That wasn’t true—she knew. She just didn’t like that she knew. And she liked it even less that she actually considered it as an option.
This was not an option.
Not at all.
“Your problem is that you are always looking for long-term,” Kaiya said, like she was the dating guru here. “Don’t think of this thing as long-term. Think of it as a free trial before you decide if you want to purchase the month to month, the yearly package, or the lifetime discounted version.”
“She makes a good point.” Rachel nodded. “We should all listen to her.”
“You’re married to Travis. You already bought the lifetime package,” Molly pointed out.
“Yes, I did. And I enjoyed the hell out of my free trial before I signed up for this one. Besides,Ihave the boys tonight.” Rachel nudged Molly’s purse toward her.
“I know you have your boys tonight; we made plans to eat dinner together,” Molly said.
“I’m just saying that Gavin probably doesn’t have plans,” Rachel said, like Molly was intentionally being dense.
“So, you just want Ollie to come over without me?” Molly asked.
“I figure he can come over and have dinner with us. I’ll still make pizza. It’ll be great. Everyone is happy.”
Ollie loved it when Rachel made pizza. She added a special herb and garlic seasoning to the crust that was to die for.
“Will you save me a slice?” Molly should hedge her bets, just in case she needed to come back home to a novel and a glass of chardonnay. At least then she wouldn’t have to order her own sub-par pizza when she could have a slice of Rachel’s awesomeness.
“It’s like you don’t even know me.” Rachel pursed her lips. “Of course I’ll save you some pizza, silly.”
“In the interest of clarity—” Molly definitely needed this written in crayon because she was certain she was misunderstanding everything that happened after she sat down on the blanket at the park. “You, his ex, think thatIshould askGavinout on a date?”
Rachel nodded and gave a pointed glance to the purse that had moved a few inches closer while Molly wasn’t paying attention. “Your phone’s right there, chickadee.”
“Ask him out,” Sadie said, staring at Molly’s purse like she could open it with only her mind and X-ray vision.
“Ask him out,” Kaiya chanted with Sadie.
“On a date,” April added with the same tone as the other two.
“Thegenuinekind,” Sadie amended. “No fakey fake nonsense.”
“Because Sadie’s right.” April had no problem adding that little nugget.
Yes, they were still chanting all of this like a well-choreographed flash mob ready to dance right into her romantic life.
She reached for her phone, but then logic—thankfully—took over. She dropped her purse like it was on fire.
“I cannot ask Gavin out on a date.” Couldn’t and wouldn’t were the same thing here. “It’s against everything I believe.”
“Is it, though?” Sadie asked, tilting her head to the side. “Because it seems to me you are the one who always believes that others should be happy, and yet here you are…unhappy. Take. The. Free. Trial.”
“I’m happy,” Molly insisted.
Am I, though? Maybe? Maybe not?
But that was for her to deal with alone when she finally addressed it.
“Okay, I’m going to ask Gavin if he wants to hang out. But only because it will further cement that anything real between us is a bad idea.” That made sense, right?
Yes, it made sense.
