Page 32 of Bittersweet Redemption

She laughs. “No, no. This is good. Or at least, I think it’s good.”

“Yeah, that’s what worries me.” Every time Kayla has an idea, something crazy happens. One time I ended up with bright pink hair. Another time, she convinced me to go out, and I ended up holding her hand while she got her belly button pierced. She thought it would be fun to paint a mural on one of her walls, so I agreed to help. It looked like giant pink and purple blobs instead of the roses she was going for. Needless to say, we painted over that. The most recent time I went along with one of her plans, I got tattooed by my really hot neighbor.

“So, I went to dinner last night with one of my friends and her brother, who just moved back into town.”

“Fun. Where’d you go?” I ask cautiously.

“We had Mexican. The margarita was amazing.” She waves me off. “But that’s not the point. Her brother, Jason, doesn’t really know anyone, so I thought. . .”

I see where there is going. “Oh, no.” I shake my head.

“Come on, Willa. He’s really cute. And I showed him your picture. He’s definitely interested.”

“Kayla, you didn’t.” My shoulders slump.

She smiles. “I did. And I did it for you. It’ll be good for you to get back into the dating scene. Jason may not be ‘the one,’ but he might be the one to boost you back up and give you the confidence that Nick stole from you.“

She’s right. I know she’s right. But I hate the thought of being set up with someone I’ve never met before. I hate the thought of small talk and wondering if they like me or if they’re just being nice.

“Does he know I have a son?” Nothing is worse than telling someone you have a kid and having it immediately change their perspective of you.

“Yep. I told him all about Ro. And to further convince you to go out with him, I’ll babysit Ro while you’re out with Jason.”

“I haven’t even decided if I’m going to do it yet, so how do you know I need a babysitter?”

She rolls her eyes. “You’re going to do it. You need to do it. And Jason is a really great guy. He’s an engineer and just transferred back to Atlanta for his job. He’s close to his family. Loves kids. I did all the hard work weeding out the red flags for you.”

I close my eyes and lean my head back. I don’t want to go on a date, but I don’t want to disappoint Kayla. I was just wishing I had a partner. But I also let Kai fingerbang me and fuck my mouth last night. What kind of person does that make me? How can I do what I did last night and then agree to a date with someone else the next morning?

I still have no idea if Kai wants me or hates me. Last night was a one-time thing for him; I’m sure of it. I don’t want to be with anyone who doesn’t want me. Been there, done that.

I look back at Kayla and sigh. “So, when is this date happening?”

Her face lights up, and she hops up and down, clapping. “You aren’t going to regret this, Willa. I gave him your number, but I told him not to text you until I talked to you. I’ll let him know that you’re interested.”

“Alright.”

“This is so exciting. And don’t you worry, Ro and I will have the best time. I don’t want you stressing about him while you’re out. You need to have some fun.”

“Alright, but if the date is awful, I’m blaming you,” I tease.

“That’s fair.” She laughs. “Ok, I’m going to tell him it’s ok to text you. You better answer him.”

I hold my hands up in defense. “I will.”

She eyes me suspiciously for a minute. “You look different today.”

I move back to my station to avoid her prying eyes and start organizing my things. “I don’t know why. Maybe I got more sleep last night? Ro is with Nick, so he wasn’t kicking me in the ribs all night.” Or it could be from the orgasm I had. It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell her about last night, but I decide against it. I don’t know how she’d react, and honestly, I don’t see the point. It’s not going to happen again, so the fewer people who know about it, the better.

“Yeah, maybe.” Thankfully, she drops the subject and walks back over to the pile of towels. Our first clients walk in a few minutes later, and we both start our day.

* * *

When my last client leaves, I race home to be there in time to meet Nick. Roman has a birthday party today for one of the kids in his class, so Nick is dropping Roman off at the house early because he has “something to do” and can’t go to the party. Whatever. I’d rather him not be there. Ro doesn’t expect it and probably doesn’t want him there anyway.

Nick’s car is already there when I pull up to the house. Jake is in the passenger seat, and he doesn’t bother saying anything to me. I swear, he and Nick both act like I’m the problem here. Nick was the one cheating on me. They can’t expect me to just sit around and let that happen.

Ro runs to me for a hug. Nick hands me Roman’s bag but doesn’t say much before getting in the car, which is just fine with me. Roman and I stand in the driveway, holding hands as the car drives off. I tell him to run into Kai’s and get the present we picked out last week. As he heads in, I get the mail at our old house since it’s been a few days since I grabbed it. I mostly get junk mail, so it’s not on my mind to check it often.