Page 81 of Captivating Mr. Second Chance

She smiled. “Have fun.”

Dean tipped his chin at Laney, mumbling something about still not being used to them making out.

“You’ve been so grouchy lately,” Ethan said, smacking Dean in the arm. “When was the last time you got laid?”

Laney laughed as the door closed on them.

24

After a few emails back and forth with basic information about where they lived and what they did for work, and the reason for Ethan reaching out in the first place—Justin’s diagnosis—he and Marcela exchanged phone numbers with a promise to speak on his birthday. He wasn’t nervous per se, but he did have to change his T-shirt twice because he sweat through the other ones.

When his cell phone finally did ring at exactly 4:30, the agreed-upon time, he scrambled to reach for it, like he hadn’t been staring at it. “Hi! Hello?”

A few seconds passed until she spoke softly. “Hi, Ethan.”

“Hi,” he said before standing up then sitting right back down on his couch. “Ho-how are you?”

“I’m fine. How are you?”

He dragged his hand through his hair a few times. “I’m good. Really good.”

“Good,” she said quietly. “I can’t believe we’re talking, that I can hear your voice.”

“I know.” He blinked over to the framed family photo he had by his TV. “It’s wild.”

She made a sound of agreement then went quiet, but Ethan wasn’t sure what to say either, so silence descended.

“Are you, um, doing anything special today?” Marcela asked after a while.

“I’m going out to dinner with my girlfriend.”

“Oh.” Her voice brightened. “You have a girlfriend?”

“Yeah.” He relaxed against the back of the couch. “Delaney.”

“Delaney,” she repeated. “Have you been together long?”

“Not really, but it’s…complicated.”

“It always is.” She laughed. “What’s complicated about it?”

“We, sort of, had a thing when we were in high school, which was weird and complicated because…”

“Because that’s high school,” she finished for him, and he smiled.

“Exactly. She was living in California for the past few years, but she came home at the end of January, and since then, it’s been…” He smiled. “It’s been perfect.”

“You sound happy.”

“I am. What about you? Are you happy?”

She sighed, and Ethan wished he could see Marcela in person to know if that was a good or bad sigh. “I am happy now, yes. Especially talking to you. Knowing you are happy makes me feel better than I have in a very long time.”

He nodded to himself. “Do you have… I mean, are you…with someone too?”

“No, I’m not,” she said. “I’ve never gotten married, but I haven’t given up hope of finding someone.”

He chewed on the inside of his cheek for a moment. “So, you’re not with the…my biological father?”

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