“Besides, you got rid of him well enough,” Hazel said as she dabbed the corners of her eyes with a cocktail napkin. “But I have to agree with Chloe, that guy was horrible. We’ll need to do better next time.”
“Oh, no—no—no. Please don’t try to do better. That was enough to scare me off random guys from clubs for life.” She flung her arm in the direction of where Mr. Dental Commercial had disappeared into the crowd.
“Okay, fine. Lighten up and have fun.” Blair raised her arms above her head and swayed in time with the music. “It’s your birthday. Live a little. You’ve got plenty of time to tie yourself down.”
A flash of anger flowed through her. Blair wasn’t getting it. “Have I? You’ve been married for years, and I’ve never even had a boyfriend. Time’s running out for me. At the rate I’m going, I’ll never have kids.”
Daniela opened her mouth.
But Chloe shut her up with a glare. “And don’t you dare say that I don’t need a man to have kids. I know you didn’t need or want one. But that’s not me, okay?” She thought about the struggles that her mother and sister-in-law Mya had had being single mothers and shuddered. “I don’t have it in me to raise a kid on my own like you.”
Closing her mouth, Daniela sank back into her seat.
Hazel rubbed her hand on Chloe’s shoulder. “Hey, time’s not running out. You’re still young enough to get everything you want from life.”
“Agreed. Stop telling us you’re too old. I have a friend who had her first baby at forty-two. Stop overthinking it. Go out, have fun, and when you least expect it, someone will come into your life,” Blair agreed.
With a nod, Hazel continued. “You’ll only make it harder for yourself if you put so much pressure on finding the right guy straight away. You need to have fun. Flirt with cute guys. Go on dates. When you loosen up, that’s when you’ll find love.”
Maybe they were right. Maybe she was putting too much pressure on herself to find the right guy on the first go. If she didn’t have the number thirty hanging over her head, she’d be more optimistic. But that didn’t mean she was going to waste her time on men like Mr. Dental Commercial. There had to be better options out there, right?
Blair’s eyes narrowed as she stared at Chloe. “When you said that you’ve never had a boyfriend, you were exaggerating, right?”
Chloe shuffled on her seat and averted her gaze to watch beams of colored lights bounce off the mirrored walls above the bar. “No, I’ve never had a boyfriend.”
“What about in high school?” Blair asked.
“No.” She pulled the hem of her skirt down.
“College?”
Chloe huffed. “Blair, what part of ‘I’ve never had a boyfriend’do you not understand?” She flicked her head back and drained the champagne from her glass.
“How is that possible?” Blair’s eyes widened with shock.
“Ethan scared the crap out of any guy who came within five meters of me,” she snapped, still annoyed at her oldest brother’s protectiveness. “In university, I buried my nose in my books and was too busy studying to go to parties or out clubbing. When I started working as an agent, my hours didn’t give me much time for a social life.” Blair and Hazel nodded in understanding; they empathized with the demands on her time from needy clients. And when she did manage to get out to meet people, no man had managed to grab her attention. Or woman, either. Was something wrong with her?
“That’s just crazy.” Blair shook her head with disbelief. “What do you do about sex? From the way you reacted to our—”
“Your,” Daniela interjected.
“—My suggestion,” Blair amended, “of picking up a guy tonight, you’re not a one-night stand kind of girl. Are you?”
“Knock it off, Blair. What Chloe does is none of your business. Stop being so nosy,” Hazel said, putting on her managerial voice.
Ignoring Hazel, Blair said, “We’re grown-up women; we can talk about sex. I miss the days when I could hook up with a guy and have mind-blowing sex with a stranger. Not that I’d change my life. I love Mitch and the kids. Oh, but to be free for a day! To have no-strings-attached sex again. Not having to schedule it for when the kids are asleep would be amazing.” Blair sighed and sagged into her seat. “Please, remind me how great it is, Chloe.”
“I’m not sure what to say?” She didn’t know what to say because she had nothing to tell them. She didn’t do one-night stands. She didn’t dosex.
“Who was the last guy you hooked up with?” Blair asked.
“Hooked up?” She’d kissed a guy while drunk at a function she’d attended about six months ago. But Chloe knew Blair meant the last person she’d had sex with. “I…umm…”
“You don’t have to answer,” Daniela said, annoyed.
“Jeez, Chloe, I never knew you were so shy talking about sex,” Blair giggled.
“It’s not that. I just haven’t… had sex.” Heat traveled up her neck and flared over her face.
