“I thought it would be a nice change from the usual way I’d been finding dates—at parties and stuff—so I agreed to it. He’s like her best friend’s son or something. He moved back home about three weeks ago. I still haven’t found out why.” Eva swirled the little straw in her drink around.
“First of all, the simple fact that he lives with his mama is a red flag. Second, why the hell is he drinking the same drink as you?” Lauren asked without any hesitation.
I couldn’t stifle the laugh that bubbled up my throat from her words. The list of things she’d asked before agreeing to go out with me slipped through my mind. I wondered if she’d now added what’s your favorite alcoholic beverage to it.
“I know, right?” Eva nodded. “That’s why I’m hoping he’ll dip out. Plus, he can’t hold a conversation for shit.”
“He’s coming back.” Lauren smiled.
Eva rolled her eyes. “Awesome. Guess that means I don’t get to avoid the awkward goodbye moment later.”
This was comical as shit. I took another sip of my soda as Kevin strutted toward us without a care in the world and no flipping clue these two had just picked him apart seconds ago.
“He does have nice tattoos,” Lauren whispered.
Eva grinned. “That’s the one promising quality I’ve found—that and his body. While I’ve never been one to chase after a guy before, I’ve recently learned that if he has tattoos and muscles, I might.”
I laughed so hard soda nearly spewed from my nose. “You girls are too freaking much.”
“Nah.” Lauren cocked her hip to the side, and flashed me an impish grin. “We’re just the right amount.”
My heart kick-started, and I realized she was probably right. This girl might be perfect. Standing, I set my drink down beside my stool before walking to rack the balls. Pool, that was what I needed to focus on, before I looked too deeply into this thing with Lauren and how I felt about her already.
“Wanna play teams?” Kevin asked. He took his drink from Eva’s hand, and smiled like a freaking Ken doll at no one in particular.
“Teams sounds good.” I nodded.
“I suck at pool,” Eva muttered.
“Me too,” Lauren agreed. “But this should be fun.” Her eyes locked with mine, and I knew she was thinking of my earlier game with the punk kid.
Lauren was a feisty little thing. She wanted me to cream these two without holding back; it was reflected in her eyes. For whatever reason, this did things to me I couldn’t fathom.
Placing the last ball into the rack, I wiggled them around in an attempt to get them as tightly packed as possible. Slipping the rack back beneath the table, I reached for my stick and motioned to Kevin.
“You break,” I said.
He nodded and moved to grab a stick leaning against the wall. “All right.”
Stepping to Lauren’s side, I leaned against the wall and watched as Kevin lined up for his first shot. He hit the cue ball and sank two solids. I was surprised. Watching as he rounded the table to check out the available shots he’d created, I thought how this should make for an interesting rest of the night—girly drink could play some pool.
Lauren turned to face me and arched an eyebrow. I smiled and cocked my head to the side as I shrugged.
“I think I’ve learned not to judge a pool player by how they look now,” she whispered. “That’s my lesson of the night.”
I laughed and watched as Kevin sank the next ball. “I think you’re right.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
LAUREN
As I pushed through the door of Enticing Aroma, the scent of coffee met my nose. My eyes scanned the cozy little shop, searching for Eva. She was supposed to meet me for coffee this afternoon. Stepping farther into the café, I spotted her sitting at a table along the far wall. She was messing with her phone when I walked up.
“Hey, I would say sorry I’m late, but I know I’m not…you just beat me here. As usual.” I smiled.
“Yeah, I was in the area, so I figured I’d take advantage of their free wifi and do the updates on my phone.”
She stood, and we stepped into line behind a girl with frizzy red hair to place an order. After I ordered a vanilla chai latte and Eva got her mocha cappuccino, we sat down at the table she’d occupied when I first spotted her.
“So, tell me how the rest of your date went Friday night with Ian?” she asked, taking the top off her cup so she could blow on its contents.
Leaning back in my seat, I crossed my legs beneath the table. “It went good, at least I thought so.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? Your date seemed to be going a hell of a lot better than mine when I met up with you.”
I chuckled, remembering her blind date. “Yeah, you’re right. I mean, there wasn’t a single moment when I thought it was going downhill. In fact, it was one of the best dates I’ve had in a while.”
Eva shrugged. “So what’s the issue, then?”
“He didn’t call.”
“I thought you told me you’d been straight up with him, that you’d told him you weren’t ready to date anyone just yet?”
A loud sigh escaped me. “I did. I know I’m being freaking confusing as hell about this with him. The thing is I really like him.”
Eva sipped on her cappuccino and eyed me. “Then what’s the problem?”
The truth of that question played on the tip of my tongue. Picking up my coffee, I took a sip and tried to think of a better answer for her question than the one that came to mind, but couldn’t.
“He’s too good for me,” I admitted.
“What! No one is too good for you. Don’t even think that.”
“Yeah, well, I think he might be. Ian’s one of the good guys, Eva. I’m not used to that type. I guess I’ve gotten used to being with the douchebags. This is just different. I don’t know what to do with myself when I’m around him.”
