The bigger issue was Stacey and I had been drifting apart for years. College sweethearts, we got married two years after graduation. Amelia was born a few years later, and we were young twentysomething parents trying to make it in Manhattan.
We tried for a while, and Stacey encouraged me to focus on my business, since it had a tremendous upside in the money department.
But money wasn’t enough.
Honestly, if I had worked less, I don’t think that would have been enough either. Stacey and I stopped loving each other well before she had an affair.
Doesn’t make it right that she cheated.
But I’ll also never cast her as the bad guy in front of my kid.
Stacey, for all her flaws, is an excellent mother.
She scoops Amelia into her arms. “Hey, sweetie pie, I missed you bunches. And I’m so excited to take you to the llama sanctuary tomorrow.”
Yup, she’s a good mom.
“I can’t wait either,” Amelia says, then she looks up and waves to the man who lives with Stacey. “Hi, David.”
“Hey, Amelia. Good to see you.”
Stacey sets down Amelia, then strides over to Fitz and me. “Hi, Logan.”
“Hi, Stacey.”
She waves at Fitz. “Hey, Fitz. How are you? Good game the other night. Nice win against Boston.”
“Thank you very much,” he says, cool and cordial with her.
Stacey flashes her as-obvious-as-tomato-sauce-on-a-white-shirt smile. “Any chance you can get us tickets to the Philly game this weekend? Or any game next week?”
He sighs, like letting her down is the height of devastation for him. “Gee. I wish I could. But I don’t have extras.”
I try to rein in a grin. Fitz always has extras.
“Are you sure?” she asks again, opting for a flirty grin this time. Like she thinks that’ll work on any of my friends.
He stares at the darkening sky, as if considering, then nods crisply. “I’m one hundred percent positive.”
She sets a hand on his arm. “If anything changes . . .”
Gently, but firmly, he removes her hand. “It won’t change, Stacey. But thanks for asking. Appreciate your interest in the team.”
She turns to me. “Did you win at softball?”
“I did. Hit a homer.”
“That’s great. Also, we need to talk about school in the fall. There are some forms we need to sign.”
We speak briefly, then I say goodbye to Amelia, and Fitz and I take off, heading down Central Park West.
Fitz laughs once we’re out of earshot. “Man. She takes the cake. You have no idea how hard that was for me not to say, You have some fucking nerve, woman.”
“I’m proud of you for being as civil as you could.”
“I’m proud of you for treating her the way you do. But it is my sacred duty as your friend to despise your ex. And I will—bro code.”
We knock fists. “Bro code.”
“Seriously, you have done an excellent job at being a divorcé.”
“Thanks. It’s all I’ve ever aspired to be.”
His expression turns more serious than I usually see from him as he clasps my shoulder. “I mean it. I am proud of you. Last year, when Oliver and Summer were pretending to be engaged, you still seemed angry with Stacey and what went down. Understandable.”
I nod, echoing, “Understandable.”
He squeezes my shoulder briefly. “But you let go of your anger, and it’s good to see. You’re way more chill. That’s excellent. And that’s why I’m sad for you that the lady-friend sitch is up in the air. I was thinking she’d be everything you needed to loosen up and be happy again.”
“Because sex makes one happy?”
He blinks, like I’ve said something insane. “Well, obviously. It makes me almost as happy as winning a game.”
“Almost as happy as winning? Does that mean winning is better than sex? So, if you had to give up sex or hockey for the rest of your life, what would it be?”
He shoots me a searing look. “Are you the meanest person ever? Stop. Just stop. Never say such horrible things.”
“Well, what would it be? Hockey or sex?”
