Page 66 of Dr. Sexypants

“He asked Justin if he was going to the wedding. Vince said he could tell Justin didn’t know what he was talking about.”

“Was he mad?”

“Vince didn’t say.” Lainey shook her head at me like she was disappointed. “I don’t get why you didn’t just invite him. Surely your ‘not-relationship’ includes being each other’s plus-ones to parties and weddings.”

“I was going to ask him, but he said he had to work this weekend. I didn’t want to disrupt his schedule.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

I couldn’t even argue with her.

“I know.”

“You really need to see a therapist about this. You have a good guy who seems to really like you, and you’re going to sabotage it because… I don’t even know why.”

Because he could be the real deal.

And I’d never let myself consider that as a possibility before.

“You know I have daddy issues.”

“Lame. If you know you have daddy issues, then you need to address those before you ruin a good thing.”

“That would be the healthy thing to do…”

Lainey put her arms across her chest and raised her eyebrows at me. “But?”

“But that might be easier said than done. You can’t just change twenty-some years of thinking overnight, Lain.”

“Try.”

I scoffed at her. “Oh, okay.”

“I’m serious! First thing Monday morning, you need to call someone and schedule an appointment.”

“Fine.”

My reply wasn’t sincere, but I said it to get Lainey off my back.

I was skeptical, at best, that a professional could help me. Especially since I wasn’t convinced I needed help. My philosophy had served me well so far.

Then my best friend pulled the trump card.

“Please? For me?”

With a sigh, I repeated, “Fine.” Only now I had to follow through.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Justin

I’m not proud that after work Saturday morning, I made a point of driving by Kristy’s house to see if her, or someone else’s, car was in her driveway.

At first I felt relieved that there wasn’t a vehicle in front of her house, then I was pissed off when I realized I was turning into a needy bitch.

Women stalked me, not the other way around.

Kristy and I needed to have a conversation. I’d told her if she wanted to date other people, then she should do what she needed to do.