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She spotted Kelli heading down the sidewalk toward the pub. “Hey, Kell.”
Kelli was one of her closest friends, so she wasn’t surprised when the other woman pulled up short and gave her a funny look. “What are you doing out here?”
Yvonne shrugged. “Just thinking. I had a date tonight.”
“Oh. From the look of you, I’d say it sucked.”
Yvonne laughed. “Honestly, it was an amazing date. One of my best.”
Kelli digested that information, still looking confused. “My best dates usually end in the morning with me naked and wrung out after several orgasms, not with me holding up the wall of a pub looking lonely as a lost kitten, so we’re going to have to beg to differ on what constitutes a ‘best’ date.”
“I went out with Leo.”
“Seriously?”
Yvonne nodded, wondering why Kelli seemed so genuinely shocked by that. “Yeah.”
“Wow. Why now?”
“What?”
“The two of you have been friends forever. What changed?”
Yvonne had never told anyone except Pop Pop about her crush on Leo. And even though she’d embraced the friendship, her heart had always beat a little faster whenever he was around. She’d kept that secret buried as deeply as the feelings.
“He’s going through some stuff with his family, so I took him dinner last week. He decided to repay the favor tonight, taking me out…and we kissed.”
“Sounds okay so far. Which means there’s more to it, because the fact remains you’re standing here alone now.”
“He regretted the kiss. Said he couldn’t let it go any further than that because his life is a hot mess and he doesn’t have time to date someone.”
Kelli rolled her eyes. “Of course he does. Leo’s problem is he thinks his family would fall apart without him. His parents homeschooled him, Marie and Josh so they could work the farm, and I think they still put a lot of pressure on him to keep things running smoothly. Then Denise died, and Leo gave up a lot of his independence to not only raise his son, but Ryder’s. He’s constantly sacrificing his own needs to make sure the people he loves are happy.”
The reason Yvonne and Kelli were such great friends was because they were both pretty straight shooters. Hearing Kelli’s perspective on Leo confirmed what Yvonne already knew. Leo wouldn’t willingly date her because of his overwhelming sense of responsibility.
“So what you’re saying is—” Yvonne started.
“What I’m saying is, if you want to wake up naked in that man’s bed after a half-dozen orgasms—and Leo definitely strikes me as the type to rock a girl’s world; it’s the quiet ones who are always freaks in the bed—then you, my dear friend, have some work to do.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“If things work out, you wouldn’t just be dating Leo. He comes as part of a set.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning, if things don’t work out, if you decide to break things off, it’s not just Leo’s heart that could be broken. If the two of you start dating seriously, there’s a little boy—actually, a couple boys—who are going to be hurt if things go south as well.”
Leo had just basically said the same thing, but the way Kelli worded it really drove home his reasons for pulling back. And gave Yvonne a reason to pause, to consider. She adored those boys, loved babysitting for them. She wouldn’t want to hurt them ever.
“You’re right. I guess there are a lot of pretty solid reasons not to—”
“I named one. The boys. I’m not sure what other reasons Leo gave you. Wait—the two of you aren’t playing that bullshit card about not wanting to risk the friendship, are you? I’ll tell you right now, I think that’s a lame excuse for not going after what you want.”
Yvonne laughed. Yep. Kelli really did feel like her kindred spirit. “That thought never occurred to me, actually.”
“Good girl.”
“And you’ve given me plenty to think about. Thanks.”
