Page 50 of Never Kiss Your Neighbors

I scoot a few inches away from him and turn to focus on him fully, trying to figure out exactly where all this is coming from.

Brandon frowns. “Sorry. I’m not trying to freak you out. I’m not talking about jumping right into making a baby. I’d just like to see if there’s still something there between us.”

After our one night together, after I got pregnant and he didn’t want a relationship with me, it never seemed like there was anything there between us. Nothing that went in both directions, anyway.

“I don’t know …I mean, you’re certainly welcome to move here for Jessie’s sake. That would be really nice for her. As for me, I don’t know. We’d have to see if we even have anything in common outside of our daughter.”

He nods. “That makes sense. How about if I come back next weekend, visit both of you during the day, and then at night, we go to dinner, just you and me?”

I hesitate, still catching up with this surprise he’s sprung on me, and also wondering if Cam and Wyatt would mind if I go out with Brandon.

But they can’t mind, can they? They’re still having fun with other women, even if they insist I’m special. We definitely don’t have any kind of exclusive arrangement.

“I guess that’d be fine,” I tell Brandon, who reaches across the bench to squeeze my hand.

“Great. Looking forward to it.”

* * *

Even though we haven’t made any promises to each other, the next time I’m out with Cam and Wyatt, I decide it would be best to mention Brandon. They may have their own entanglements, which I don’t need to know anything about—and actually prefer not to—but for some reason, I feel better being open with them about my dating life.

It’s Friday night, and after a sushi dinner—another first for me, which I can’t say I enjoyed quite as much as the teppanyaki—we drive to the beach, where the sun has just set.

“We’ll have to come earlier next time,” Wyatt says.

I let out a contented sigh. “It’s still beautiful.” The sky is glowing warmly, and the water is painted with vibrant blues and oranges.

We take off our shoes and leave them close to the access path. Cam and Wyatt roll their pant legs up, and we walk along the sand, staying just out of the surf. The men are on either side of me, and though neither of them holds my hand, our fingers touch as we walk, each bit of contact sending delicious sparks up my arms.

It’s very different from our previous activity-filled dates. It feels very romantic, but before I sink fully into it, I want to get the Brandon thing off my chest.

“Remember how I told you Jessie’s father came to visit last weekend?”

My dates both nod, Cam saying, “Yeah?”

“He’s coming back tomorrow …and he’s taking me out to dinner.”

Wyatt cocks his head. “Just you?”

I nod. “He’s considering moving here to be closer to us, and he wants us—me and him—to …explore whether we might have a connection.”

Cam and Wyatt stop in their tracks.

“He’s taking you on a date?” Cam asks.

I nod again. “Yeah.”

Wyatt’s hair blows wild in the ocean breeze, getting in his eyes. “I thought there wasn’t anything romantic between you and him.”

“There wasn’t … there isn’t. But he wants to see if there could be.”

“And is that what you want?” Wyatt seems …not quite angry, but somewhere in that neighborhood. Definitely unsettled.

“I … I don’t know. I figured we should at least see if something’s there.” I take a step to resume our walk, but both men stay put. “What’s the matter?”

They exchange a look that I can’t read, especially with the light growing darker. Finally, Cam says, “Of course, we’re not going to try to stop you from getting together with Jessie’s dad, because maybe that would be the right thing for her, but I guess we should have made our intentions clear.”

“Your intentions?”

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