Page 84 of The Problem with Dating

“You know, he who we don’t speak of showed up to my house not that long ago,” he mentioned.

“Oh? Why?”

“He wanted me to talk to you and try to convince you to give him another chance. He knows how close we are and figured you'd give him a shot if he asked me for my approval. Which is funny because the dummy didn’t even ask my permission for marriage.”

I laughed. Daddy never got over Cole not coming to him about the proposal.

“What did you tell him?” I questioned.

“I told him I’d talk to you. And since I’m a man of my word, this is me doing exactly that. This is me talking to you. Now, you listen to me, Yara, and you listen closely.” He leaned in and said, “Don’t you ever go back to the things that cut you so deeply. They still have the knives in their cabinets that they used before to hurt you. Even if they smile and pretend they don’t. And sometimes, they even sharpened them more.”

I smiled. “No back steps.”

“We move forward.” He shifted in his chair and grabbed a few orange slices. “But this complicatedthingof yours with Alex.”

My cheeks heated from the conversation shifting to Alex.

He continued. “I like him for you.”

I laughed. “What? Don’t be ridiculous. You don’t like any men for us.”

“That’s true, but I like Alex. He has a good foundation.”

“What do you mean?”

“I worked with him on the restaurant for months and months. I watched people harass him, bully him, and try to run him out of town. Still, he kept building. He kept persevering. If that doesn’t speak of a person’s character, then I don’t know what does. You need a person like that. A person who won’t quit when things get hard. A person who won’t have a wandering eye when you’re on a down slope. A person who builds stronger things when the world expects him to crumple.”

“Daddy—”

“Every relationship has ebbs and flows, Yara. Ups and downs. You aren’t always at the peak, in la-la land of the honeymoon stage. Sometimes, you’re in the trenches. That’s why you need someone with a strong foundation. Someone who loves you enough to get to tomorrow without hurting you even if they don’t like you today.”

I wanted that feeling.

I wanted that level of trust in another person, but sometimes I wondered if true love even existed. Because with Cole, I loved him through every storm. It just took me a while to realize it had to be a mutual love. I also realized that the one creating said storms was the one I was trying to shield from the rain.

“Let me be clear, I like him, Yara. I do. But don’t get me wrong. If he’s not the one for you, then he’s not the one. All I’m saying is don’t be afraid to try something new. You never know where something new can lead you.”

“I love you,” I told him.

“I love you,” he replied.

After we finished our meal, he packed up his things and headed out. Somehow, though, he managed to slip a few hundred dollars onto my desk, which I didn’t notice until he left. He folded it into a few napkins, which read the words, “For my girl.”

I loved that man more than words could ever express.

The rest of the day went really well. Feliz and I headed back to Alex’s apartment after the workday. I ordered a pizza, and Feliz ordered dog treats. He then found a comfy spot on Alex’s living room couch, circled four times, and plopped down for a nap. The sweet baby deserved the rest, but I looked forward to taking him on a walk later that afternoon. Truthfully, Feliz was a very laid-back dog. He was just misunderstood from first, second, and third impressions.

Kind of like a certain man I’d recently met.

CHAPTER22

Alex

After a long workday and a few more diary entries, I opened the front door to my apartment and walked inside to a silent home that smelled…good. It smelled like peaches, a great change from the smells occupying the space when I left earlier that day.

There wasn’t even a yapping dog trying to claw my throat out.

I removed my shoes before rolling up the sleeves of my white button-down shirt. As I tiptoed into the living room toward the sound of two snoring creatures, I found Yara laid out on the couch with Feliz resting on top of her. Yara’s arms were wrapped loosely around Feliz, who looked as if he was smiling from his dreams. I didn’t even know dogs smiled.

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