AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yeah, sure.” I helped her clean the dishes before we headed out to my car to drive the short distance to the nature preserve with a trail running through it that would offer some shade from the sun, and a little bit of distance from the many tourists clogging the streets in town.
“It’s times like these when I wish I had a dog. They should have a service where you can rent someone else’s dog and take it out for a few hours and then give it back,” Linley said, as we parked in the little lot at the head of the trail. I threw my water bottle in my bag and put it on.
“I mean, I think that’s just like, being a dog walker. You could do that.”
“If I wasn’t so damn exhausted from working full-time, I would.”
“You really do need to cut your hours back. Maybe now that you’re seeing Gray, you could pitch that you need more time for dating so you can convince him to be your husband.” I wiggled my eyebrows suggestively.
“You know what? That is not a bad idea.”
I thought it was pretty good. She needed to talk to her parents, but I got how hard it was. She wanted to support them, and they relied on her, but she needed to set some better boundaries. To be honest, I thought it wasn’t as big a deal as she was making it. Her parents were good people. They didn’t want her to be unhappy or overworked.
“I don’t know if he’s going to be my husband, but I’m not thinking that far ahead. I can’t put that much pressure on something so new. Like, I could find out he’s a shitty person, or that he doesn’t want kids, or anything else. It might not work out, so I’m not putting all my eggs in the Gray basket.”
“Even if the basket is really hot,” I added, and she laughed.
“He is really hot, isn’t he?”
“Totally. Good-looking and interesting? Sexy combination.”
Linley made a whining noise. “He’s just so smart and so hot and I’m trying to keep myself from liking him too much too fast, help.”
We kept walking and I told her that she couldn’t really stop her feelings from existing, but that she should definitely learn from my many dating mistakes. I had made so many of them in such a short amount of time. I hadn’t dated much in high school. It seemed like a lot of work, and I was dealing with a lot of messy feelings at the time. Hooking up and keeping things casual was much easier. Didn’t stop me from falling in love every other week and getting my heart broken a bunch of times, though, so I guess it wasn’t that good of a plan.
“But enough about me, how goes the progress with Esme?” Linley said.
“Slower than I’d like, but it’s going. I’m seeing her on Tuesday. She’s coming over to hang out with Potato.” It sounded ridiculous when I said it out loud, but it didn’t seem like a bad start.
“You’re using your grumpy cat to seduce her? I mean, at least it’s creative. Better than the cereal thing.”
We reached the end of the trail, which was just before a small and rocky beach. You couldn’t really go swimming or anything like that, but it was still nice to be by the water. The two of us trudged on the rocks along with lots of other people, including several families with kids that kept trying to sneak away and get in the water. I didn’t blame them. I was wishing I’d worn a suit under my hiking clothes and brought a towel.
“Want to sit?” I asked, and we parked ourselves on one side of the beach and lay down in the sun.
“So, what are your big plans when Esme comes over? You going to just whip a boob out?”
I opened my eyes and looked over at her. “Is that what you did with Gray? No wonder he wants to keep seeing you.”
She smacked me in the shoulder. “No, but what’s the strategy?”
“I’m just going to play it by ear. I’ll get nervous if I think about it too much. This is more like laying groundwork than anything. I’m not like Wyatt, trying to get into her pants immediately. I’m all about the slow seduction.”
“Okay, so take out a boob slowly.”
“Linley!” I said. “There are children around.”
“Children know about boobs.”
I laughed and lay back on the sun-warmed rock.
“I still think my boob idea is good,” Linley grumbled.
* * *
I was exhaustedfrom my hike, but I needed to get ahead on work, and I needed to check on my mom. After I dropped Linley off, I went home to shower and then see Mom.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” she asked when I walked into the living room and found her on her laptop.
