Page 40

Chapter 40

Jessie

Work was absolute hell while Mikey was gone.

Irina seemed to be protesting my very existence by decreasing her contributions to almost zero. I asked her to help me on Tuesday during a particularly hectic scene change and she told me I’d never learn if I didn’t do it myself. Then she had the nerve to saunter off to eat lunch, when I hadn’t even had a chance to eat breakfast.

I FaceTimed Mikey when I finally got a minute for lunch. “Hey, Sweet Cheeks.”

“Hey. Sorry, I’m stuffing my face.”

“S’okay, hon. They working you too hard?”

I lifted my lip in a snarl. “Fricking Irina.”

“My threat still stands,” he said. “I’m sure the grocery store has some manager’s special seafood I could take off their hands.”

I giggled. “How’s Columbus?”

“Fine. Other than work, everything okay at home?”

“As far as I know. I’ve hardly been there. Kitty and I are going to the watch party at Sorrento’s after work. Big wives get together, I guess.”

Ben looked thrilled. “You’re doing the whole girlfriend watch party thing?”

“Yeah, is that wrong?”

He took a breath, looking away from the screen. “No, hon. It makes me really happy. I’ve never—never mind.”

“What? Tell me!”

He rolled his lips. “I’ve never had someone who would watch for me like that.”

“I watch most of your road games, Jockey. As long as it’s not messing with work.”

“I know, but I’ve always been jealous of the guys getting cute texts from their girls while they watched together. And the fact that it’s you makes it that much better.”

I puffed out my bottom lip. “I really never saw this side of you coming.”

“Don’t tell anyone my secret,” he joked. “What else are you girls going to do? Drink wine? Gossip? Paint your toenails? Test out each other’s vibrators?”

I cracked up. “You’re demented. You went straight from being the sweetest human to being a middle schooler.”

“Well, you didn’t answer the question,” he pushed. “What are y’all gonna do?”

“Drink beer, fart, and talk shit about you guys.”

* * *

I stood by the untouched veggie tray, decked out in my Miknevicius jersey and staring blankly at the game. Were these things this hot when they wore them on the ice? No wonder they called them sweaters. Or maybe it was because the cliques seemed already established and I was lurking on the outskirts.

Sorrento’s wife Jeanine was one of my allies in the Princes WAGs group, but she was hosting and couldn’t devote all her time to me. I was impressed with the group as a whole. Babies were balanced on hips and passed around, and older kids wrestled in front of the TV that showed the game. I’d just recently surrendered the smallest Sorrento baby, who I was using as a social security blanket of sorts.

Kitty saw me standing alone and swooped in. “Okay, I’m going to get you a glass of wine, and you’re going to tell me why Irina hasn’t been fired yet. Red or white?”

“I’ll come with you.” I poured myself a short glass of red wine and Kitty and I wandered back toward the viewing area.

“So what’s the deal with her, anyway?” Kitty asked.

“Honestly, she’s awful, Kitty. I feel bad complaining about her, though. I don’t like to attack other women.”

“Oh, come on. It’s just us. It’s not an attack when you do 90% of the work and she just flirts with the crew all day and runs to Russ whenever things don’t go 100% her way.”

“That is an accurate assessment of how it is,” I agreed. “It’s frustrating. I’m working my ass off. I’ve asked if we can hire someone else so I don’t have to work so hard, and she says it’s not in the budget.”

“I could pull some strings, you know,” Kitty said. “I have a fair bit of influence over these people.”

“No, please don’t say anything. If I ruffle any feathers, I’ll be the one blamed for everything. You know how it is for women.”

Kitty scowled. “Sure do. That’s why we’ve got to stick together.”

“But Irina’s one of us,” I pointed out.

“Yeah, but she’s not exactly being a good sister in the cause, is she? She’s taking credit for your work while you get paid less and work longer hours.”

I hesitated. “Still. Don’t say anything.”

A blonde head whipped around from a chair behind the couch. Sydney Leroy, who I recognized from my first night as a WAG, while I was still faking. “Can you two pipe down about your petty work drama?”

“We’re no louder than your rugrats,” Kitty shot back.

“Sydney,” Jeanine warned, turning to talk to us. “Has work been busy for you?”

Kitty and I both nodded. “And Jessie’s boss sucks,” Kitty added.

“Poor Jessie,” Sydney said, flicking her hair over her shoulder but not turning to face us.

Jeanine mouthed a “sorry.” Fortunately, Mikey and Romelski were just taking off up the ice in a breakaway against Columbus’s goalie. Romelski’s wife reached for my hand as we both got loud. Mikey knocked the puck to him as the goalie prepared for Mikey to shoot, and Romelski effortlessly popped it to the upper part of the goal. His wife and I high-fived and clinked our glasses as cheers erupted in the room. For that moment, I felt good. Included. Part of something bigger.

Then it all came crashing down.