“Are you into him, like sexually attracted to him?” she asked. Her legs crossed beneath the table, and the tip of her shoe bumped me in the shin.
“Of course. You’ve seen him. He’s a cutie,” I insisted. “But I made a promise to myself that after all this B.S. with Jimmy I wouldn’t jump right into anything. I created a list of questions for Ian and decided that he was okay to hang around, but I want to move slowly. I’ve already altered my rules by going out with him more than I promised before all the Jimmy drama.”
“A list?” Eva asked.
“Yeah, I asked him random questions to be sure there were no surprises later on down the line.” I grinned.
“I’m so remembering that.” Eva smirked. “And so what if you’re not wanting to jump right in, but instead want to go slowly. Go slowly. If you like him, don’t worry about moving from one guy to the next. I mean, you never have before.” She arched a brow and flashed me a wicked smile.
I slapped her on the arm. “Bitch.”
“I’m just teasing.” She grinned.
“No, you’re absolutely right. I should see how this pans out with him.” I took another sip of my coffee, thinking of how to do such a thing. “I really do like him. He makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.”
“Oh, I bet he does.” Eva winked and I rolled my eyes.
Going slowly with guys was not my thing. I wasn’t a slut. I just never particularly cared to move at a snail’s pace when I found someone I liked. I preferred to dive headfirst. It was what I’d always done.
“How was the rest of the night with Kevin?” I asked, ready to switch the attention to her for a while.
“Oh my God, don’t even get me started with how horrible that was. I seriously thought I was going to have to throat punch him at the end of the night just to get him to understand he was not coming inside my apartment,” she grumbled. “Why can’t I find someone like Ian?”
I laughed. It seemed weird to hear someone say such a thing about someone I was sort of seeing, and it be because they were a genuine, good person, and not because they wanted to hop i
n the sack with him based off his looks.
“You will,” I insisted. “When the timing is right and all that jazz.”
“Well, the timing better hurry up and get right, because I don’t know how many more frogs I’m willing to kiss.”
My heart reached out to her, because I knew exactly how she was feeling. She just wanted someone to treat her well, someone she could love, someone who wouldn’t disappoint her in the worst ways.
“Have you talked to Blaire any more about the wedding?” Eva asked, changing the subject.
That was one good thing you could always count on with her. She didn’t do well with awkward moments, so they were always filled one way or another.
“I talked to her the other day. I think she’s getting things figured out.”
“Good, I know she was worried about it all,” Eva said. “So, who do you think is next—Paige and Cam, or you and Ian?”
“Me and Ian are not even on the table for that. Paige and Cam might be a different story, though. You’d know more about that than me probably,” I insisted.
“Cam hasn’t mentioned anything to me about it, but I’m sure the thought has crossed his mind a time or two. I’ve never seen him so darn happy with someone before.” A slight smile twisted the corners of Eva’s lips. I was envious of the relationship she and Cameron had. They were more like a brother and sister than friends, but it was an awesome relationship nonetheless.
“When he decides to, I’m sure you’ll be the first to know,” I insisted.
“Probably.” She grinned. She slumped back into her chair. “I swear that I’m going to be the old cat lady. You all will be off getting married and having babies, and I’ll still be single.”
“Not a chance.” I took the final sip of my coffee, and pushed the cup across the table. “I’ll more than likely blow it with Ian somehow.”
“Don’t jinx yourself.” She pushed her chair out and picked up her purse. “I hate to cut this short, but I need to get home and finish studying before I go in to work tonight.”
I stood. “I should get going too. Call me if some random Prince Charming sweeps you off your feet while you place his order for curly fries tonight.”
Eva rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, fat chance that will ever happen.”
“It will. The right person will come along,” I pressed, sounding more like Paige than myself.
Eva tossed her empty cup in the trash and glared at me. “People are always saying that. At this point, I think my right person got hit by a damn car and died before I could meet him.”
I laughed as we headed outside and to our separate cars. When I climbed into the driver’s seat, I dug my cell out of my purse and scrolled through the contacts until I found Ian’s name and number. The desire to call him and see how his weekend had been pulsated through me, but I never could make my finger tap his name. I was used to the guys pursuing me, not the other way around.
This sucked.
Inhaling deeply, I set my phone in the cupholder and crammed my key into the ignition. I was going to let this all unfold the way that it should—naturally. If Ian wanted to see me again, then he would call me.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
IAN
My weekend hadn’t been as exciting as I’d hoped. Lauren and I hadn’t spoken since our date on Friday night. I could have called or something, but I’d neglected to for whatever reason. The knowledge that she was just getting out of a relationship and was adamant about not jumping into something right away made me back off. I didn’t know if I was hanging myself by doing so, but it felt like the right thing to do—like I was respecting her wishes or something.
I’d been able to keep myself busy anyway. My entire Saturday morning had been spent picking up my house, giving Mojito attention, and paying bills. Later in the afternoon, I went to the shop and scheduled tasks for the guys during the week to come, and returned calls from the never-ending messages on the answering machine. Forwarding the calls to my cell during work hours only gave me so much footing—electrical issues didn’t only occur between the hours of seven and four.
