just waves the middle finger back and keeps on talking without missing a beat. “I just overdress for these things. I mean, now that I’m staying home with the kids, when do I have a chance to dress up? Especially since Manny’s idea of a date night lately is sending the kids to his sister’s and keeping me naked from the time they walk out the door until five minutes before they walk back in.” She laughs. “Not that I’m complaining, mind you. I’m just saying that I don’t get much of a chance to dress up anymore.”
“Well, you look gorgeous.”
It’s 100 percent the truth, even if I wince at her story. Her life is so different from the life I had with Karl. Not just because we didn’t have any kids to send to my parents’ for a night off but because when we actually had a date night, it was always about going somewhere fancy so he could see and be seen.
When there was a quiet night at home—which wasn’t very often, since Karl was always “working”—it was more of a Netflix-and-sleep kind of night. Or a wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am kind of night, which weren’t exactly my favorites. I guess that should have told me something even before the divorce, considering it’d been a long time—if ever—since sex with Karl made me smile the way Angela is smiling and practically glowing.
A little voice whispers in the back of my head that maybe that’s why Karl started banging his paralegal. Is it really his fault I wasn’t interested in sleeping with him myself in years? I swallow. Hard. And push that thought down. Cheating is never the answer. He could have easily just said he wanted a divorce. As could I…
I cough. “Legit, you look amazing, Angela.”
“Thanks. Looking hot when I go out without him guarantees Manny is thinking about me all night. Gotta keep them on their toes,” she says with a wink.
Maybe that’s where I went wrong. I didn’t keep Karl “on his toes” with evenings planned to drive him wild with lust, have him wanting to take me against the wall the second I returned. Instead, he was the king of the three-in-the-morning dick poke to my ass followed by a few minutes of pumping, before he came with a grunt and rolled back over, asleep before his head hit the pillow.
“So what do you think of Mikey?” Angela asks when we stop at a red light while she riffles through her voluminous purse.
“I think he’s a really nice guy.” I scramble for something else to say. “Plus, he can put together a really readable spreadsheet.”
“He’s the best,” she says as she tosses a pacifier into the back seat. “And I’m not just saying that because he’s my brother-in-law. It’s true. He did all the remodeling on Manny’s and my house, and it looks like a million bucks now.”
A tiger-print glasses case follows the pacifier into the way back, then a blue toy truck whizzes through the air, and finally one giant purple-feathered earring. The light turns green just as she pulls out a Buzz Lightyear doll. “Here, hold this, will you?” She shoves the action figure into my hands. “Johnny will kill me if I lose his favorite toy.”
We inch forward but don’t make it through the light before it turns red again, which means Angela is back to digging in her purse. Another pacifier, two more cars, and a hair ribbon are tossed in the back seat before she comes out triumphant with a bright red lipstick that she applies with abandon to her already bright lips—while still singing Mikey’s praises.
I’m beginning to think she has some ulterior motives with this party invite, after all—and they revolve around getting me to date Mikey. Since I need Mikey for my new vaginal exorcism plan, I’m more than willing to hear of her plans, too. She drops the lipstick back into her bag and holds it out for me to do the same with the Buzz Lightyear. Then she abruptly changes the subject.
“This party is going to be so fun! I have a ton of people I’m dying to introduce you to!”
“A ton?” I ask, heart starting to pound because I’m really more of a small-group girl. “How many people are going to be at this party?”
“Fifteen? Twenty?” She waves a hand as the light turns green and she starts to drive again. “Does it matter? I’ve told them all about you, and they are dying to meet