put them on my tab.
Dean pushes away from the counter, his and River’s drinks in his hands.
With a sigh, I follow him.
This night just got a hell of a lot more interesting.
3
Maya
“So what happened to the hottie?” River asks the moment we’re alone. “Did you get his number?”
I shot off a text to her in the bathroom telling her about the hot guy I met and how I had every intention of getting his number. What I didn’t mention is if my kid hadn’t called to interrupt us, I’d have gone home with Nolan tonight.
Nolan who is Brooks.
Dean’s best friend.
Just my luck that the first guy who so much as glances my way since my divorce ends up being completely off limits.
“Nah,” I tell her. “He was gone by the time I got out of the bathroom.”
She frowns. “Boo. Men suck.”
She launches into a story about something that happened with a customer at the boutique today. I should be paying attention since I’m an investor and employee of said store, but I can’t.
My mind is running a mile a minute thinking of all the ways this night almost went to hell because I was going to be impulsive for the first time in forever.
I should have known better.
The last time I was impulsive, I lost my virginity in the back seat of a rusty Grand Marquis.
I got zero orgasms and pregnant.
“Ha! I knew it!” River says, setting her phone back down on the table.
Her excitement draws my attention.
“Caroline?” I ask.
“Yep. She and Cooper are going to stay in tonight.”
She bounces her brows up and down, and jealousy zings through me again.
“Good grief. Is everyone getting laid except me?”
“Afraid so. I’d be more than happy to help find you someone to date. Or hook up with. Dating isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, you know.”
“Says the woman with the perfect boyfriend.”
She doesn’t bother hiding the lovesick smile on her face.
I glare at her. “Stop rubbing it in.”
“Sorry, not sorry.” She tosses her long, deep red hair over her shoulder. “Anyway, how’s my nephew doing?”
“Oddly enough, I’d just gotten off the phone with him when you arrived.”
“Oh crap. What’d the little shit do now? Burn the mac and cheese again?”
“No, thank god.” I shudder, still able to recall the smell of the burnt noodles. “But guess who didn’t show up again?”
She pulls a face. “Ugh, seriously?”
Patrick’s parenting style is similar to how he handled our marriage. He’s not a bad father, but he’s not the most attentive one either. Oftentimes his work gets priority over Sam, which is what happened tonight. He got a last-minute project from a client, has to fly out in the morning, and won’t be back until Wednesday.
I tell River this and she tsks. “Of course. Work first, offspring second.”
Part of me wants to laugh because River is as bad as Patrick when it comes to work sometimes.
Then again, she doesn’t have a child at home who needs her love and attention.
“Anyway, to make up for it, Patrick got some suite tickets to a hockey game. It’s Thursday and he wanted to check with me before he told his dad yes so my feelings weren’t hurt about him spending a day with his dad during my week.”
“Aww.” River clutches her chest. “Sometimes he can be so sweet.”
I grin, proud of the young man I’m raising.
I remember when I found out I was pregnant at sixteen. I still remember the way my hands shook as I held the pregnancy test, terrified of what the future held for me and my unborn baby.
Now, here I am thirteen years later, and I’m just as scared, just as worried about the future, only for different reasons.
“He can be. But I worry he’s going to think his dad is cooler than me because he can afford all the fun extra stuff.”
Although Patrick pays his fair share of child support, bills still stack up sometimes and I don’t always have the extra cash to throw into savings for those expenses that pop up out of nowhere…like being forced to move out of my apartment.
Plus, I’m more conservative with my money than Patrick is.
His family didn’t disown him when he got me pregnant. Mine did. I know what it’s like to lose that security blanket, and I don’t want that to ever happen again.
“Sam thinks you hung the moon,” she assures me. “You don’t have to worry about that at all.”
“He has to love me. I’m his mom and provide a roof over his