Locust Lounge tonight.” I propped my mat behind thecouch. “But before that, I thought I’d go see my mom. Maybe do lunch orsomethin’. Why? Youwannacome?”
Morganwaved the invitation away and dropped to the couch. “Nah, I think I’m justgonnahang around here until Igottameet my date later.”
“Whoare youseein’ this time?”
