Page 31 of Second Chance for the Single Mom

Finally, he said, “Did you move back to Vancouver because of her?”

When I moved to Detroit, I’d tried my best to forget all about Haley. I had failed. Even though I was building a new life and career there, I could feel her tugging me, pulling me back west.

Of course I had moved back for her.

“Of course not,” I told Jordan. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Bro, it’s me,” Jordan said. “You can tell me anything. You know that, right?”

“I’ve moved on,” I said more harshly than I meant to.

Jordan sighed in frustration. “So you’re cool if I ask her out?”

I whipped my head around to face him. “You said this was about baseball practice.”

“Yeah, well, I’m thinking about more,” Jordan said. “I know you two have a history, but if you’ve moved on, then why not? Haley seems cool, and we’re all adults. Right?”

Damnit. I saw exactly what he was doing here. Calling my bluff. Trying to get me to admit the real reason I was back in Vancouver.

It would have been so easy to just tell him… except I still had barely admitted that truth to myself. Saying it out loud would make it that much morereal.

“Go ahead,” I said.

That response shocked Jordan. He uncrossed his arms and let them hang at his side while he watched me. “Really?”

“Sure,” I said. “Go for it.”

Jordan waited for what felt like an eternity, then nodded. “All right, then. If you change your mind, just let me know. I’m serious, bro. You can tell me anything.”

“I know.”

After he was gone, I searched my feelings again. The pit of discomfort at the base of my stomach wasn’t jealousy—not in the traditional sense. It was something closer to FOMO: Fear Of Missing Out. The same feeling I got when my friends were all going to a concert and I had waited too long to buy a ticket.

Was I making a mistake? Was I letting the woman of my dreams get away?

It wasn’t too late. Jordan hadn’t asked her out yet. I could text her and tell her how I felt. Or, at the very least, see if she wanted to get a drink or something.

I stared at my cell phone on the kitchen counter. She was only a text message away, but it felt like a thousand miles were between us.

And then, like I had been visited by the Ghost of Girlfriend Past, the phone lit up with a text.

I almost knocked over the pot of pasta in my hurry to grab it.

Haley: Want to hear something funny?

Me: Always.

Haley: I ran into Jordan last week at the park. Well, technically my son ran into him. He was coaching little league.

Me: Hah! Small world. It wasn’t awkward or anything, was it?

Haley: Why? Because of the super-hot foursome all of us had?

I grinned like an idiot. She thought the other night was super hot.

Me: Yeah, that might make things awkward.

Haley: It kind of was, yeah. But you know Jordan. He’s easy to be around. I actually might sign my son up for little league. Jordan’s going to give him private lessons to help him catch up.

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