Page 25 of The Secrets that Surround Us

"What happened? I thought Todd was different," she says sarcastically while putting air quotes up when she says, "Todd was different."

More glaring comes out of me, but then the chuckles gets to me too, and a laugh suddenly bursts through me. Andit keeps going. I can't seem to stop it even when I try. A stabbing feeling tomy side reminds me of how much of a joke my love life is. Man, I should be a realityshow of my own. It would be a hit with all the losers I've dated. Every time I think maybe this will be it, maybe this one won't be so bad. But I'm never right. They're all bad.

We both suddenly stop laughing and just stare at each other. Her eyes soften a bit. "What happened this time?"

Shaking my head, I clench my hands. "I saw him kissing another woman before the date even started."

"Whaat?" she shrieks. Plugging my ears because, man, she's loud.

"I was running late and since I didn't know his number because we've been messaging on the app, I contacted him through there. Well, I guess he didn't get that message because when I walked in ten minutes late, he was sitting at the bar with some woman on his lap and they were making out."

"Did you say anything to him?"

"No, I just left. But he responded this morning." Shrugging my shoulders and trying to be as non-chalet as possible, but if I'm really honest my heart aches. I thought by the time I was twenty-seven I would have met my perfect someone. That I would be married, possibly have a kid on the way. But nope, the universe doesn't work like that. Well, at least not for me.

Out of the sea of frogs I've dated, there has been only one who has kept my attention, the only man I was drawn to and he wasn't even someone I was dating. No, he was my, at the time boyfriend's dad. A man who was sexy as fuck and had eyes that you could drown yourself in?

A man twenty years older than me.

Whose wife had died the year before.

And then when my boyfriend Smith caught me ogling his dad for the hundredth time at the family dinners, he would always drag me too. Smith confronted me and when I tried to lie and deny it, he saw right through me. Because I'm a terrible liar. Of course, it led to a pretty nasty breakup between me and his son, making me feel like a giant ass. When Smith brought up that his mom just died and how could I even think I would have a chance with his dad when she was the love of his life? I felt so disgusted with myself. That was the worst part. Because he was right, I would always be second with Silas Cabot. That fight gave me the strength to walkaway, or at least as far as they knew, because they didn't need me to come between them. They needed each other.

I've felt nothing like the way I did when I was around Silas. Over the years, I've been trying to recreate it. Trying to forget. Hoping that one of these guys on these sites will be my truelove, but nothing nada.

Colleen interrupts my walk down memory lane when she asks, "What did he say?" Oh yeah, we're talking about my date from last night.

"He asked me why I stood him up. I then told him I didn't stand him up, but he probably didn't see me since he had his tongue down another woman's throat."

Her brows shoot up at my response, placing her elbows on her knees as she listens to my story. "What did he say to that?"

"He told me if I wasn't so selfish and showed up on time, he wouldn't have moved on. I didn't respond."

Colleen sits up and leans back in her chair. "Sorry Kimmie. Maybe the next guy will be better."

"That's just it. I don't want there to be a next time. I'm tired of these dates."

"Yeah, it's definitely difficult to find someone worth your time out there," she murmurs, leaving me with questions. But I know with her I have to be careful how I ask things, not pushing her too hard. Because she keeps things locked down tighter than Fort Knox.

"Enough about me. What about you? Are you dating anyone?" I ask, trying to keep my tone light so she doesn't think I'm prying.

Colleen lets out a huff. "No. I'm just out having fun."

Her eyes light up and she gets up from her chair, and I know I'm in trouble. When she jumps over the back of the couch, landing next to me, she wraps her arms around my shoulders. She has this glint in her dark brown eyes, causing me to take in a deep breath and brace for whatever comes out of her mouth next. "I know what will make you feel better. We should have a girls' night." she blurts out.

Letting out my breath slowly as my shoulders relax, I pull my phone out of my pocket. "That sounds good tome. Let's text the girls and see who is down."

Thank god that was it. Sometimes Colleen comes up with some crazy stuff, and because she's my ride or die, I'm always down for whatever, but sometimes her ideas are a little much, even for me. "Do you want me to text everyone or do you?"

Before Colleen responds, the alarm on my phone buzzes. Reminding me that my lunch break is over and it's time to get back. Standing up, I tuck my phone back into my pocket. "I've got toget back, before the cardiac wing goes crazy without my presence."

"I'll text in our group text to see who wants to get together. Are we doing this tonight?" Colleen asks as she pulls out her own phone.

"Yeah, we can do it tonight. I'm off tomorrow. Thankfully."

"Awesome. Now get back to work," she says as she smacks my ass as hard as she can.

My hands instinctively go to my ass. "Ouch. Did you have to do that?"

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