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I flushed.
With a smile, she set the plate in front of me with a glass of water. “He is, isn’t he?”
“It doesn’t matter. I have no intentions of hooking up with my son’s baseball coach.” Not again, anyways.
Brooke frowned and sat at the chair across from me. “You’re the one who encouraged me to move on. You said you were ready to get out there again.”
I gave her a pointed look. “I didn’t say I wanted a relationship.”
And I got out there again—with Nick. I shoveled potatoes in my mouth, hoping it would discourage her questions.
She rested her elbows on the table, leaning toward me, and asked in a hushed voice, “Are you saying something else happened? Do you have a friends-with- benefits thing going on with anyone?”
I laughed. “That would be almost impossible with my schedule. Would we meet in a storage closet at the reception hall to bang out a quickie?”
Brooke grimaced. “That’s not exactly what I had in mind.”
Yet the truth wasn’t too far from that. I’d hooked up with someone at a wedding. I’d just had the decency to rent a hotel room. Not that it was any classier.
Her eyes narrowed on mine, clearly suspecting there was more. “You did do something.”
I didn’t feel a sharp pang at being caught because I wanted to talk to someone about it. It was no longer something I could put in the back of my mind and forget about. Nick would be in my life for the next year.
I checked to ensure the basement door was closed before continuing, “I hooked up with the best man at one of the weddings.”
Her mouth dropped open. “You’re kidding.”
“Why is that so surprising?” Sure, it was clich, but it felt like the most grown-up thing I’d done in forever.
“Since you’ve had Hunter, you’ve barely dated.”
“I’m exhausted between the business and raising a kid. I haven’t had the time.” Or the inclination to even try. What was the point when you didn’t trust that anyone would stick around? My marriage was a fraud, just like Brooke’s had been.
Brooke sighed. “You encouraged me to take a chance with Ben. Despite my history.”
“That was different.”
Brooke tipped her head to the side. “Was it? Both of us lost the ability to trust men after what happened to us.”
“I have Hunter to think about. It’s not just me who will be let down. If I bring a man into his life, he’ll fall hard for someone who pays attention to him.”
Brooke winced. “That’s definitely a possibility.”
“I need to protect him. He’s hurt by his father’s absence. Hunter asks why his dad doesn’t come to games, doesn’t play catch with him, or take him fishing. Why he doesn’t want to visit with him. It breaks my heart.”
“I hate that for him.”
“His silence is almost worse. Because that means he doesn’t expect his father to be there for him.” Thinking about my ex and how his inaction hurt Hunter never failed to anger me. I tried not to think about it because it got me too worked up.
“I get that Seth has daddy issues, but couldn’t he vow to be the opposite of his father? Instead of opting out of fatherhood entirely?”
“I’ve given up on trying to understand him.” I’d talked it out in therapy. I didn’t have control of him or the situation, so I had to let go.
“Just because your ex is an ass doesn’t mean you can’t be happy. Maybe if you had a man in your life, Seth would be forced to step up.”
“I’m not dating someone to force Seth to be a better dad.” I could feel the familiar anger bubbling up inside.
“That’s not what I’m saying. If you were happy—” she started, then stopped like she wasn’t sure what she wanted to say.