I pulled out my phone to text Mikey a congrats for his goal. I knew he wouldn’t read it till after the game but he’d told me how much he liked it. At the same time, Sydney scooted her chair back as the game went to a TV time out, knocking into me. Red wine splashed down the front of my jersey and into her hair. She gasped. “Look what you did!”

I started to apologize, but Kitty tapped my arm to stop me. “It was just an accident, Sydney. And you scooted your chair!”

Jeanine appeared next to me with two wads of paper towels extended, rushing to the drinks table for some club soda.

Sydney patted the paper towels over her hair. “What are you even doing here, anyway? You know he’s not going to marry you, right? He’s just doing this to look better in the press.”

My stomach sank. Was that true?

“Can it, Sydney,” Kitty hissed.

“Everybody knows that Mikey doesn’t do girlfriends. He gets bored too quickly. He’d have a new pussy every day if he could. He probably still does,” Sydney said, stepping closer to me.

“Sydney, there are kids here!” Romelski’s wife cried. God bless that woman. I could safely add her to my allies list.

“Does he still cry when he comes? He did when he shot it down my throat. Said I was the best he ever had. That’s why it doesn’t make sense that he’s with you.”

“That’s enough, Sydney,” Jeanine said definitively.

Sydney lowered her voice. “Did your man fail to mention that I was first? You thought you were special, didn’t you? You shouldn’t even be here. You’re still fucking around with your little Hollywood job, but look around. This takes dedication. And he knows you don’t have what it takes.”

My jaw was clamped shut so tight it hurt. I could not cry in front of this monster. No matter if what she said was true, it was too much. Just the fact that she was trying to get under my skin hurt.

“You need to leave,” Jeanine said, rounding up Sydney’s diaper bag and pouring out her drink.

“It’s fine. I’ll go,” I said.

“The hell is wrong with you,” Kitty spat at Sydney, following me to the door.

“You can stay,” I called over my shoulder.

“No, I’m with you,” Kitty caught up to me. “Are you okay?”

We made it outside and I turned to her, tears blurring my vision. “Is it true? Was she really with him?”

Kitty’s eyes were round and sad. “I don’t know. We’ve only been here a few months more than you. It would make sense as to why he and Leroy hate each other so much. But hey.” She put her hand on my shoulder and leaned so I had to look at her. “Mikey loves you. Even if she did sleep with him, it doesn’t matter. He’s obsessed with you, Jess.”

“He’s never said he loves me,” I said, trying not to go into complete hysterics.

“Yeah, well, he will. He’s in it because he likes you. Don’t listen to her shit.”

I swiped at the tears on my cheeks. “I don’t like being blindsided. He should have told me.”

“He probably didn’t tell you because it wasn’t important to him. But you’ll have to take that up with him. Why don’t we go get some takeout and we can finish the game at your house?”

* * *

Could things get any worse? Kitty and I walked to the elevator in my parking garage only to find that we weren’t alone.

“Hey, Jess.” Cole, sounding way too friendly for how I felt toward him. “How’s it hangin’?”

I kept my expression blank. “Cole.”

Kitty gave him a grimace.

“Oh wow, are you Kitty Gatto?”

“In the flesh,” she said curtly.

“Jess, I didn’t know you were that tight with Kitty. We should all go get a drink.”

“I don’t think we’ll be doing that.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “You were supposed to come with me to her engagement party, if you’ll recall.”

“Why are you being so nasty, Jessie? I thought there were no hard feelings.”

I drew back as we all walked into the elevator. “No hard feelings? You cheated on me and blamed the demise of our relationship on me! You made me feel worthless. You constantly went out of your way to show me how unimportant I was to you.”

His face reddened. “I didn’t put smelly-ass fish in your apartment. I had to pay a fine for that smell, you know. I almost got evicted. I still haven’t found the last of it.”

“Maybe if you paid any attention to detail you’d have figured it out by now.”

He got closer to me. Kitty’s whole body stiffened, ready to attack. I was extremely glad she was with me. He couldn’t gaslight me out of this one.

“I could have had your little boyfriend arrested for vandalism, you know. He broke and entered. I still could. You made my life hell.”

I got right in his face as the doors opened on our floor. “Maybe you’ve had just a little taste of how you made me feel.” I looked to Kitty, who nodded, and we walked to my apartment door.

Right before I got inside, “I’m sure the police will be really sympathetic to you when I call this in.”

I wheeled around. I’m a pretty reasonable person. I don’t like making enemies in my life, and somehow I’d encountered both of mine in the span of an hour. “What do you want, Cole?”

He sighed. “Tell me where the last of it is.”

I hadn’t talked to Mikey yet. We were going to have plenty to talk about aside from this whole encounter. He’d told me not to tell Cole where it was, but if it was tell Cole or have Mikey arrested, I’d tell him.

“If I tell you, you’re not going to the police, right?” Cole was a shithead, but he wasn’t fully diabolical. If he said he wouldn’t, I believed him.

“Yeah,” he said. “I’ll drop it.”

“Check your curtain rods. And don’t even think of being friendly with me again.”

I slammed the door behind me.