Page 30 of Second Chance for the Single Mom

But I wished I could have shown Haley the man I had become over the past seven years.

I could have just texted her myself. Tell her about my career, my ambition, my goals in life. But I didn’t want to push too hard. Haley was alwaysthe one, the girl who had gotten away, and I didn’t want to come on too strong.

She had a kid now, too.

I’d been thinking about that a lot in the past week. My feelings on parenthood had been strong back in high school: I didn’t want children. I’d even told Haley that I wanted to get a vasectomy as soon as I was out of school. As I grew older, those feelings had softened a bit. The idea of children no longer terrified me, although I still wasn’t super gung-ho about it. I lacked thatdesiredeep in my soul that pushed so many people to procreate.

But when I thought about Haley?

I pictured myself being a good father. And a devoted husband.

Haley had that effect on me: she made me want to be a better version of myself.

Why the hell hadn’t she texted me?

Deep down, I knew the truth with a dread that had grown every single day. Haley said that our foursome was a one-time thing. When we said goodbye at the end of that night, she told me it was good to catch-up. Her tone implied that we didn’t have any more catching up to do.

At first, I assumed she was being coy. But now it was clear she was serious.

I opened the first email in my inbox and stared at the words without actually reading them. Haley and I had so much chemistry. Seven years apart hadn’t changed that—we’d picked up right where we left off. It was like our bodies remembered each other from another life.

I’d been with other women in the years since high school, and I’dneverhad that connection with anyone else.

Only Haley.

Which is why I had moved back home in the first place.

I half-assed my work the rest of the day and then went home. Everything in my apartment reminded me of Haley. The couch where she had made out with Shay and me. The bed where the four of us hadreallygotten down to business. If I concentrated really hard, I still thought I could smell her scent in the air.

I laughed at myself. I was a mess. This girl had wrapped her fingers around my heart and kept squeezing without even knowing it.

I was in the middle of making dinner when there was a knock at the door. I felt a surge of excitement, hoping that it was Haley coming to see me, but when I threw open the door, it was Jordan who stood in the hallway.

“I wanted to knock first,” he said with a smirk. “In case you were in the middle of another threesome.”

Laughing, I hugged my best friend and then walked back to the kitchen to stir the pasta. “Nope, nothing that exciting tonight.”

“Too bad,” Jordan said. “But, uh, while we’re on the subject… I wanted to run something by you.”

I frowned at him. “What’s up?”

Jordan leaned against the fridge and crossed his arms over his shirt and tie. The gesture reminded me of the Jordan Mayfield I knew as a teenager when he was about to try to talk me into some elaborate prank to pull on our teacher.

“Haley,” he said. The name hung in the air for a heartbeat. “I kind of ran into her last week.”

I tried to cover up my surprise. “Oh?”

“I was coaching little league practice, and this little boy came running up and asked if he could play. Turns out, it was Haley’s son, Bran. Cute kid. Big for his age. She was showing a house across the street and he escaped or something.”

“Small world,” I said. Where was he going with this?

“Long story short, he’s joining my Coach Pitch team.AndI’m giving him some private lessons. So, I’m going to be seeing a lot more of Haley.”

A small flare of jealousy sprouted in my chest. I quickly pushed it back down. Jordan and I had shared Haley in bed, yet I was getting jealous because of a little league team?

“Cool,” I said, turning back to my pasta. “Not sure why you’re telling me about it, though.”

I could sense Jordan staring at me. Waiting for me to say more, or gathering his own words.

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