Rolling for Love

by Kate Messick

  “I’m not even sure what we were painting.” Aurora’s laughter is strained. I don’t think she had fun.

  Sandy picks up her canvas of odd colors vaguely in the shape of a cat, or a bear. “I think we were painting foxes.” Her words are slightly slurred. We might all be a little drunk.

  “I hate you guys.” Betty laughs again. “I have never ever gotten drunk at a sip-and-paint before. I do them to learn to paint better!”

  “Were we kicked out?” I suddenly ask, scandalized. I’m not quite as drunk as the three girls, but they don’t have kids to go home to.

  “No,” Sandy answers. “Sorry to burst your bubble. But the bartender and the teacher helped us pack up as we seemed to be having trouble washing our brushes.”

  “I would be mad. I’m mad! But I’m not. PaintPretty is so much better than SplatPaint.” Betty laughs again.

  The barista brings us our orders of coffees and gelato splashed with more liquor. “Do you need me to call you a cab or anything?” he asks cordially.

  “Don’t poop on our parade,” I whine. I sound like my four-year-old. Damn, I have a four-year-old. “I’m not ready to go home,” I add in my adult voice.

  “If you need anything, call me over. It’s a quiet night.” He looks young. He probably studies at the university in town. My eyes linger on his skinny ass as he walks away.

  “I didn’t plan on drinking this much,” Betty states. “Do you think Blake would give me a lift?”

  “I think Blake would fly to the moon for you,” Sandy says dreamily.

  “What makes you say that?”

  “Who’s Blake?” Aurora asks with a furrowed brow.

  “Blake is Dillon’s friend,” Sandy answers. “Dillon is my and Lynda’s friend. This is getting really complicated.”

  We all laugh and focus on our gelato. It had been a good night. Betty and I hit it off. Aurora asked me – well all of us really – several questions about Sandy, and few odd ones about Sandy and some guy named Amorino. But when it was clear we didn’t know anything, she changed topics. Betty even got Sandy chatting a few times. It was a great evening.

  I love being married and I love my kids, but sometimes I feel like I gave up my life for them. It doesn’t help that Steven has the opportunity to go out with friends and I just don’t. He has told me that I should get out more, but it’s hard to leave my girls. I’m starting to feel resentful.

  “Lynda, are you ok?”

  I realize that I have started crying. “No,” I sniff. “Not really.”

  I end up pouring my heart out to these three ladies. My insecurities, my struggle to balance me and my family. I love my kids more than anything in the world but I didn’t think loving them would be this complicated. Another cup of coffee appears in front of me. I just wish Steven would be more understanding. I feel like I’m that for him.

  “I wish I was crying because I’m drunk.” I sniffle again. “But between the walk here and the coffee, there is blood in my alcohol stream.”

  “Maybe you just need to find that spark with Steven,” Aurora offers. “I just got married about seven months ago. But my husband doesn’t pay as much attention to me as when we were dating.”

  “Seven months isn’t that long,” Betty states. “Is he just really stressed and going through something? Maybe at work?”

  “I don’t know. He doesn’t talk to me about work. Is he stressed, Sandy?” Aurora asks, her voice unfriendly.

  Sandy blinks a few times after being addressed and sips her coffee, not giving Aurora anything. The table gets awkwardly quiet.

  “I don’t know. With kids, everything just changes,” I say into the silence. I take a deep breath and pull out my phone. I’m in that horrible place – not drunk enough to be carefree, but not sober enough to drive. I text Steven. Time to face the music.

  “Dillon would tell you to talk to Steven,” Sandy says.

  I notice Aurora taking out her phone as well. Steven texts me back right away, but he needs to grab our neighbor to watch the kids so it will take him a bit to get here. “Steven can’t come get me for another thirty minutes at least.”

  “Blake will be here soon,” Betty tells us and a faint blush appears on her face. I have a feeling her night has just begun.

  “But, before I go, we need to do some brainstorming for Aurora and Lynda!” Betty exclaims happily, her buzz very clearly still in effect. “At this table, we have the power of time. We have Lynda, married with kids. Aurora, just hot off the alter. Me, in the throes of possible new relationships. Ok, basically dating based on the amount of time we have spent making out. And Sandy. Who, now that I mention it, I have no idea what dating status you’re in.”

