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“Make extra, Dom’s gonna be here.”
My gaze snaps to his. “What? When?”
“He’s coming over at five so we can fix the dryer. I told him he’s invited for dinner.”
I haven’t showered since yesterday, the kitchen is a mess, and I haven’t spoken to Dom since he missed Hannah’s dance performance. After a glance at the clock on the wall, I groan.
“That’s in twenty-five minutes, Zee!”
He opens a kitchen cabinet and says, “Nutty Bars, sweet.”
Oblivious to my alarm, he tears open the box and gets out a twin pack. I know it shouldn’t matter what I look like since I don’t want to date Dom, but it does. It also matters that there are two jumbo boxes of tampons on the kitchen counter right now. This could have ended up just like him walking in on me by surprise as I was shoulder-deep in toilet water.
“Some heads-up would be nice next time,” I grumble. “I could have made something better than hot dogs and tots.”
“Hot dogs and tots are delicious,” my son says, walking back down to his basement lair.
I’m torn between taking a quick shower, power cleaning the kitchen, and going back to my unfinished conversation with Cam.
“I’ll start dinner,” she says. “Go change into a shirt with no stains on it.”
I glance down at my T-shirt, which has a splotch of dried gravy near my navel from one of the busboys at the diner running into me with a plate full of food earlier. Right after I took my apron off, of course.
“I’m not trying to impress anyone,” I say casually.
Cam laughs lightly. “I know you better than that. You have plenty of time to make yourself presentable, so go.”
I hate that my sister assumes I’m trying to land every single man I meet. I’m trying to do the opposite.
“He asked me out and I said no.”
Her jaw drops. “What? When? Why?”
“Recently. And I said no because I don’t date. You know that.”
“Yeah, but...how often does a hot professional hockey player, who also seems like a nice guy, ask you out?”
I glare at her. “I don’t think you meant that to be as offensive as it was.”
She scoffs, exasperated. “He put a new storm door on and then told us to keep it locked for safety. He showed up with his teammates and cleaned up the disaster in our bathroom. And even though he could be making Zee fold his laundry and wash his car, he’s trying to teach him some useful skills. You saw the way Zee was with him when we were all eating pizza in here.”
“Which is exactly the problem,” I snap. “My kids have been let down enough. And I’m not naive enough to think a man will come along and sweep me off my feet and not fuck me over at some point.”
“Not every man is like Jeff.”
Just hearing my ex-husband’s name makes me bristle. “Why are you so damn gullible? I’m not even dating Dom, and he still let Hannah down.”
“Come on, Tess. His team’s plane had to make an emergency landing because someone was sick. I saw it on the news.”
I load milk, cheese and eggs into the refrigerator, fighting my urge to slam the refrigerator door and leave the room.
“It’s not him not coming that’s the problem,” I tell my sister. “It’s not even having the courtesy to send a text saying he wouldn’t be there.”
“He said he was sorry.”
My anger boils over. “Stop being an apologist for shitty men.” I head toward the stairs, still fuming. “I’m going to change my clothes, but not because I’m trying to impress anyone. I just feel like changing.”
By the time I reach the bedroom Cam and I share, I feel bad about my outburst. It’s not really Cam I’m mad at but Dom.
