“Isn’t that what you want?”

“Well, yeah, I mean, I guess that’s the whole point. I figured it would take a while—like, more than a couple of months, you know? I thought I’d be able to have a glass of wine this weekend. If I am preggers, it’s going to be a year before I do that again.”

“At least you’ll have Sunny to keep you company?” It’s meant as reassurance for her, but it causes a twinge of jealousy because it’s another way I’m not like the rest of the girls.

“Yeah, there’s that.” Violet taps her lips. “You know what we should do?”

“Stop at a CVS on the way home and get one of those pee-stick tests to find out if you’re knocked up?”

“No—well, yes, but that’s not what I was going to say. If they go to game seven in this series, we should all go to Toronto. And if I’m not pregnant, I’m totally going to drink my face off.”

“Either way, that would be fun.” It would be nice to get away for a couple of days.

I feel bad that I’m almost hoping Violet isn’t pregnant. I’d like to get smashed with my best friend.

“Right? We can start looking at flights. Maybe go in a day early and do some shopping? Stock up on all the mapley deliciousness.”

“I’ll ask Darren if he’d be okay with that.”

Violet’s eyes light up. “Or you could surprise him!”

“Uh . . . I’m not so sure that’s a great idea, considering what happened the last time I did that.” My face heats at the memory.

“This is different, though. You’re not planning a BDSM bash. You’d just be coming to see him play hockey and ride his joy stick.”

I give her a look. “I should still ask him first. Just to make sure.”

“Why? I mean, he’s going to want you there regardless, isn’t he? If Chicago wins, they move on to the next round of the playoffs, and you get to have fuck-yeah sex.” She pumps her fist almost like she’s jerking off a pretend penis. “If they lose, you get to have condolence sex. You’re the one who told me this back when Alex and I were doing our mating dance.”

“I’ll talk to Darren about it. In the meantime, let’s find out if you’ll be able to drink something other than ginger ale for the next nine months, unless you want to wait until Alex gets home and do it then.”

“I can’t wait until tomorrow. We’re doing this now.”

We stop at the CVS on the way back to the office. Violet makes me come into the private wheelchair bathroom with her while she pees on a stick. I face the wall while she does the honors, letting out a crazy squeal.

“Holy shit—are you pregnant?”

“No, I just peed on my hand!” After she’s finished her business, she sets the stick on the edge of the sink and washes her hands three times, breathing like she’s practicing Lamaze. “Has it been two minutes yet? Jesus, I’m so nervous. You look for me.” She closes her eyes and thrusts the stick at me.

I look at the little window and swallow down the lump in my throat. “It’s a plus sign.”

Her eyes pop open. “What does that mean? Does that mean I’m preggers?”

I nod and show her the test, smiling softly at my best friend even though a part of me is so very sad.

She grabs the test and stares down at it, slack jawed. “Look at how blue that is. I went off the pill two freaking months ago. Alex is going to be so proud of his magic sperm. Fuck. Shit. I’m pregnant, Char. What if I make a terrible mother? What if I’m like Skye and I embarrass the fuck out of my kid? What if it hates me, and we become estranged, and it writes a tell-all book about how horrible I am—”

“You’re an amazing best friend, Vi. You’re going to make an even more amazing mother.”

She throws her arms around me, hugging me hard. “I don’t know if I’m ready for this,” she mumbles into my shoulder.

“You’ve got this. You’re going to be fabulous.”

She steps back, holding my shoulders, maybe for balance or support. “I’m going to get so fat, and my boobs are going to be huge.”

I laugh, but tears threaten to spill over. “Alex is going to love that.”

She cups her hands over her mouth. “Oh my God, he’s going to be so excited.”

“Are you going to call him?”

“I don’t know. I mean, he’ll be home tomorrow. Maybe I should wait and tell him in person. I should wait. I want to see his face. And I don’t know if I want to tell anyone else yet. It’s still so early, so much can happen.” She takes my hands in hers. “Can we keep this between the two of us for now? I’ll tell Alex tomorrow, and we’ll figure out when we want to tell everyone else. But for now, it’ll just be us who know, okay?”

“Of course.”

“Oh my God, Char. I’m going to be a mom, and you’re going to be an aunt, because let’s face it, you’re as close to a sister as I’m ever going to get.”

She hugs me hard again, and I let the tears fall, because as happy as I am for her, I’m a little sad for me and how this is going to change things.

CHARLENE

Chicago ends up losing the game in Toronto, which means they’re coming home to play game six in the series. If they lose again, Toronto moves on to the next round, and they’re out of the playoffs. If they win, they go back to Toronto to play game seven.

The second Darren lands in Chicago, he calls to make sure I’m still coming over after work, which is good, because I need a distraction from Violet’s not so little secret.

That anxious feeling settles in my stomach and moves lower. Too bad sneaking off to the bathroom at work to get myself off is frowned upon. “If you still want me to, yes.”

“Definitely. Yes. I want you.” There’s a short pause before he continues. It sounds like he’s opening and closing drawers. “To come over after work.”

“What are you doing? You sound distracted.”

“I can’t find any of your clothes in my dresser. I mean, apart from lingerie. You must have a few articles in here somewhere,” he says.

“Oh, uh, I always bring my things home with me after I spend the night.”

“Oh.” He exhales heavily. “I didn’t realize that. You should leave things here for the nights you plan to stay.”

“Okay. I can do that.”

“Good. Great. I’d like that. You’ll stay tonight, then?”

“You have a game tomorrow night; you need your rest. You know I’m an active sleeper.” I can’t be responsible for interfering with his game when Chicago is so close to making the finals again.

“I suppose I’ll just have to wear you out so you don’t pose a threat to my sleep.”

I laugh at that. “Are you sure?”

“Positive. I would like more rather than less of you, and you staying the night solves that problem.”

“I’ll stop at home before I come to you after work and pick up some things, then.”

“I can do that. I have errands to run so I’ll be out anyway. I could stop by your place and pick up a suit and whatever else you need, That way you can come straight to me—if that works for you, of course.”

“Are you sure? It’s kind of out of your way, isn’t it?”

“Not at all, and it means you’ll be at my place that much sooner. We’ll order dinner in.” He almost sounds giddy.

“Sure. That sounds great.”

“Perfect. I’ll see you soon.”

I leave work promptly at five, my body humming with nervous excitement as I head to the parking garage. I need Darren tonight as much as he seems to need me. Violet’s pregnancy news is hitting me harder than I expected. It’s another thing she and Sunny will have in common, and another way our relationships are just so different. I wonder how Violet’s doing. I’m sure I’ll get a message from her tonight at some point, or maybe she’ll be too busy celebrating.

In my head I’m already filtering through the lingerie drawer at his place. Since they lost the last game, I’m thinking Darren will want sweetly sexy tonight. Something soft to distract him from a hard loss. I imagine I’ll end up in pale purple.

Before I leave the garage, I decide it would be a good idea to let Darren know I’m on my way. Normally he’s quick to respond, but I don’t get anything from him between getting in the car and arriving at the security of his gated community. The guard lets me in, and I pull into Darren’s driveway. It’s empty, but he often keeps his cars in the garage, so it’s not out of the ordinary. I check my appearance in the visor and take a deep breath. The pinging ramps up in my lady bits as I cut the engine and grab my purse from the passenger seat.

I ring the doorbell and wait, but after a minute, there’s still no answer. I check my messages again and find I have a new one from Darren. My stomach drops at the possibility that he might be canceling, but as I scan the text, I smile.