Falling by Jane Green Page A

muse over the word. “I hadn’t even really thought of it as dating. Gina isn’t really someone you date. I guess you could just say we’re hanging out together. We’ve known each other a long time. It’s . . . fun.”
    â€œSometimes the relationships that grow out of long friendships are the very best of all,” says Emma.
    Dominic laughs. “This is definitely not a relationship. I’m not even sure that it’s fun a lot of the time. Gina is one tough woman, but . . .” He shrugs. “It is what it is.”
    â€œWhat does that mean?”
    â€œIt means it’s fine for right now. Neither of us wants anything more serious.”
    â€œMen always say that. But I find invariably the women do want something more serious. A man always thinks that he’s on the same page as the woman he’s with, then wonders why she’s so devastated when he says, ‘Let’s both go back to being friends.’”
    Dominic is amused. “You sound like you have bitter experience.”
    â€œNo,” she says. “It’s just that I think you’re wrong about Gina. I think she’s more interested in you than you think. She definitely seemed interested enough to be unfriendly to other women.”
    â€œYou?”
    â€œAnd Sophie.”
    â€œDon’t take it personally. Gina doesn’t like women. Especially if they’re pretty. If you weighed four hundred pounds she would have loved you.”
    Emma laughs as her phone buzzes, a text from Sophie, which she excuses herself to read, realizing that it isn’t just her phone buzzing, but her whole body. Is she imagining it, or is there real chemistry between them? She hadn’t expected it, wasn’t looking for it, but now that it is here, it seems to be making her feel more alive; at any rate, it is making her smile.
    Rob’s on a last-minute trip and my mom’s babysitting Jackson. Want to go out tonight?
    Emma reads the text and thinks to herself,
Yes
. She does need a night out. There are only so many nights binge-watching shows on Netflix that a girl can take. She needs to go out with a friend and have a couple of drinks and have some fun.
    â€œDominic? You know how you just said you’d tell me the fun places to go in town? I don’t think I’m quite ready to go hunting for a man, but I am ready for a girls’ night out, and you clearly know all the right places. If we wanted to have some fun, where would we go?”
    â€œThat was quick!” he says, before insisting she get her phone back out and make a list of all the places they should go.

TEN
    I t is a gorgeous, balmy summer night. Emma asked Jesse to kitty-sit while she’s out, and already she can hear him crooning at Hobbes to try to entice her from behind the sofa as Emma finishes getting ready.
    She is wearing a white floaty dress that shows off her tan. Her hair is down, tumbling around her shoulders in beachy waves. Skinny gold hoops are in her ears, and a long beaded necklace with a tiny seed pearl tassel falls to her waist. She has sprayed a shimmery golden oil on her shoulders, her chest, and down her arms, and is glowing as she steps into the living room before leaving to pick up Sophie.
    â€œWow,” says Dominic, seemingly stunned into silence as he looks at her approvingly. She didn’t expect Dominic to be there. Jesse had wolfed down a grilled cheese sandwich in her kitchen before crawling across the living room to extract Hobbes from behind the sofa, never mentioning that his dad might be dropping in. She knew Dominicwould come over after she left to watch Jesse but thought he’d wait until she was gone. She was aware of a vague disappointment that he wouldn’t see her looking so pretty. She knows she looks pretty only because she feels pretty, prettier than she has felt in ages, and she registers a tiny thrill that he is seeing her looking her absolute