  “It’s complicated,” she sighs.

  “O.M.G., did you kiss Dillon?” Betty almost yells.

  “God, no,” Sandy declares. “What’s wrong with you?”

  “Oh, shit, sorry.” Betty laughs. “Did you kiss Joe then?”

  I lean forward as Sandy turns bright red.

  “Oh, poor Dillon,” Betty says.

  “Why poor Dillon?” Sandy asks.

  “Could we go back to brainstorming for Lynda and me?” Aurora breaks in politely.

  “Ah, yes, sorry.” Betty seems keen to get away from the topic of “poor Dillon”. It’s pretty clear from our D&D game that Dillon is head over heels for Sandy. And that she has friend-zoned him hard. I don’t think she has even noticed his interest.

  “Sandy, what does Amorino like?” Aurora asks Sandy directly.

  “Specific brainstorming there,” Betty observes softly, just low enough for me to hear.

  “Um, rainbows and sunshine?” Sandy answers quickly.

  “I didn’t come here to spend time with you,” Aurora tells her bluntly. “I find it odd that Amorino never talks about you. But there are pictures of the two of you in our house … he even said you dated but fell out after it. I didn’t really put it all together until I saw you in his office. Now, what’s going on with my husband?” Her voice loses some of its blunt, angry edge as she dramatically adds, “I just need to know.”

  “Is Amorino your husband?” I ask Aurora, her earlier questions now making a little more sense.

  “Yes,” she replies. “And Amorino is Sandy’s boss.” Her voice breaks a little. “I feel like he’s slipping away, and I just don’t know what to do. He doesn’t talk to me.”

  “Did he talk to you before you got married?” I double check.

  Two thick beautiful tears slip from Aurora’s eyes, one from each eye. She doesn’t answer; the tears just sparkle on her cheeks. They don’t even ruin her makeup. I push my knee against Betty’s, then scoot to the other side of the booth and wrap my arms around the beautiful, crying woman. Sandy gets squished into the corner.

  “Amorino is a complicated man,” Sandy starts to say, then stops and looks hard at the table in front of her. “Amorino loves to hunt,” she finally asserts.

  “I have seen pictures of the two of you at the range,” Aurora says bitterly.

  “There are pictures of the two of us on the range?” She appears surprised, then shakes her head and starts again. “The pictures are not the point. That’s not exactly what I was trying to say. Amorino enjoys chasing things. He enjoys excitement. He works hard in a job where even the most exciting of things are routine and planned for. He spends his days putting out fires. He wants to start his own when he’s not at work.”

  “Did you do anything different while you were dating?” I ask. Sandy is still drunk. I’m not sure if her advice is very tangible. Or wanted. Was Aurora asking for advice … or accusing Sandy of something?

  “What do you mean?” Aurora questions flatly.

  “She means, what has changed now that you are married?” Betty replies.

  “Well, we live together now. So everything has changed,” Aurora explains. “That’s what happens when you get married and are trying to start a family.”

  “It is,” I agree. “But you have to work to keep t
he spark and the romance there, like date nights and little things.”

  “This sounds like good advice.” Betty bats her eyelashes at me. “Maybe keeping a spark alive for yourself as well.”

  “Oh,” is all I say, my words turned back on me.

  “Moms always give the best advice,” Sandy repeats my earlier words with a grin. Betty’s little drunken shriek halts our discussion as she jumps up and runs to Blake.

  “What did you do to my Betty Boop?” Blake asks.

  “We just had extra fun painting,” Sandy replies and smiles. “Blake, if you lived with a woman and knew everything there was to know – watched her pee in the shower, fart on the couch, clip her toenails in the bed, all that kind of stuff – what would you do to keep the spark alive in your marriage?”

  “Who pees in the shower?” Aurora demands, offended.

  “That’s easy,” Blake answers as of Aurora didn’t speak. “I would pick her up every day and tell her I loved her, shower pee, farts and toenails. And then I would carry her off to my man-cave and deflower her!”

