Page 56 of Renegade

My phone chimed and I looked down to see a text from Mike.

“Hey, Red. How’s ladies’ night going?”

I smiled and peeked over the half wall into the living room. Dara and Elizabeth were arguing over the logistics of whose cheating was worse—hers or David’s.

Me-

“Well, to be honest, I’m reliving the demise of the Greene marriage.”

His reply came back almost immediately.

Mike-

“You in need of rescuing?”

And there it was. Tummy flutters and a racing heart. It had been happening a lot over the last two weeks. We’d made plans to go out the week after he drove me home from the hospital, but by then, David and Elizabeth were on the outs and we’d been called in to provide relief.

The week after had been crazy for both of us with work, so we’d settled for text messages and a couple of late night phone calls.

I’d thought the man I met on a beach in Galveston couldn’t possibly exist in the real world, but here he was, proving that I’d been wrong about him.

I surveyed the chaos in my living room and debated. I knew if I sat back down, I’d be subjected to offering my opinion on the whole ordeal. On the other hand, if I let Mike rescue me, then I’d be walking a tight rope of emotion.

I wanted to sleep with him, I did. I just needed more time. I could only hope that he would be patient enough to wait it out.

When had modern romance become a race to the finish line?

What happened to taking things slow? My date with Brant had come from Dr. Mulloy’s suggestion that I try online dating. I’d agreed, since it worked out so well for Josué and Isaac. Somewhere over the last ten years, online dating had become less about dating and more about the hook-up.

Before our appetizer even arrived, Brant had made it clear that he planned on sleeping with me. I’d just taken a bite of my bread stick when he asked about my birth control methods. I ended up choking on it and then proceeded to spend the next five minutes drinking water and avoiding his gaze.

“Well, we’ll just get back to that after a little dessert,”he’d ominously suggested.

That phone call from David had saved me from having to disclose any information on my sex life, or lack thereof. By the time Mike walked into the ER, I couldn’t even determine if I was crying over Elizabeth or my horrible experience with dating.

“No, it’s definitely worse because she was my best friend! Landon was just a nobody,” Elizabeth proclaimed loudly from the sofa.

I rolled my eyes from the kitchen and briefly considered slamming my head into the cabinets until I too had amnesia and could forget this night ever happened.

Dr. Mulloy raised her voice. “Lauren! Honey, where’s the cheese? I need to soak up all this wine.”

I picked up my phone.

Me-

“I am in dire need of rescuing. Know anyone that could help me out?”

I couldn’t wipe the stupid grin off my face when he replied,“I’ll be there in five, Darlin’.”

I quickly emptied the tray of cheese into a Ziploc bag and hid it behind a carton of milk before rejoining the girls in the living room. “Hey guys, we’re out of food and I need to go. I just remembered I made plans.”

Sandra eyed me skeptically, while Elizabeth nodded sadly. “I’m so sorry, Lauren. You brought us here to have a good time and I just brought down the mood.”

Yeah, you sure did.

I shook my head. “You’re fine.” I gave her a quick hug and ushered her over to the front door. “I’ll call and check on you tomorrow.”

The others followed her out the door and then I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off—straightening throw pillows and dumping empty wine glasses into the sink.

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