Page 2 of The Problem with Dating

I didn’t need to fall in love, but I wasn’t against falling inlike. A crush would’ve been satisfactory. I wanted to have a crush on somebody. I didn’t even know what that felt like anymore, but the idea of butterflies thrilled me.

When it came to dating, I missed so much.

I missed handholding. The kind of handholding when someone was slightly ahead of you, not looking in your direction, but he reached backward with his hand extended, knowing you’d find your perfect fit tangled with his fingers.

And kissing!

Gosh, I missed kissing. Not just deep, passionate kisses, though those were fun. But I meant the forehead kisses. The tip of the nose kisses. The soft cheek pecks. The neck caresses that sent tingles of joy down one’s spine.

I missed all of that. So year one was all about me, myself, and I. It turned out I enjoyed me, myself, and I. Now, I needed someone else to appreciate me, too. The current year would be defined as Yara out on the prowl—if only Cole would stop freaking scaring the men of Honey Creek off. Dating apps and expanding my search to Chicago was the last option on my list to try. After hearing Willow’s nightmare stories from the dating apps, I was more than apprehensive to dive into that world.

Daddy walked behind us with a box as Wesley followed his steps like a puppy dog.

“Ready to get to the new place, Buttercup?” Daddy asked.

“Ready! I’m going to ride with Avery and Willow. You and Wesley can meet us there.”

Daddy grimaced and leaned in. “You sure? I ain’t got nothing to talk to that science nerd about,” he complained.

I smiled at Daddy and patted his shoulder. “Wesley is nice, Daddy, and he’s been dating Avery for years. You might as well give him a chance.”

“Last time I gave a guy a chance, he broke my baby’s heart,” he said, referring to Cole.

“Well, luckily, Wesley isn’t Cole. He’s much smarter.”

“Book smart, maybe. But he’s still a man, which means he’s an idiot,” Daddy argued. Leave it to my father to hate men more than we girls did. In his mind, no one would be good enough for us, and Wesley wasliterallya rocket scientist. He worked for a space agency in Chicago.

“Uh, you do know I can hear you, right?” Wesley asked as he raked his hand through his red hair.

“I’m not one to mince my words,” Daddy replied. “Come on, Harry.”

“Wesley,” he corrected.

“Whatever,” Daddy said. Over the past two years, Daddy had never called the guy by his actual name. I’d be scared the day he did call Wesley by his name. It would mean the end of time was near.

We headed to the apartment, and we girls gladly sat on the sofa delivered earlier that day while Daddy and Wesley moved all the boxes in for us. Daddy refused to let us help at all. Us Kingsley girls were certified princesses in our father’s eyes.

Once the guys moved all the boxes in, we ordered Chinese food and ate at my new table.Mytable. It was mine. Everything in that space was mine. Sure, maybe I maxed out my credit cards to buy everything, but I didn’t care because everything belonged to me. That was a freedom I couldn’t express with words. The best part about life was that nothing lasted forever. Not even heartbreak.

After dinner, Avery pouted when she was getting ready to leave.

“I don’t even know when I’ll see you again,” she dramatically whined.

I laughed. “Well, we have our morning hike tomorrow at sunrise. So you’ll see me in about seven hours.”

She scowled. “I was hoping you forgot about that.”

“Not a chance.”

After our goodbyes, everyone headed off, leaving me alone in my new space with Cocoa. The hardest part of having Cocoa was that Cole requested shared custody of the sweet dog, which meant every two weeks, we had to meet up for a dog swap. I figured that was just Cole’s way to keep one foot in the door of my life. Even though I wanted to slam said door against his big toe.

My phone rang as I cleaned up the food and packed the leftovers. Willow’s name flashed across the screen.

“Hello?” I asked.

“Hey! There was one last box in the car. Do you want to buzz us in to bring it up or come get it?”

“I’ll come get it. No worries. Be right there.”

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