catch her breath. “And now you’re taking driving lessons with him.”
The snorting started all over again.
“If I was him,” Regan quipped, “I’d fail you just on principle.”
“I know you would.” Still grinning, Ellie shook her head at Regan. “And thank you, I appreciate the support.”
“Hey—how many times have the three of us told you Brett’s a good guy?” Regan didn’t wait for Ellie to answer. “Uh-huh. Exactly. If anyone’s earned the right to treat you like crap, it’s him, and you can’t even begin to deny that.”
“Can we get some nachos or something?” Jayne cut in. “I’ve got a hankering.”
They’d barely given Shelley the nachos order before Regan changed the subject.
Thank God.
“Guess who’s looking for a stylist again?”
“No way,” Maya choked. “Again?”
“Yup. It’s a small indie film he’s doing with a friend of his, and they’ll be filming out in the valley for a week or so in June, so…”
“Okay,” Ellie grunted. “I have to ask. What does Carter think about all this? I mean, come on, we’re talking about Griffin freaking Carr here—they don’t come any hotter than him!”
“I disagree.” Regan’s grin made them all laugh. “I’ve got the hottest guy in the world sitting at home in his Death Star boxers right now, and no amount of money, travel, or fancy Oscar statues could possibly be better than that.”
“The guy’s a sleazeball,” Maya said, with more than a little bit of disgust. “Every week he’s on a different tabloid with a different chick on his arm.”
Again, Regan shrugged. “Sleazeball or not, I had an idea.”
The other three chorused an “uh-oh” as they all sat back in their chairs.
“No, this is a good one,” she laughed. “The film’s budget is like next to nothing, so I was thinking that instead of charging for my services, I’d do a swap with Griffin. I’ll be his stylist, and in turn maybe I can get him to come out and play for us in an exhibition game or something. We could charge a small admission, set up a beer garden, and donate all the proceeds to the hospital. What do you think?”
Silence hung between them for a few seconds before Maya finally spoke.
“Seriously? I think it’s brilliant.”
“I know, right?” Regan turned to Ellie. “Will Brett still be here to play in June?”
“How would I know?”
“Wait, what?” Maya frowned. “Why wouldn’t he be here?”
When Ellie didn’t answer, Regan did: “He put in for a transfer.”
“He what?” Maya gaped at Ellie. “Why?”
Why were they all looking at Ellie like that—like she should not only have the answer to Maya’s question but should be properly chapped about him leaving.
“What?” She took a long sip of her wine, then rolled her eyes. “It’s got nothing to do with me.”
“But…” Maya glanced over at Regan and Jayne, as though seeking another tidbit she didn’t know, then returned her gaze to Ellie. “That’s too bad.”
“Oh, my…” Ellie scoffed. “We had one dinner together, and that was only because Mom bullied us both into it, and now we’re being forced together because he’s the only instructor in town. That’s it. Nothing’s changed.”
“Yeah, but—”
“There’s no ‘but.’ ” She didn’t mean to sound harsh, but how many times did they have to have this same conversation? None of them had been arrested and charged with a crime they hadn’t committed, none of them had sat in a concrete cell while their father did nothing to help, and none of them had been made to feel like she was little more than a hysterical female whose giant ego imagined that Kurt wouldn’t leave her alone.
Thankfully, they didn’t push it any further, and the four of them spent the rest of the evening talking about Regan’s idea for the ball game and if she and Carter had made any headway on wedding plans.
They hadn’t, and neither one of them was the least bit keen on starting them. As far as they were concerned, they’d committed themselves to each other long before Carter slipped that iceberg on her hand, so nothing else really mattered, least of all a piece of paper.
“That’s great,” Maya said, her smile soft and gentle. “Really, that’s so cool.”
“Very cool,” Ellie agreed, wrapping her fingers around the stem of her glass. “I’m not gonna lie—when I see you and Carter or Jayne and Nick together, it makes me a little jealous.”
“How’s that?”
“You know, you both had that moment,” she said. “The lightning.”
“Come again?” With the nachos long gone, Regan picked up the lone olive left on the plate and swallowed it.
“The