“It’s great that you’re in tune with her feelings.” He paused and considered his next words. “But…you need to worry about yourself too. You need a night out.”
“I know,” she said wearily.
“Look, Haley’s going to be with her friends and you’ll be with yours. You can tell her that if she wants to come home, to call you, and you’ll go pick her up. Give her the option so she knows you’ll be there if she needs you.”
“I guess that makes sense…”
“And you know all your friends will understand, and if they don’t then…call me.”
“What?” she cried.
Nodding, he repeated himself. “Call me.”
“But…why?”
“I’m not saying you have to, Syd. I’m just saying if you’re struggling with this even after you go out or if anyone gives you any grief, then call me. I promise I’ll listen and tell you everything’s going to be alright.”
He held his breath as she considered his words and prayed he wasn’t pushing too hard.
“Are you sure?”
He nodded and gave her his biggest, most sincere smile. “Absolutely. Let me have your phone and I’ll put my number in.”
“O-kay…”
In the blink of an eye, he had it done and she did the same with his phone and her number.
“Great! Now that we’ve got that settled, let’s go downstairs so we can get those bookcases in place.”
“Oh my gosh, it’s been way too long since we’ve done this!” Sydney said, holding her glass of wine. “You guys are the best!”
They were sitting in the large corner booth at The Sand Bar, enjoying their vast array of appetizers and drinking wine. It was Sydney, Linda, Kristin, Cheryl, Mary, and Tara. Sydney was the lone single woman in the group, but she didn’t care. They’d all been friends since elementary school and she loved them like sisters. If anything, this was the perfect group for her to be hanging out with, not only because they all knew everything about her, but also because they could offer her tons of parenting advice. She was already feeling better, and she made a mental note to thank Kyle for encouraging her to go.
Images of her kissing him and thanking him while rolling around in bed came to mind, but she quickly pushed them away. She’d made the right decision and she was sticking to it.
“So how’s the house coming along? Cheryl asked.
Before she could respond, Linda did. “Or should we ask how things are coming along with Kyle?”
There was a round of laughter and a few whistles that made her want to roll her eyes.
“Oh, my God,” Cheryl said sympathetically. “That’s got to be awkward for you. Even though it’s been years…still…”
“Don’t even go there. It’s ancient history. But please tell me he’s doing some of the work with his shirt off,” Tara said with a sly grin. “I remember watching him during baseball practice back in the day, and he looked really good without his shirt.”
“I’ve seen him working around town and out surfing a bunch of times, and I have to agree,” Kristin commented. “That man’s chest is a thing of beauty.”
This was getting her nowhere. “His shirt has been on the entire time,” she assured them. “Sorry to disappoint.”
“You need to find a way to change that,” Kristin said with a wink.
Groaning, Sydney shook her head. “Um…no. No, I don’t.”
“Oh, come on! Are you saying there hasn’t been the slightest…tingle of curiosity? Because if you say no, you’re lying,” she added smugly.
“It was a long time ago,” Sydney argued. “A lifetime ago.”
Reaching for a mozzarella stick, she figured the conversation would move on to something else, but…it didn’t.
For some reason, she ended up blurting everything out—from kissing him to thinking about doing more than kissing him.
“What?”
“When?”
“Oh, my God! How could you keep that from us?”
“How long has it been going on?”
“Have you slept with him?”
The questions came at her from every angle and she swore she was going to stop drinking immediately.
“Okay, okay, okay,” she said when they all piped down. “First of all, it was only one kiss. There was no getting busy, and I definitely didn’t sleep with him. And I won’t be sleeping with him because…you know…history. Plus, I can’t get involved with anyone right now. My focus needs to be on Haley.” She sighed dramatically. “So…end of story.”
Five pairs of eyes simply blinked at her.
“What? What did I say?”
“How can you—a healthy, single woman—possibly resist a man that fine?” Cheryl asked. “And I get it about the history but…maybe you can just have yourself a