Sunday, I’d spent the entire day doing nothing. I reflected on Friday night, and continuously forced away the desire to see if Lauren wanted to hang out again. Brent had said I needed to wait until at least Tuesday or Wednesday before I mentioned anything of the nature to her. He’d said it was some unwritten guy rule. I’d muttered something along the lines of, “Yeah, and I can see how following those unwritten guy rules has worked out for you.” He’d responded with, “Everyone has his own definition of success. Mine lies in the number of times I get ass in a week.” The conversation had ended at that, because he was right. The only version of sex I’d been having over the last few months had involved my hand, and even that was starting to lose its luster.
“All right, that should be it.” I stood and moved from side to side while pressing my hands against my hips to pop my back. I’d been in a scrunched-up position for far too long, helping my mother assemble a treadmill she’d bought off some online yard sale page on Facebook one of my sisters had found. “Test it out.”
She stepped onto the machine and pushed a button. The belt began to move at a slow pace and my mom smiled. “There, now he has no more excuses about walking at least thirty minutes a damn day.”
My jaw slacked. I’d only ever heard my mother cuss a handful of times. “Wow, Mom, what language.”
She waved her dainty hand at me. “Oh, please, Ian. I know you’ve been using that word behind my back since you were twelve.”
I nodded. “You’re right. I have.”
Mom pushed the button again and stepped off the machine. She glanced up at me from her five-foot-two frame. “Now, let’s have a conversation that I’ve been meaning to for quite some time.”
“Umm, okay.” I folded my arms over my chest and stared at her, wondering where this was headed.
“Let’s move into the living room. Cassie and your dad won’t be back for a little while longer,” she insisted.
I followed her through the house to the living room. Cassie had taken my dad to the grocery store with her so he could have some a say in what was placed in his kitchen this time.
“I want to know exactly how you feel about running Mason’s.” Mom zeroed in on my face when she spoke.
There was no hiding anything from the woman when she focused on you directly like that. The urge to run a hand through my hair slithered through me, but I fought it, knowing it would be a telltale sign I was nervous to answer.
“I know it couldn’t have been easy on you to jump right up and take care of the business at the drop of a hat.” Her eyes softened.
“It wasn’t, but I’m fine.” I shrugged.
“I can see that. The business is still afloat.” Her hands shot out and her mouth gaped open. “I didn’t mean it that way. That came out wrong and I’m sorry. What I meant was that you’ve handled it all very well, honey. Exceptionally well. I just wanted to be sure.”
I smiled at her. “I know what you meant, Mom, and thanks.”
She reached for my hand, her soft thumb making small circles across the back. “We couldn’t be prouder of you. I only want to make sure you’re all right with the new weight that’s been added to your shoulders. Now that the fear of your father not pulling through has subsided, it’s easier to focus on how things have been delegated between the three of you kids.”
I held her stare. “I’m fine. We’re all fine.”
Her hand left mine to rub at her forehead. “I just want to be sure. I’d hate for you to be cursing me or your father under your breath throughout the day because you’ve been given too much on your plate due to all of this.”
“We’ve all been given a lot more than we had, Mom. I’m not the only one.” I pulled her in for a hug. “I’m fine. I promise. We’re all fine.”
“Thank you, Ian,” she whispered against my chest. It was amazing how small and frail she seemed to me as I held her in my arms. “My swe
et boy.”
A car door slamming shut out front, followed by another shortly after, let us know Cassie and Dad were back. Mom peeled away from me, wiping beneath her eyes. She laughed a little.
“Hope Dad enjoys the gift you got him.” I propped my feet up on the coffee table, and tucked my arms behind my head to give the illusion I’d been relaxing while they were gone.
“Oh heck, I forgot the big bow Cassie bought to put on it.” Mom bolted from her seat and dashed down the hall.
“Mom, your language is a bit offensive lately. I’m shocked,” I called after her.
“Yeah, yeah. Go help them with the groceries,” she shouted back.
After helping to carry in all the health food my little sister had forced my father to buy, I stayed for the surprise revealing of the treadmill and then left before dinner. My intentions had been to grab something to eat on the way home, but my gym bag glared at me from the passenger seat of my truck. It reminded me how much I’d been neglecting to work out lately. Pulling a U-turn in the parking lot of Mr. Nebbles Family Dentistry just down the road from my parents’ place, I headed toward the gym.
* * * *
Turning into a parking space near the entrance of Cardio Strong, I cut the engine and scooped up my duffle bag from the seat. Strutting up to the front door, I pulled it open and stepped inside. The smell of sweat and determination met my nose, and I inhaled deeply. I’d missed this place. Normally, this was my second home. I was here six days a week for at least an hour and a half. Not lately though. Lately, I’d had more important things filling my free time.
I headed to the back toward the men’s locker room to change. When I came back out, I crossed the room with mirrored walls and headed straight to the treadmill. Pushing a few buttons, I got the thing moving at a slow jog, and then gradually increased the pace. After all that had happened to my dad in the last few weeks, I seriously needed to focus more on doing cardio. The name of the gym popped in my mind, and I chuckled a little. Maybe that was a sign I’d been missing all along.
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