Page 62 of The Replay

"There's a date?!" Pen exclaims.

Evie grins. "RSVPs going out soon."

Several expressions of joy come to life around me, and I manage to smile and ignore the little seed of doubt growing in my stomach. I can be playing with this idea of friendship in my mind, but I should remember that the kind of community I'm imagining takes a long time to build. Even if I get an invitation, being a wedding guest isn't enough to go from coworkers to friends… and being friends like that with Dom may be pushing it…

"We want to keep it intimate," she says my way. "But Logan and I would love to have you there, Mariana."

"Oh, don't worry about it. I understand. I'm… not in the inner circle. I get it."

It seems like the polite thing to say.

"No, no." Evie shakes her head, an encouraging smile on her face. "Logan and I don't have big families. We'll invite our friends, some people from work… and we really do like you. We would love to have you there."

I hesitate. This is probably a conversation I should have with Dom, to give him a chance to share how he feels about it all. I'd hate for it to take us back to when things were rough.

"Are you unsure because of Dom?" Evie asks. "I didn't think things were too bad between the two of you."

She reads me with no issues. Maybe I should worry about that too.

"No, they're not too bad…" I try.

"If there are things we don't know, that's fair," Ames says. "If you have any reason to want to avoid him we don't know about, we won't keep forcing you to spend time with him. Unfortunately, sometimes guys that seem really nice can surprise you."

"Socially, at least." Evie smiles. "At work we may not be able to avoid it, but my wedding is different. We can work something out for that."

I shake my head, but they keep reassuring me.

"And if there's anything HR needs to know," Pen adds. "If he's doing something wrong at work, we can be objective. You shouldn't have to deal with unprofessionalism or harassment…"

I wave my hands in a calming gesture. "No, no. He's… okay. It's not like that."

"I'll confess I have been paying attention." Evie smirks. "All I saw was some… irritation."

I chuckle. "You noticed, huh?"

She nods. "The guy is friendly and chatty and caring… then suddenly turns into the Ice King around you. Except his eyes. Hot with anger."

I mirror her gesture. "I called it the Dull Dom look."

"Nothing dull about it, in my opinion." Evie laughs.

"It's okay," I say. "Things are getting better. I think. I just don't want to mess any of this up."

Nat grins. "I guess we'll see by the end of the game if things with Dom are better, yeah? They always come here as a group."

"Great." I keep my tone light. "Now I know for sure you're all going to be paying attention."

They all smile the same cheeky way.

"Oh, Mariana," Ames says. "We already were."

Chapter 20

Mariana

The Strike plays the rest of the game with the same kind of drive and coherence they've had all season. They win it easily. It brings a strong sense of joy and confidence to the suite that I grab onto, hoping it will soak into my bones.

We chat and laugh while waiting for the guys. Part of the process involves Evie checking social media for news.