Me: Well, don’t burn the house down. I kind of like having
you around.
He gives me an eye-rolling emoji, making me smile. I feel better already. He’s good at doing that.
Tiger: I’m inviting you over for dinner, dumb butt.
That makes me laugh out loud. God, he has a way of pulling me out of my moroseness with a simple text.
Me: You’re allowed to say ‘dumbass.’
Tiger: Anyway!!! Yes or no?
Me: Definitely yes
Tiger: Be here at six
Me: Yes, sir, Tiger
When I send him an emoji of a tiger’s face, he responds with a long string of eye-rolling emojis. I’m now smiling like a madman.
While the kids play video games after dinner, Seth and I sit in the living room, sipping wine. I have my socked feet up on the sofa, my toes touching his thigh. I’ve actually started to enjoy the little zings and stomach flips. It reminds me that I can still crave someone without fucking them, although I’m not sure I wouldn’t try getting him into bed if he were single.
“Would you mind if I paid Harrison to come over once a day to watch Cicero?”
“You don’t need to pay him. He’d happily do it for free, but—”
“I’ll take cash,” Harrison replies.
“He’s a tough negotiator,” I quip.
“Harrison, you don’t need to get paid.”
“I think he should. He can save it for a rainy day.”
I dig in my pocket, grab my spare house key, and hand it to Seth. He takes it and sets it on the coffee table.
“No paying him because he won’t be here. My kids are off to my parents’ this weekend. But I don’t mind watching the kitty.”
“Oh, a hot date night, huh?” I whisper so his kids don’t hear me.
“Yeah, tomorrow. We have some weekend plans, too. I want to expand this relationship, but I’m still not ready for him to meet my babies,” Seth whispers back. “How about you? Ready for this weekend?”
I glance over at Braeden before shaking my head. “Is anyone ever ready? I’m worried about him, and honestly, being there is going to be a reminder of how I ended up neglecting my friendship. The guilt…”
I hate talking about myself and my issues, so why is it so easy to speak with Seth? It’s like whenever he’s around, I want to hand over my entire backstory to him. ‘Hey, Seth. Thanks for being there for me. Here’s my entire life story that you never asked for.’ Anyone with half a brain could see I have issues.
“Don’t feel guilty. First, how would you know they were going to… you know? Second, this is common in friendships, especially long-distance ones.”
“I could’ve stayed in Houston. I could’ve found a great job as an architect there, or even started my business. Moving to New Orleans wasn’t quite necessary.”
“You’re leading to something.”
I smile at him and take a sip of my wine, my toes digging more into his thigh because I strangely need to keep touching him. Is it inappropriate when he’s taken? Probably. Do I care? Not one bit because I know it won’t lead to anything, and I wouldn’t do that to him, especially not from someone who’s been cheated on.
“When I got the opportunity to move, I jumped on it. I needed to get away from my mother. As soon as I moved, it was like I could suddenly breathe fresh air again. It didn’t take long before I started finding myself, building my inner strength, and dismantling my insecurities… to an extent. She just… sucks the fu—fudging life out of me.”
Seth sips his wine and watches the kids play, uncaring that my feet are on him. “Have you thought about going no contact?”
