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She winced. “Probably the fact that you end up dating these losers. Ones there’s no future with and who you’ll never really commit to.”
Was that true? I thought about my ex who’d spent more time playing video games on my couch than searching for a job. He’d asked if he could stay with me temporarily, but then I realized he’d never be responsible if he was mooching off me. I’d finally had to kick him out. “PJ was nice.”
Brooke leaned forward, her gaze locked on mine. “He had free room and board. He wouldn’t have left you.”
“I kicked him out.” Telling him to leave wasn’t enough; I’d packed his things and changed the locks.
Brooke rolled her eyes. “Then there was that guy who didn’t even have his driver’s license.”
I didn’t respond because she was right on the facts. I wasn’t so sure why I was drawn to these guys. “I know. I know. I need to make some changes in my dating life.”
She tipped her head. “Maybe you should look at why you’re dating these guys.”
I chewed my lip. “Maybe I see them as safe because they have no ambition.”
Brooke nodded. “That’s exactly what I’m saying. It’s hard to see when you’re living it, but it seems pretty obvious from where I’m sitting.”
I should be looking at guys who were the exact opposite to what I’d dated before. But the only guy I was interested in was Ryan. He owned the garage with my brother, but he had a track record of picking up and moving. He wasn’t a good bet no matter how attracted I was to him.
Unfortunately, I’d be seeing a lot of him. “Corey starts tomorrow.”
Brooke’s eyes widened at my sudden change in subject. “And you’re worried about him?”
“No.” It was his father I was worried about.
“Do you—” Brooke sucked in a breath as if she’d just remembered something. “Do you still like Ryan?”
I rolled my eyes. “That was a stupid childhood crush.”
It was short-lived because he got a girl pregnant at eighteen and left town with her. It was the best thing that could have happened. I got over him pretty quickly, especially since he was so much older, and Jake would have never let anything happen between us.
“It’s just I’ll be seeing him since Corey is volunteering to help me around the apartment and store.”
“And?” Brooke gestured for me to continue.
“He’s attractive.” That was an understatement. Not only had he filled out since high school, but he was a motorcycle-riding mechanic. He was the epitome of my sexy bad-boy dreams. “But I’m looking for something different this time.”
“I’m not sure you can compare PJ to Ryan. First of all, he still goes by that silly childhood nickname, and he thought playing video games on the couch all day was productive. He may have been twenty-six, but he was a child in all the ways that matter.”
“From what I can see, Ryan’s a good dad. He’s responsible.”
“Well, yeah, he moved with the mom, right? Even though they weren’t together, he wanted to be close to his son.”
That thought never failed to melt my heart even more. From what Jake said, Ryan and Tiffany never wanted to make a go of their relationship. They were committed to co-parenting.
“It sounds like he’s really trying to be a good dad.” Even though I got the impression he didn’t think he was.
Brooke tipped her head to the side, an amused expression on her face.
I held up my hands as if to ward her off, knowing she was reading more into the situation than I wanted her to. “I feel for their situation. Corey’s mother didn’t leave him like mine did, but she sent him away. I know what that feels like.”
Brooke nodded. “You think you can help Ryan with Corey?”
I shook my head, trying to sort out the confusing feelings in my head. “It’s Corey I want to help. I know it’s naïve to think I have anything in common with a twelve-year-old boy, but I can sympathize with how he must feel.”
She gave me a pointed look. “Just be careful. At the end of the day, Corey is Ryan and Tiffany’s son.”
“He’s not my responsibility, but if I can be one more person he can come to, then I’d like to do that for him.” I knew nothing about kids, other than what it was like to be one. I wasn’t ready to admit it to Brooke yet, but focusing on Corey allowed me to ignore my confusing feelings for Ryan.
