“I get that.” Alex had wondered how old Emily was. She didn’t care. It wouldn’t have put her off to find out that Emily was ten or fifteen years older than her. The opposite, actually. But if Alex had to guess, she’d say there were ten or twelve years between them, and it didn’t really surprise her to find out that Emily was divorced, that she had been married.
“And I’m not really a one-night stand kind of person either so…” Emily exhaled. “Maybe we shouldn’t call tomorrow night a date.”
“Why don’t we let it be whatever it’s going to be,” Alex said with a hint of a smile, trying to keep the mood light. “I’ve had my own drama lately when it comes to dating, so I know what you mean.”
“What happened? If you don’t mind me asking. You don’t have to tell me.”
“No. It’s okay. I won’t get into the details really either, but basically the last two women I was dating both happened to be married, and they failed to mention that the entire time.”
“Oh shit.”
“Yeah. Both times their husbands interrupted us,” Alex said with a shake of her head, still a little embarrassed about the whole thing. “I had no clue. And the second time, I said that it couldn’t happen again, so any hint that things might not be right… I ignored them,” she finished with a shrug. “So, I’m not really ready to get back out there either.”
“Dating is hard.” Emily turned to her. “I’m sorry that happened to you.”
“Yeah, it’s something I’m not proud of.”
“Yeah, but if you didn’t know.” Emily’s eyes moved to the water, and they both sat in silence for a while longer. “I gave my ex-wife a second chance when she promised that she wouldn’t cheat on me again. That’s something I’m not proud of. Because she had no intention of ending things. And I fell for it.”
“Don’t be too hard on yourself. I’ve seen it twice now. How good people can be at lying. Hurts even more when they were supposed to care about you,” Alex said. “Come out with me tomorrow night. We’ll have fun. Let loose.”
“Okay,” Emily said with a smile. “I like the sound of that.” She picked up her shoes and stood up while Alex did the same. “And thanks for listening to me.”
“Yeah, no problem.” Alex waved her off.
“I haven’t really said those words out loud yet. That I’m divorced. That I’m single again.” Emily’s lips tugged into a wry smile. “You never really know how things are going to play out, do you? You’re young though. Although, after what you just told me, maybe you know exactly how I feel.”
“I think I have an idea.” Alex cleared her throat as they started to walk back towards the club. “How old do you think I am?”
Emily took a second to reply. “If I had to guess…” She stopped again. “See, when I saw you out on the dance floor with that woman. She was older than you.”
“Maria.”
“Maria. Right. And you were so good together, like you’d been dancing with her for years. Then? I might have guessed late twenties? Twenty-eight maybe? But then, the way you talked about not getting into your uncle’s club until you were twenty-one? I don’t know. I just got the impression that maybe that was fairly recently. But you don’t seem that young either.”
Alex smiled to herself. “That’s an extremely longwinded answer that actually tells me nothing. How old do you think I am? One number,” she said with a laugh.
“Okay. I’m going to go with ten years younger than me. Twenty-six.”
“No. I’m twenty-two.” Alex filed away that information about Emily’s age, although it sounded like Alex didn’t really have a chance with her, even if she was staying the year.
“You seem older,” Emily answered as their feet sunk into the sand.
“Those women were older. The two I told you about. Ten and twelve years older than me.”
“You have a type.”
“Apparently. Do you?”
“No. Well, maybe I tend to date people in my social circle. People I knew from college. From work. I’ve never used a dating app.” Emily made a face. “And now I really feel old.”
“I prefer meeting women in real life. Not online.”
“Dancing,” Emily said, the back of her hand brushing against Alex’s as they walked, and Alex had no idea if it was accidental or not.
“Yeah. Mostly.”
“Is that why you approached me last week?”
