Page 1 of Falling for Carla
CHAPTER 1
DRAKE
“Here’s to the last of our freedom,” I said, raising my beer in a toast. “Spring semester is about to start. No more late nights.”
“Spoken like an old man,” Aaron replied, rolling his eyes.
“Bullshit. Not bullshit that he’s an old man, bullshit that our freedom is gone,” Rick pointed out. “The only one who gave up his freedom is Kyle. The rest of us are still bachelors and we can do whatever the hell we want.” He still raised his bottle and drank, and so did everyone else.
“Yeah, isn’t it past your bedtime, Kyle?” Hamilton asked. “I know you’re not married to Mindy yet, but I’m pretty sure she’ll have 50/50 childcare responsibilities put in the prenup.”
“Quit thinking like a lawyer, Ham,” Kyle said. “There won’t be a prenup. You’re all just jealous that I found the love of my life and we have a family together while you old farts think hanging out with a bunch of single guys is fun,” he said, razzing us just as hard as we gave it to him.
I laughed.
“Tell yourself that when you’re changing twice the diapers, my man,” I said. “Mindy’s great. We’re glad for you. But the fact that you just said, ‘love of my life’ without sarcasm has me shook.”
“I’d be shook too if I was forty and thought anyone still said ‘shook,’” Aaron laughed.
“Oh, so what are the kids saying these days, little boy?” I shot back, rolling my eyes.
“You say ‘that’s sus,’ if you think it’s weird.”
“Do you just make this shit up?” I asked. “Or is it a seventh grader thing? None of my students have said anything like that. If they had, I would have asked if they needed a referral for speech and language services.”
“Hey, Aaron,” Ham chuckled, “he said you’re either in middle school or you have special learning needs.”
“What?” he said, looking back at us. “I got distracted. There was a hot redhead at the bar. You know how I feel about redheads.”
“I know you feel them pretty often,” Rick replied with a snort. We laughed at that, and Kyle shook his head at us.
“I may have to spend some time reading up on Urban Dictionary so I understand all the new slang,” I said, “but I already know that redheads are usually trouble.”
“Correction, you think every woman is trouble,” Rick said.
“No lies detected!” Aaron crowed.
“I’m sorry, do you just get on TikTok to pick up annoying catchphrases?” Ham asked.
“No, I get on TikTok for the hot fitness influencers. It’s research for running a gym,” Aaron said.
“Aaron’s terrible slang aside, I think practically everyone’s an asshole because twenty years on the police force doesn’t exactly show you the kinder, gentler side of humanity,” I said.
“Neither does social work,” Kyle put in.
“Hello? I’m a fucking lawyer. There’s nothing to destroy your faith in humanity like listening to some corporate asshole whine about how he underpaid his employees because he really needed a new yacht,” Ham added.
“You think people at my gym aren’t jerks? Try switching to cheaper paper towels for the bathrooms and wait for the Karens to lose their minds over it,” Aaron chimed in.
Rick cleared his throat. “I’ve done marketing campaigns that were practically wizardry because the CEO and his agenda were pure capitalist greed. Only they want me to spin it like they’re saving the whales and all the orphans and make them sound like the heroes they think they are.”
“Okay, you win,” Kyle said sarcastically, “forget dealing with domestic abusers and child molesters. Stroking the egos of rich men is way worse.”
“I realize I don’t have to see the suffering first-hand like you and Drake have,” Rick said, “but some of my clients have been pretty sickening.”
“You’re not wrong. You’re just showing your privilege,” Kyle said.
“I’m sure you have a point,” Aaron broke in. “But when you say privilege, my mind wanders.” He gave a short laugh.