Page 6 of Second Chance for the Single Mom

“Damn,” Shay said, rolling up the sleeve of his hoodie to scratch his elbow. “I’m going to do you a favor and make the decision for you. Text her back. I’ll leave.”

“I don’thaveto get laid tonight,” I insisted. “I can wait until next weekend.”

I’ve waited all these years,I thought to myself.What’s another week?

“Don’t feel bad,” Shay said, standing up. “Buy me a beer to make it up to me later.”

“I already owe you so much,” I argued. “You’re letting me stay at your rental unit…”

“You’re paying rent. Slightly lower than market rate, sure, but I’ll happily trade that money in exchange for a tenant I know and trust.” He walked over and patted me on the shoulder. “Have a good night. Tell me about it tomorrow.”

That’s when Haley texted me back.

Haley: Unless your friend is interested in hooking up, too. Is he single? The three of us could have a LOT of fun tonight ;-)

“Uhh,” I said, holding up my phone for Shay to see.

He stood very still while reading the text. “Is she serious?” he asked quietly.

“I honestly have no idea,” I admitted. “She was always a blunt girl, which I loved about her. But I never expected her to suggest something like this.”

“It’s been years since you’ve seen her. People change.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” I muttered. I turned my gaze up to Shay. “Well?”

“Well what?”

“Are you interested?”

He slowly put down his backpack, returned to the couch, and sat down. “Areyou?”

We stared at each other. A silence stretched. It was like we were playing chicken, waiting to see who would answer first.

“Let’s say we wanted to do this,” Shay finally said. “Hypothetically.”

“Totally,” I agreed. “Just a thought experiment.”

“I have two primary concerns.” Shay began ticking off points on his fingers. “Will it affect your relationship with Haley? And more importantly, will it affect our friendship?”

“I don’t have a relationship with Haley,” I said. “And regarding our friendship… I don’t know.”

“It could get weird,” Shay said. “Having a threesome.”

Oh my God. I couldn’t believe we were actually discussing this. It helped that we were both two drinks deep, and I had made the margaritasverystrong.

“Once you’ve seen your friend’s dick, there’s no going back,” I said with a laugh.

But Shay only frowned. “I’ve seen your dick before.”

I gave a start. “What? When?”

“You got blackout drunk at Chris Morrison’s graduation party,” he explained. “I was older than everyone there by five years, so I was the only one who could handle his liquor while the rest of you got smashed. I dragged you into the shower, stripped your clothes, and washed off all the vomit. I saw parts of you I canneverforget.”

I winced. “That’s definitely a memory I’ve repressed. You’re still my friend after that?”

“Of course,” he replied without hesitation. “You’d do the same for me.”

I nodded. That was true. I trusted Shay with my life, and would do anything for him.

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