  “Ugh,” Sandy responds. “I hope she’s wearing iron underwear.”

  “Hey, I said man-cave, not tower,” he teases. “But good catch on the Mel Brooks quote. Maybe you’re not hopeless after all. Later, ladies.”

  The two of them sweep out the door, their giggles drift in from outside. Steven used to make me giggle like that. I need to balance in my life again. There is a moment of calm. I blame Steven for so much, but I need to take care of myself, too. He can’t be responsible for everything.

  “We just need to be strong,” I say resolutely to Aurora and turn to Sandy. “Give Aurora some date ideas.”

  Sandy’s eyebrows shoot up. “I really don’t know him like that,” she mumbles.

  I narrow my eyes and plead, “You have to be able to give Aurora something.” Aurora’s case is my case now. Sandy wrings her hands. I don’t understand why this is such a big deal.

  “Sandy,” a man’s voice exclaims.

  “Boss.” Sandy gives a mock salute.

  I whip around to see Amorino. Wow, Amorino is hot. Like Italian underwear model hot. Aurora bumps my leg. I quickly stop ogling her husband and move back to my original seat in the booth so she can get out.

  “Wow, they look amazing together,” I can’t stop myself from whispering to Sandy.

  “That they do.” Her voice is incredibly flat.

  Amorino gives Aurora a hug and I can’t help but notice his suspicious glance at Sandy as he hugs his wife.

  “Don’t look at me.” Sandy calls him out on it. “Aurora cornered me.”

  “Don’t be mad,” Aurora smiled prettily. I feel like I’m watching a movie, Aurora’s voice is so lovely. In fact, the whole picture is lovely. “I just wanted some insight into your work life. You have had so many late nights.”

  “Sandy is my employee. It really isn’t appropriate,” Amorino chastises. He leans down slightly and gives Aurora a loving kiss. She leans into him and he puts and arm gracefully around her shoulders. “Sandy, don’t be late tomorrow.”

  The two of them walk out the door. It’s just me and Sandy, and the barista left.

  “I want to dress them up in matching outfits,” I say. “They match like a sexy version of Barbie and Ken.” I turn to Sandy and she wrinkles her nose.

  “Me too,” she finally says unhappily.

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  Reality, Bela Casa Construction, Home Development

  Once the golds and oranges of fall have finished covering the ground, the Front Range becomes locked in a timeless world of green pines, stark empty trees, and bright sunlight. In the past, it would have been constantly covered in snow, but now those storms are long in between.

  Sandy Yuhi

  “You need to say no to Aurora if she asks you to spend time with her again,” Amorino states. We’re alone, walking back from the far side of the site after clearing some more mysterious materials.

  “Funny,” I say.

  “Not funny,” he responds blandly. “Do you know how much it would hurt her to know I was messing around behind her back?”

  “I thought you got permission,” I respond casually. The most adorable frustrated noise comes out of Amorino and I grin.

  “Ok, I lied to you at lunch the other day. I didn’t get permission,” he admits.

  “Clearly.” I feel Amorino’s hand on my shoulder and I’m suddenly pushed against a giant tire from one of the big trucks parked along the edge of our walking route. Amorino’s knee pushes my legs apart and his thigh presses into my crotch. His hot mouth is on mine, his tongue trying to wiggle into my mouth. I can feel his dick coming to life in his pants. I push against his broken arm and he stumbles back as I slap him for the second time in my life. This time I’m not surprised, but neither is he. He touches the side of his face, his eyes bright. Excited.

  “Aurora says that you told her I like to hunt.” He looks at me like I’m food.

  That look used to make my panties melt. But now it makes me angry. What’s this? Is he going to force me if I say no?

  “You can’t just kiss me.” I move so I’m not between the tire and Amorino and cross my arms. “Not anymore.”

  “That just makes me want to kiss you more,” he growls.

  “Go home and fuck your wife. Me, this, whatever fucked-up thing we had, is over.”

