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Matthew now because I’m sure he’s busy at work.”
    Mark and Matthew are my older brothers, who are also identical twins. They’re three years older than Shane and me. Matthew was a Master Sergeant in the Air Force, and lived on the Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany. Mark was the Deputy Fire Chief for the New York Fire Department, and Shane a Registered Nurse working at an emergency room in Chicago…with the girlfriend that no one in my family liked. Wait, you knew that already. Seconds later, Shane was back on the line and so was Mark. I assumed that Shane told Mark he needed to tell them something, because as soon as they were all connected, Mark said, “Okay little bro, spit it out.” That was Mark, always getting straight to the point.
    Shane took a deep breath then blurted , “I have decided to propose to Mari.”
    There was an awkward silence on the phone. The knowledge that Shane wanted to commit himself to this horrible human being for the rest of his life had become the shitty icing on the shitty cake. Not wanting Shane to feel bad about our lack of enthusiasm, I decided to hide my real reaction and lighten the mood.
    “Shane , that’s…great. But, why now?" I asked.
    "Why not? We've been together forever , man. It's time," Shane replied.
    Mark took a cue from me and chimed in, “Yeah, man, congrats. Better you than me, I’m nowhere near ready for marriage. There's way too much player left in me."
    Shane laughed . "Exactly when will you be ready for marriage, Mark?"
    Mark made a “Psh” sound as if Shane just asked him a dumb question. "When my fucking dick stops getting hard. Then, and only then, will I settle down with one woman."
    At that point, my brothers and I were laughing uncontrollably. "So let me get this straight. You're going to wait until you can't fuck anymore to get married?"
    “Uh , yeah.” Typical Mark, saying something absurd and acting like it was a perfectly logical statement.
    "From what I hear , sex stops when you get married, so I figure I might as well fuck as much as I can until then." We all laughed some more.
    “Guys, thank you so much for this. I really needed a good laugh, especially today ," I said.
    Everyone started rambling about how happy they are that I was actually laughing, surprising given my mood at the beginning of the call. I tried not to give too much thought to Shane marrying this horrible chick; I knew there was nothing I could do to stop it. But as his brother, and also a damn good divorce attorney, I was going to make sure Shane had a very well written, very specific prenuptial agreement.
    I became restless after I ended the phone call with my brothers. I tried to get myself back into work, but as I just couldn’t focus, I left early. I headed home and got ready for Nicole’s dinner. Having had a head start on those who left work at a regular time, I was the first to arrive at the lounge.
    My eyes happened to be focused on the door when Nicole and Zena walked in. Just like every other time I saw Nicole, my eyes were automatically glued to her. I couldn’t help it, because truthfully, Nicole was one of the most stunning women I’d ever laid eyes on. And unlike most gorgeous girls, she had the personality to back it up. Nicole noticed me sitting at the bar and a smile spread across her gorgeous face. I stood and as we approached each other my hand unconsciously raised and began to vigorously rub my sternum. There was something about being in a Nicole’s presence that has always made my heart beat irregularly. As if being close to her caused my heart to malfunction. It was a feeling I experienced since the first time I met her, and after ten years of friendship, the feeling wouldn’t ease up.
    I swept her up into the biggest, tightest hug, easily lifting her a few inches off the ground, and she grabbed my shoulders to steady herself.  I planted a big kiss on her cheek, that made her giggle, and she wrapped her arms around my neck.
    “Hey , Nic.