Page 2 of Breathless With Her

“Me either. The cheerleading and dance teams did, though. But you do look fancy,” I said, smiling.

“Aww, thanks, babe. I try. I don’t get out much these days with the four kids and church and all of the various things kids and school bring. But Tony likes to try and take me out on a date at least once a month.”

“I cannot believe you have four kids.” I shook my head.

“I thought you wanted kids. I’m surprised you don’t have any.” Jenny’s eyes widened, and she set down her glass. “Oh, my God. I’m sorry. That was the worst thing I could have said.”

I shook my head, setting down my own glass so I could hold her hand. “It’s fine. We decided to wait until my business was up and running, and when we were at a place where it felt right.”

“Still. What if you were trying and couldn’t or something? I was crass and a bitch. I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be. Not with me.” And I knew Jenny wouldn’t make the mistake again with anyone else. Talking about the lack of children wasn’t easy, and while I didn’t have any for my own reasons, everyone was different.

“Jenny!” Tony called out from the dance floor. “Come dance, baby.” He shook his hips, and Jenny blushed.

“I’ve been beckoned. It was good to see you, Erin. We should catch up again. I hate that we live in the same state and never see each other.”

I hugged her tightly again, closing my eyes. “We’ll make it happen. Promise. Now, go show off your moves.”

“I’ve got the moves for sure.” She winked and headed off to her husband. I kept smiling. It was good to see that people were happy now, some probably more so than they had been in school. I was, that was for sure. I loved my job, my husband, and my life. I washappy. Speaking of my husband, I should probably go find him. I hadn’t seen him in a bit. He’d said he was going to talk with some guys he hadn’t seen in years.

I waved at someone who recognized me and then headed out of the gym towards another part of the building where some other people were congregated. I passed the trophy case and touched the tips of my fingers to the glass, doing my best not to leave any smudges. There were a few football, basketball, and volleyball trophies inside.

As well as the largest cheerleading trophy in the history of the world. Becca and her girls had won state three years in a row and made sure the rest of the school knew it. They’d worked their asses off, and I’d always been proud of them—even Becca, who openly despised me for dating Nicholas.

I didn’t hate her back, but we hadn’t been friends either.Teenagers. I sighed.

I looked closer at the trophy case. I’d been on the swim team, but I’d been firmly on the B-relay. Nicholas had been on the A-relay, but that was only because we hadn’t had enough seniors to actuallyhavea B-relay that wasn’t just freshman who couldn’t attend state.

I’d had friends, but they’d had other sets of friends who were each part of cliques of their own. I’d had a place to sit at lunch—right next to Nicholas—but we hadn’t been the so-called cool table. We weren’t jocks, or the drama club, or any other label that had been prominent in the day.

I’d just been…there.

I’d graduated and gone off to college with Nicholas, my equally average but decent boyfriend. Time had moved on. I’d finished university with him, and we ended up married. We loved each other, dealt with each other like any other couple who had been together since the age of fourteen. Maybe even ten if you counted when we actually met. But all in all, I was happy.

I just needed to find where Nicholas had gone off to so I could enjoy myself a bit more at this event.

“Hey, Erin! Did your sister come with you?” a voice asked from behind me. I turned on my heel, frowning. I narrowed my eyes, trying to remember who the familiar voice and face belonged to before I smiled.

“Hi, Shawnie. No, she didn’t come. Jennifer was a few years ahead of us, remember? I brought my husband, though.”

Shawnie came over and gave me a big hug. I winced at how tight it was. Shawnie had been a big guy back in high school—wide yet completely built considering his position on the football field. He was even bigger now, yet still totally in shape. Back in the day, he had been part of the team that had gone to the state championship, which was a pretty big deal, since I was pretty sure our high school hadn’t done it since. I hugged him back hard and then pulled away to study his face.

Shawnie had aged quite nicely. He didn’t look like he’d aged the full ten years at all. His dark skin was clear of lines except for two tiny ones at the corners of his eyes—the man just loved to smile. He always had, and it made me happy that he was still smiling as hard as he was today. That meant that maybe things had been good for him. He deserved it.

“You’re looking good, Erin,” Shawnie said.

“Thank you for that.”

“I’m just sorry your sister isn’t here,” he said, waggling his brows. I snorted, shaking my head.

“You always had such a crush on her.”

“Of course, I did. Your sister was hot.”

“Thank you for making sure I feel like chopped liver,” I said, shaking my head.

Shawnie put his hands over his heart and took a staggering step back. “How dare you think that I don’t find you attractive, as well. But you were always so attached to Nicky, no one else stood a chance with you.” I could tell he’d held back a sneer at the nameNicky.