“Well, girly, we are going to fix this situation, ASAP,” Vivian declares wrapping her arm around Carly’s shoulder and giving her a light squeeze.

“What do you mean?” she asks, bracing for the devious plan Vivian and Jen are obviously hatching.

“We love you, chica, and you’ve got a lot to work with.” Jen waves her hands around Carly’s body, highlighting her assets. “But I’m thinking at little less Ally Sheedy from the Breakfast Club and a little more hot momma from the burbs.” Jen circles her hands around Carly’s mess of a hairstyle. I cover my mouth to hide the small laugh that escapes my lips. Jen has absolutely no filter, but in this case, it’s our job as friends to help Carly make the transition into single life again. How the girls at her spa haven’t gotten a hold of her, I’ll never know, but the girl needs to be dolled up a bit.

“You know, Jen, just because you add an ‘I love you’ at the beginning, it doesn’t make your comment any less insulting,” Carly huffs and plops herself next to me on the couch.

“Sorry. It’s just that, well…” She stalls, collecting her thoughts. “I always say the best way to get over a man is to get under another one. I’m your friend and you need me to help get your mojo back, whether you think so or not.” Jen looks to Vivian, who is one step ahead and is on her phone booking an appointment with her salon for Carly. “We are going to have you so smokin’ that you will be the object of every man’s affection in Vegas. You will have your pick!” Jen lightly claps her hands and bounces on her toes in excitement.

“The last thing I need is another man,” Carly declares. “I just want to feel better about myself, and I don’t need a man to do that.”

“Maybe not, but you do need a little hair product,” Jen laughs, attempting to pat her hair down. “Girl, you are one hot mess right now.”

Carly swats Jen’s hand away and looks to me seeking I don’t know what…approval, maybe a safety line, neither of which I’ll give her. Instead I offer a smile and the only words that make sense. “It’s time to find our Carly again.”

She understands and smiles back, a smile we haven’t seen from her in years. “Okay,” she murmurs.

Vivian tapped on her smartphone and throws it into her purse. “All done,” she announces. “You have an appointment at my salon. We will have you all fixed up and feeling good in no time.”

Lakin

I don’t know what I did in a past life to deserve the life I have now, but I’m guessing I was some awesome kind of dude. Success in school and business have always came easy for me, and in the women department, well, I never had any issues. However, I had never upgraded any of those exchanges to relationship status. They were exacting that…exchanges. Somehow, though I have found myself in a relationship I never thought I wanted until I met her, and I couldn’t be fucking happier to be tied to her. Campbell is everything I never knew I wanted.

Tonight is going to be a first for both of us.

I told her to wear a pair of her most comfortable jeans and a t-shirt. I refused to tell her where we were going so she was a little apprehensive. As I pulled up to her apartment to pick her up, though, she bounded down the stairs in the attire I requested with a bright smile ready for whatever I planned to throw at her.

“I was going to come up and get you,” I say as I open the passenger side door for her. Shit, I’m trying to be Prince Charming here, and she stole my thunder. This is a date after all.

“Sorry,” she says sheepishly. “I’m just so excited. You have been very elusive about what we are doing tonight.” She kisses me on the cheek and settles into her seat. I pause momentarily, letting her affection absorb into my skin, savoring every second of the feeling.

I rub my hand across the skin that her lips touched, before making my way back around the car, and sliding into the driver’s seat. I look at her once again before throwing the car in drive and speeding out of her building complex.

I smile to myself as she stares out of the window.

She’s right. I have given her absolutely no clues about tonight and I offer nothing more on the way to our final destination. The traffic is heavy and as we approach the swarms of people crowding the downtown streets, I assume she has figured out where we are going. However, as we pull into the stadium, I realize this really is a night of firsts.

“Wow, is there an outdoor festival or concert or something going on?” she asks. “The streets are packed.”

“No,” I chuckle. “There is a Rockies game tonight.

“Oh, I don’t really follow basketball,” she shrugs.

My head whips around to looks at her. Did she really just say that the Colorado Rockies were a basketball team? I shake my head and laugh.

“Baseball,” I simply say.

“Same difference,” she says nonchalantly. “They are both played with balls.”

I now remember why I’ve never taken a woman to a ballgame. Unless they can truly appreciate the game, the most fun they have is during the seventh inning stretch when the crowd sings “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” I’m hoping that this brilliant attempt at a fun date, doesn’t completely crash and burn.

I find decent parking near Coors Field and we briskly follow the crowd. I thread my fingers with hers and lead her along the sidewalks, weaving around the people lingering on the path. It feels good to have her tucked into my side. If I have my way, it’s a place she’ll never leave.

It isn’t until I’m handing our tickets to the gate attendant that she puts it together.

“Do they have other events here or are we actually going to the game?” she asks, not exactly thrilled at her prospects for the evening. “You know I know nothing about sports, right?”

My smile widens. Tonight is going to be so much fun. This is her first baseball game and will be a night neither of us will forget. I don’t answer her, instead, I pull her toward our seats before she can change her mind about our evening.

I usually watch the game from my company’s box seats, but tonight, with Campbell in tow, I bought tickets along the third baseline. I want her to experience the game as a true fan would. Mingling with the crowd, the smell of the beer and hotdogs, taking part in the wave, she needs to be immersed in the action.

We find our seats and I immediately flag the guy selling beers.

“I know you’re not much of a drinker but baseball games and a cold one kind of go hand in hand,” I explain as I hand her the plastic bottle of beer. She nods and offers a tight smile, before taking a small, sampling of the ale. I know that is probably the most that she’ll drink of it, but it is still worth the eight bucks even if she just holds it all night.

Her unease at the situation is evident. Campbell likes having the upper hand. She like being prepared for any situation. Baseball is not her cup of tea, and there is no way that she can fake it.

“We are here to have fun together, Cam. I could give two shits whether you know anything about baseball. We are here for the experience of the surroundings, and to enjoy each other’s company, that’s all.”

I place my hand on her knee and gently give it a squeeze until I see her relax and smile. Apparently, that’s all that needs to be said. By the second inning, she is shouting at the umpires, referring to them as zebras…yeah, wrong sport. She is high-fiving all the fans in the general vicinity any time one of “our guys” as she refers to them does something “cool looking.” Any other woman, and I probably would have excused myself to the bathroom and hightailed it out of the stadium, but Campbell has made this night something to remember. Here I thought I would create something special for her, and all the while, she has done that for me.

“Travelling!” she shouts when the player on first attempts to steal second.