"This is a nice surprise."
Lauren sat down in her chair; I pushed it up towards the table before taking my own seat.
We looked at each other; Lauren nodded.
"Why don't we talk after we order?"
She knew. And now I knew that she knew. But even so, I nodded.
"Sounds good."
I had purposely picked a restaurant neither of us had been to before. I didn't want someplace that we could link to some happy (or in my case, drunk) time.
"How were your solo shows?" she asked behind the fancy cream colored menu held aloft over her face.
"Sold out. The guys tagged along with me. Brian hopped up on stage and rocked out to Addicted."
Lauren laughed. "I can so see that."
We grew quiet. "What have you been up to?"
"I went back to Florida and hung out with daddy," Lauren said lightly.
"Does he know we're--"
"Yeah. He wasn't surprised."
"I'm guessing I'm not going to be able to drive the boat ever again, right?"
Lauren set her menu down and smiled. "Nope."
I lowered my menu. "I really liked that boat."
We both laughed. The waiter made his way up to the table. Two glasses of water and two steaks later, he disappeared.
"You've made your decision, haven't you?"
"Yeah, I've made it."
I wished the waiter would hurry back with the water. I needed to swallow the golf ball in my throat before I could speak again. I stared off desperately.
"It's not me, is it?"
I watched the waiter set a couple glasses down on a table near us. There were still two more on his tray...
"Nick!"
I jumped. The waiter made his way over; placing the clear goblets down in front of each of us. He smiled and left. I wrapped my fingers around the narrow stem, downing the whole thing like it was a shot of tequila.
"It's not you," I said. Laur sat back in her chair. The silence burned at my ears.
"It's what you want, not what you think is right?"
"It's what I want."
"If it doesn't work out, I won't be here Nick. I'm going to move on."
"I don't expect you to wait," I said. Now that the worst was over, my vocal chords loosened. "You've put me first ever since we got together. It's time for you to have someone take care of you."
Laur snickered. "I can take care of myself."
I reached for her hand. "Sometimes it's nice to let go."
Laur's palms were clammy; she might have been cool on the outside, but her inside was rebelling.
"I'm always going to be your friend, Nick," she said softly.
"I wouldn't want it any other way."
"We had a lot more good times than bad."
"We had amazing times."
She grabbed her glass with her free hand, taking a long, cool sip.
"She must look pretty good in a bikini now, huh?"
I sat back. "You know I believe that ya got to love the inside before you can start working on the outside," I said. "You've always known who you were; you've always had that natural, confident beauty. And now, Shay's finally figured it out." I took a deep breath. "Laur, she's radiates from the heart and it's pulling me in."
"Then you've got to go for it," Laur said.
"I've got to go for it," I repeated.
"Can you make me one promise, though?"
Laur's eyes were sparkling. I felt my shoulders relax. "Sure."
"You have to promise to take me out to dinner at least twice a year."
"And you think you're future boyfriend is going to go for that?"
"If he doesn't, he's going to find himself on the curb."
I tipped back and laughed. "Alright then."
"Deal."
"Go Bulls!"
"Jake, we're rooting for the Celtics!"
"No, you are, daddy!"
I laughed. I tapped the red and white foam finger and shrugged. Nick secured his empty beer cup between his legs and shrugged with a smile, clearly admitting defeat.
The United Center was packed for the play-off game. The Celts were leading by five points. Jake had never been to a live game before; he was a bundle of energy as his eyes swung back and forth, keeping track of his boys in red.
"Think I'm ever going to change his mind?" Nick whispered, his breath ticking my ear pleasantly. I shook her head.
"He's pretty loyal to his team," I said. I nudged his side, clad in smooth green. "Kinda like his dad."
We watched Paul Pierce shoot for a three point; Nick jumped, knocking the cup to the ground. "A'right!"
The whole stadium erupted in foot stomping. Jake jumped off my lap and jumped up and down on the metal flooring. Nick grabbed him and pulled him in for a hug.
"Having fun?" he asked affectionately.
"This is the bestest day ever!" he announced. He leaned back between Nick legs. "If the Bulls win," he added.
Nick stared at his flushed face, so like his own. They were both such fanboys. I saw Nick look up just as Kurt Thomas hit a basket and Jake went nuts. Nick leaned into me once again.
"I wish, just this once, that the Bulls would win."
I arched an eyebrow in surprise. "Really?"
Nick's fingers played with Jake's hair. "There's going to be many more years for the Celts to get to the finals, but Jake's only going to experience his first game once in his life," he explained.
"True," I said. "But that's a pretty big sacrifice," I teased. Nick laughed, his lips lowering to brush a soft kiss on my neck. "Some things," he murmured. "Are just more important than my favorite team."
"Jake's happiness?"
Nick nodded. "That," he said lightly.
"And family." The buzzer rang, signaling the end of the game. The score was 92 to 91, Bulls. Nick and I sprang to our feet, cheering along with Jake. Jake tossed his head back and laughed hysterically. I knew exactly what Nick was talking about.
These moments meant everything.
