Page 14 of Second Chances

I leaned forward and lifted her chin. “Please don’t. You’re beautiful and sweet. And twice the woman Tracy is. Those two belong together, and you are better off without that dick in your life. You’ll meet someone and get your happily ever after too.”

She leaned back and smiled at me. “I hope you’re right. Because even though I don’t wantthatdick in my life, I would likeadick in it. My vagina is lonelier than I am.”

I chuckled, slightly uncomfortable. I hadn’t expected her to say something like that. In all the times we’d hung out, we’d never talked about sex.

I sniffed the bottle. “Are you sure there’s no alcohol in here?”

She laughed and motioned for me to give it back. “I wish.”

I tipped the bottle up and took a drink before handing it back. “Hmm. That’s good.”

“I know. Full of sugar, I’m assuming, but it’s delicious.” She eyed me. “So, is the reason you’re not upset the same reason you didn’t beat up Darren the night we found out they were cheating?” She shook her head in amazement. “I thought for sure you were going to tear his limbs off.”

“Yeah, I think I knew we weren’t as happy as we once had been. But we were living together, I was busy at the shop, and it was just easier to keep things the way they were than to mess with moving out and stuff.”

“I hear that. Darren and I owned our place. Selling it and splitting everything was a pain in the ass. I’m not buying another house with someone unless I’m married.”

“Do you own this place? Or are you and Savannah renting?”

“I own it. Savannah is a temporary roommate. She needed a place to go after she broke up with her boyfriend. I thought she’d have moved out by now.”

“She’s overstaying her welcome?”

“Kind of. I feel awful because, as you probably noticed, she’s the nicest person ever, but I miss living alone. You know, the five-year anniversary is coming up of when we found out about Darren and Tracy. I usually go all out to celebrate by ordering in my favorite food, watching my favorite movies, drinking my favorite wine, and enjoying my single status. But I can’t do that with Savannah here. And this year—either because I turned a decade older or because I found out that those two are getting married—being single doesn’t seem as much fun.” She held up a finger. “But I would still like to be alone to celebrate or wallow in my own pity.” She laughed in disbelief. “Man, I sound like a loser.”

“No, you don’t. I think you sound like someone who is entitled to feel the way they feel. Just because you’re happy you’re no longer with Darren doesn’t make it hurt any less. He still wronged you.”

She smiled up at me. “Thank you. Now, can you take my roommate off my hands that night, so I can get some peace and quiet?”

I chuckled. “I don’t know. Let me work on that.”

“Thank you,” she said with a grin.

SIX

LIAM

Later that week, I walked into the kitchen at work to see McNally shoving a piece of paper at Martin.

Martin shook his head and walked toward me.

“What’s going on?” I asked him.

Martin rolled his eyes. “McNally’s trying to sell something again,” he answered and left the room.

McNally was known for trying to get others to join his get-rich-quick schemes or to buy something from one of the multiple multi-level marketing businesses his wife had signed up for. What McNally wasn’t known for was remembering that we constantly turned him down.

My coworker spun around and set his sights on me as he made a beeline in my direction.

I started shaking my head before he even reached me. “Nope, not going to happen.”

“It’s not what you think,” McNally said and pushed the same piece of paper Martin had turned down in my direction. “I’m not selling anything, man. It’s a cabin up in the Sierra Foothills. The wife and I were supposed to go next weekend, but she has to get her bunion surgery done the Thursday before. It’s too late to cancel, and we could really use the money for Millie’s recovery.”

“It’s bunion surgery,” I pointed out.

“Exactly. She can’t stand on her feet for who knows how long, so she can’t go to work.”

Great. Now, I felt guilty.

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