Page 42 of A Second Chance At Forever

She laughed it off. “I said that we have been talking about moving in together.”

All eyes went to me. “Oh. Well, it’s not something that has been decided, but we have talked about it a few times.”

Her parents smiled and their conversation started back up.

I don’t think I paid attention the rest of the dinner. I just kept thinking about how I had to break up with Nicole.

She still thought we were going to move in together. How am I going to tell her that I cheated on her and I am leaving her for Lennox? The girl I told her she didn’t need to worry about.

Nicole and her parents dropped me off at home. I still hadn’t talked to Nicole alone. For all she knew, we were still together and happy.

This isn’t something I can tell her on the phone. I will have to talk to her tomorrow, I can’t call and talk to Lennox either. I know she will ask about Nicole and I can’t tell her that I haven’t done it yet.

I wokethe next morning determined to talk to Nicole. I couldn’t see Lennox until I had broken things off with Nicole and I wanted to see Lennox badly. Seeing her and having her in my bed was better than I remembered. I had forgotten how addicting she was. I hadn’t seen her since the day before, but already I was yearning for more of her.

I rolled from bed and sent Nicole a text.

“Can we meet up for dinner tonight at the bar? There’s something I want to talk to you about.”

I set the phone down and went to shower and dress for work.

As I was leaving, I noticed I had gotten a reply from Nicole.

“I would love that. I have something to tell you, too. Love you.”

I slid the phone into my pocket and headed toward the kitchen. I needed coffee and it couldn’t wait until I got to town. I made a cup and started for my truck.

I made it to work an hour later. I refilled my coffee and headed outside to give Trent a hand.

“Hey, need any help?” I asked when I opened the door to the rental shop and flipped the sign to open.

“Did you ever finish the houseboat the other day?”

“Not quite, just some minor stuff left. Why?”

“Sarah and I were wanting to take it out. She wants to catch up with Lennox and I figured you could come. What do you say?”

“I don’t know, man. Shit is kind of complicated right now.”

“Decide later if you want to come. Can I have the boat?”

“You know you can.” I turned toward the door to get some work done.

The day passed quickly. I finished up work on the houseboat. I gassed everything up, did a few oil changes and signed paperwork all day. I was counting down the hours until I could break up with Nicole and see Lennox again. I knew that calling things off with Nicole wouldn’t be something I was ready for, but being able to see Lennox afterward made it all worth it. I had enough time to run home and change clothes before practice, then it was time for dinner with Nicole, where I could get everything off my chest.

Once a month, we had a local high school soccer team come to our field to practice with. We’d done this so many times that the guys no longer saw them as competition, we were like one big team. They played hard against each other and they really helped each other out on the field.

When I arrived at the field both teams were already there. They gathered in big groups, talking and hanging out like old friends instead of rivals.

“Okay guys, let’s warm-up!” I yelled when I made my way to the field. “Dan, how ya been?” I asked, shaking the hand of the coach for the other team.

“Good. You?”

I shrugged. “I’m still here.”

We quickly talked about what warm-ups we wanted to do before getting down to work.

By the endof the night, I was worn out and tired. My body was sore from all the lunges and high kicks, not to mention the two miles we ran around the field. I was hot, hungry, and ready to get the night over with. I loaded up my stuff and was about to take off when Dan approached me.

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