BRODERICK: Thirty-five. But if I’m honest, he’s good to her. And a little overprotective, which makes me feel better.
JEANNIE: Well, after what happened to your parents, it makes sense that you would want to protect your only living relative.
Wow, she doesn’t even know me and recognized that before I did.
BRODERICK: Thank you for saying that, but I’m definitely rebuilding my relationship, and the trust between my sister and me.
JEANNIE: I lost my mom when I was fourteen, so I get it. I understand the grief, the pain, the longing. I bet you still miss them.
BRODERICK: Oh, yeah.
JEANNIE: I still have my dad, but he’s remarried and she’s an absolute witch. Think about the story of Cinderella with the wicked stepmother and sisters—times ten. Except my dad is the other asshole and my little sister is sweet.
BRODERICK: And you still live at home?
JEANNIE: For now—but I’m saving up to get my own place.
BRODERICK: Sounds like a solid plan.
JEANNIE: I’m trying to get organized.
BRODERICK: If you need help when the time comes, let me know.
JEANNIE: You’re sweet. I may very well take you up on that.
BRODERICK: I hope you do. Anyway, I have to get going. But do you want to talk again?
JEANNIE: I would. How about you?
BRODERICK: Absolutely. How about tomorrow around the same time?
JEANNIE: Works for me. Talk to you then.
BRODERICK: Bye for now.
After my conversation with Jeannie, I’m not sure whether or not I should call Jayne. Neither one of them is my usual type, both a little more demure than I’m used to. Well, I can’t say that for sure about Jeannie, but she said she was nerdy so I have to think long and hard about what I’m looking for in a woman.
I’m not rushing to get serious with anyone but I definitely want to date—with more than just sex in mind.
I’ve been in Georgia for a couple of weeks, and I’ve already met two interesting women. I don’t know what Jeannie looks like, so that’s concerning because looks are still important. I don’t know that I could fall for someone I’m not even a little bit attracted to. That’s the only part of this that worries me.
Jeannie is really easy to talk to, so I’m looking forward to getting to know her better. Jayne, on the other hand, is kind of sassy and she’s cute. Not traditionally beautiful, but she has a curvy body and an ample chest, both things I really like. I’ve never been a big fan of women with glasses but somehow it works on her. Her face is pretty, her hair a little wild, and the package as a whole is attractive. It’s just the rest that’s a question.
I guess I need to see her again.
I’m thinking about asking her to lunch or breakfast. Something casual and relatively quick, in case we don’t click as well as I thought we did. Despite being anxious to try new things, I also need to be cautious. Everything usually changes once they find out I’m a pro athlete, so I need to avoid that until we know each other better. It’ll be relatively easy with Jeannie, but Jayne will undoubtedly ask what I do for a living by the end of the first date.
Which is why I’m hesitating.
But I also don’t want to ghost her.
She’s sweet. Nice to look at. A little sassy.
My plan was to go slow with dating, but now two interesting women have fallen into my lap.
“One day, one conversation, one date at a time,” West says when I tell him about it the next morning as he whips up protein pancakes. “You don’t have to choose right away. As long as you’re honest about not being exclusive, take your time. Have you ever been in a serious relationship as an adult?”
I shake my head. “Nope. I had a girlfriend in high school but that ended when my parents died and I took over raising Billie. After that, it was all about sex and partying when I had free time.”
