“Okay,” she said, the moment I stepped inside. “Spill.”
I sighed, grabbing a glass from the cabinet. “Spill what?”
She scoffed. “Oh, don’t play dumb. You know exactly what. You’ve barely been here all night,” she pointed to her own temple to indicate my brain, “and you told menothingabout the hot guys at the diner. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you wereavoiding me because you’re just such a good friend and you don’t want to make me jealous about your three hot new boyfriends.”
“Definitely not,” I laughed. “If that was the case, I would have told you right away.”
“Girls’ night is as good a time as any to spill tea,” Kara pointed out. That was what we called these dedicated Allie-Kara-Daphne nights we penciled into our calendars as often as possible, even though Brandon’s inclusion made it more of a coed situation. I leveled a look at her and she gave up with a huff. “Then what is it?”
I filled my glass with water and took a slow sip, trying to gather my thoughts. “The guys…theywerethere to see me,” I admitted. I didn’t hide things from Kara, and I might as well let my best friend do what best friends were for, since I wasn’t going to be able to stop obsessing over the guys and the marriage on my own.
“Well, I could have told you that,” she mused. “My bestie is a hot, single MILF in the area. The stuff of every man’s dreams, according to the ads I get online.”
“That worries me about your browser history,” I shot back.
“But…do you mean you actually know them?”
I nodded. “Remember that wild weekend in Vegas I told you about? From before we met?”
Her jaw dropped. “Oh my God. The sexy foursome.”
I shushed Kara, peaking around the corner to make sure no one else at game night had heard her too-loud exclamation before I went on. “Yes. But don’t get too excited. They’re not back for a replay or anything.”
“A damn shame,” Kara lamented.God, true.“So…what brings them around if not another roll in the hay?”
I grimaced before I explained the extra bit. The marriage bit, which shocked her as much as I knew it would. Kara knewI wasn’t the poster child for committed relationships, and she even teased me about my fear of marriage.
Kara let out a low whistle. “Damn, girl. I mean, I knew you had a thing for adventure, and we all know you’re not a monogamist. But I didn’t realize that you had it in you to makeonecommitment when it comes to men, much less potentially marrying three dudes at once.”
I sighed again. “And I don’t even know which one of them I actually married.”
Kara blinked. “Wait, what?”
“I was drunk, Kara. We all were. And I got rings from all three of them. So…none of us know which of the marriages stuck, if any of them did.”
Kara stared at me for a long moment before bursting into laughter. “Oh my God. This is bananas.”
“Yeah,” I groaned.
“But also, kind of amazing.”
“Youwouldthink that.”
She grinned. “Hey, I’m just saying! You managed to live every spicy romance novel heroine’s dream, other than…” Kara’s sentence trailed off, her eyes growing wide again. I could hear the end of her sentence without her having to say it.Other than the pregnancy.“Oh my God, Al. One of them is Daphne’s dad, right?”
I almost wanted to cry when I nodded. I almost did cry when Kara immediately wrapped me into her arms, giving me a real girl’s-girl squeeze that seemed to erase the trauma of so many wasted years with female “friends” who called me a slut. All of those so-called friends, so-called “sisters” in my sorority, had acted like my pregnancy was a fitting punishment for me being too promiscuous. Kara had only ever cheered me on, rooted for me finding my own happiness, my own pleasure.
“Well, you need to get a paternity test,” my best friend decided with a sigh as she let me go. She tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear, softening the blow of her stern expression. “Like, yesterday. I’ll help however I can, you know that.”
I thought back to when I first met Kara. I had been about six months pregnant, finally done feeling like I was going to throw up all the time. Which was how I found myself standing outside Marv’s Diner, staring at the old-fashioned Help Wanted sign while trying not to burst into tears. Jobs weren’t easy to come by when you looked like you were about to take maternity leave, but I’d mooched off my parents long enough, and I wanted to start building a real future for my daughter.
“Thinking about applying?” a voice had said beside me, and I’d turned to see the coolest looking woman I’d ever met before or since. Covered in tattoos, curvy and tall, Kara Garber looked like a clear badass even while wearing the old ruffled version of the server apron, which she and I had campaigned against once I joined the staff. The kindness in her gaze, the subtle smile on her lips—which had been painted black, as was Kara’s then signature look—told me this was someone I could grow to love. I had no idea at the time that she’d become the best friend I’d ever had.
“Yeah,” I had admitted. “But, uh, I’m kind of in a…unique situation.”
“Don’t worry,” the cool girl smiled. “Marv’s a softie, and he’s batshit scared of me. I’ll put in a good word, and I think you’ll fit right in.”
That small moment had changed everything. Later, Kara had been there when I set up Daphne’s crib, helped me buy secondhand baby supplies, and reassured me that I wasn’t completely screwing everything up during the ever-stressful newborn phase. She and Brandon both had been there for me when he eventually joined our little found family, and now, my life would be a lot worse without them.
