“That’s why he’s becoming my friend. Dating someone is a bit different from friendship. The other person has to like you back and in a different way than how we like our friends.”
“I don’t understand.” She sighed, withdrawing her hand and lying back down in bed. “I know you have to like someone in a different way. You have to want to kiss them. Don’t you want to kiss him?”
If only you knew how much. But I couldn’t tell her that. If I did, I’d be getting her hopes up. Regardless of how good a guy Chris was or how badly I’d wanted to kiss him, my track record with dating was abysmal.
Craig had just been the rotten cherry on top of a cake made out of layers of disaster. Getting involved with Chris when I had the history I did was just plain unfair to him. I had so many issues that my issues had mated and had a whole bunch of little issues of their own.
“It’s not only about wanting to kiss someone. I know you don’t understand, baby. I wish I could explain it better, but let’s just be happy that Chris is our friend for now, okay?”
“Okay.” She released another deep breath and snuggled into her mattress. “Good night, Mommy.”
“Good night, honey.” I stood up and pressed a kiss against her forehead, knowing full well she wasn’t about to just go to sleep.
I would have to face another slew of questions tomorrow, but I was being granted a reprieve for tonight. A cold beer sounded like a nice way to unwind while I tried to figure out how the hell I was going to answer her questions without lying or getting her hopes up.
Leaving her bedroom door open just a crack for the light from the hallway to filter in, I blew her another kiss before going to the kitchen. After grabbing my beer, I got settled on the couch and pulled out my phone to distract me.
The dangerous thought of texting Chris popped into my head, so I scrolled down to Luna’s number instead. It wasn’t that late, and I could really use some insight from my friend right about then.
While I waited for her to answer, I peeled the label off the bottle and looked out of my window at the lights of the building next door with a million thoughts racing through my head.
“Hey, April,” Cyrus said. I pulled the phone away from my ear to make sure I’d dialed Luna and not him, but I hadn’t made a mistake. “What’s up? Luna’s just gone to grab something from our study. Maybe you can help us settle this argument. She says it’s a waste to keep traveling back to places we’ve been. I think it’s better to go back and see all the things we missed the first time.”
“Are you planning another trip already?”
He laughed but I could practically hear the pout in his voice when he spoke again. “I don’t like having to share my wife with work. I’m trying to convince her we should take a sabbatical for a year and practice our baby-making skills instead of working.”
I rolled my eyes, but I couldn’t stop the smile that came at the same time. “Who needs work, am I right?”
“Exactly. Thank you. You and Adi should come with us. There’s no way Luna would refuse if you guys come.”
“Thanks, but no thanks. An entire year with you two on a baby-making mission sounds like the stuff nightmares are made of.”
“Your loss.” He chuckled. “I understand where you’re coming from, though. I wouldn’t have wanted to spend a year with the person I am now a few years ago either.”
“I was thinking something very similar earlier,” I said.
“Are you coming over to our side of the fence?” he asked, sounding way too excited. “Who’s the guy?”
“There is no guy,” I lied. “You get to keep your side of the fence all to yourself.”
“Boo. You deserve a good guy, April. He’d have to have balls the size of watermelons to keep up with you, but there has to be at least one guy in New York City who’s not a pussy. Want me to set you up with one of my friends?”
“Stop offering. We all know you don’t have any friends.”
He scoffed. “Whatever. Let me know when you’re ready. Here’s Luna.”
“What’s this about a guy with balls the size of watermelons?” She wasted no time when he handed the phone over to her. “Is