  “It’s not!” Amorino almost stomps his foot like a little kid. He’s about as good at dealing with emotions as I am. We’re a fucking pair.

  “What’s wrong?” I ask.

  To my surprise, his posture relaxes and he begins walking again. I rush to rejoin his side but keep my distance.

  “Let’s go get coffee,” he states.

  “Amorino …”

  “No, just coffee.” His voice is full of disappointment. “Let’s drive into Gunbarrel and go to Starbucks. We can take Devon, if it will make you feel more comfortable.”

  “What about the site?”

  “Fuck the site,” Amorino mutters.

  Fifteen minutes later, I find myself seated across from Amorino, some pumpkin-spice drink in my hands.

  “I have never worked so hard for a woman in my life,” he recalls. “I had to chase you. You’re still fun to chase. But in the end, you’re easy.”

  “I’m going to move on from that because I know you’re trying to make a point.” I grit my teeth. I’d had a crush on Amorino since fifth grade – of course, I was easy.

  “Aurora … Aurora had a line of men after her. She’s rich, gorgeous and young. I’m nearing thirty—”

  “Twenty-five. Stop being dramatic,” I interject. We’re the same age, even born in the same month. I’m not old.

  “She’s twenty-two,” Amorino tells me. “Anyway, the point is, the chase was exciting. And when I finally caught her, she made me wait until we were married. But she invited every man I beat to our wedding. Unwrapping my victory our wedding night, knowing all the losers watched me win, was literally the hottest night of my life.”

  I stay silent, letting my jealousy and disappointment knot in my stomach.

  “We’re trying to get pregnant,” Amorino says after a pause. “After our honeymoon, when we weren’t pregnant, she started downloading apps. Changing our diets. She even created a sex schedule.”

  “I can’t imagine you on a sex schedule,” I say with a wry smile.

  “I’ve never not been able to get it up before.” He leans toward me, ashamed. At least with me, I can attest to the statement.

  “You have always wanted to have Amorino Juniors running around.”

  One of Amorino’s rare, genuine smiles spreads across his face.

  “Aurora and I are going to have beautiful babies,” he gushes.

  “They are either going to be supermodels or trolls,” I tease. “Sometimes, two positives poop out a negative.”

  “Nope, we will have gods among men,” Amorino affirms.

  “What if they are girls?”

>   “Goddesses then.” He smiles again. “They will look just like Aurora.”

  I take a minute to sip coffee. Amorino sounds like he’s in love. He never talked about the possibility of kids with me. And they are already trying?

  “Please, just come up with some reason the two of you can’t spend time together,” he pleads, interrupting my thoughts.

  “I have tried. She’s desperate. She thinks you’re losing interest. Are you?”

  “Yes and no,” Amorino admits. “Married life is, well, boring. Aurora is not exciting in the bedroom.”

  “You really need to find some other friends to talk to.”

  “Well … I haven’t fucked most of my other friends in every exciting way known to man,” he says crassly, “so I think you’re the perfect person to have this conversation with.”

  “Don’t remind me.” I can feel the heat of embarrassment on my cheeks.

  “I know you don’t regret it.” Amorino’s hand creeps toward me on the table.

  “Hands to yourself,” I say quickly.

  He grins. “Sorry, old habits—”

  “Die today,” I chime in happily. “Just talk to Aurora. Set up some sexy role-play nights. Isn’t baby-making sex supposed to be super-hot anyway?”

  “Not when on a schedule.” Amorino groans. “And now I haven’t been able to get it up enough times that it’s an anxiety thing.”

  “Do you fight?” I ask, curious.

  “No. Aurora is so sweet and sensitive.”

  I’m not entirely convinced of this statement. She seemed a little two-faced to me and treated me like I was below her.

  “She really doesn’t seem like the kind of girl you usually go for.” I can’t stop myself from making a comparison. To my surprise, Amorino nods.

  “She isn’t. She’s something special. I don’t want to hurt her.”

  “Then stop cheating on her,” I say harshly.

  “I hate our sex life,” he whines like a little kid. “What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.”

  “Then fix it. And, yes, it will,” I hiss. “It hurt me, not that you give two shits.”