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What did it mean, though, when your best date was with another man? Should I chalk it up to a lot of less-than-memorable dates in my life? Or maybe the ease of being with a guy because I wasn’t trying to prove myself worthy?
Or was it something more, something I’d never before considered?
Could I genuinely be romantically interested in a man—even one as pretty as Clark Fletcher?
Don’t get caught up in the performance of it all, I told myself.This is just a game. Nothing more.
Yet, when we paid the bill and got up to leave, and my hand went to Clark’s lower back without a moment’s hesitation, I wasn’t so sure.
CHAPTER14
HUNTER
“Daaad!Mom wants to talk to you!”
Toby bounced onto my bed and thrust his tablet into my face, a video chat with my ex-wife on the screen.
“Wow, it’s been a while since I had this view,” she said, sounding amused.
I pushed the tablet away from my rumpled hair and crusty eyes. “Tobes, I’m not even dressed yet. How about a little warning next time?”
“So?” Toby sounded mystified. “You guys used to sleep in the same bed and have sex and stuff, right?”
Holly sounded scandalized. “Toby Christopher Rhodes, where are you learning about sex?” I smirked as I rolled out of the opposite side of my bed and grabbed a T-shirt to pull over my head. “Hunter, is this your doing? Are you letting him surf the Internet unsupervised? Oh my god. There’s porn and perverts. Don’t chat with strangers, Toby. You can’t—”
“Mom, I don’t!”
“It’s not safe, Toby, to just give people your information!”
Holly was nearing a meltdown, and tears were forming in Toby’s eyes as he tried to apologize. I held out my hand for the tablet. “Let me talk to your mom, okay? You’re fine, Toby. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Toby handed me the tablet, muttered sorry again, and slunk out of the room.
I turned the screen to me to see Holly looking furious. “I didn’t say he did anything wrong.”
“I know.” I sighed and rubbed a hand down my face. “I’ll find out about the sex thing. Kids talk at school. I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about. He’s ten. He’s bound to start becoming aware of these things.”
“He’s still too young,” she said, sounding tense.
I was used to calming her worries. Sometimes, I was better at it than others. Today, my patience was already threadbare and we’d barely started talking. Maybe our time apart had chipped away at my tolerance.
“What did you want to talk to me about?” I asked abruptly, ready to change the subject.
Holly looked as if she’d protest, but then her eyes narrowed. “Yes, let’s talk about that. Why are you pretending to date a man?”
I groaned. If this was Toby keeping a secret, we were in for trouble. “Would you rather I dated one for real?”
“Don’t be a smartass. Toby says I shouldn’t worry about you meeting someone because you’re pretending to date. I just don’t know that this is good for him, having some…other man around.”
“Well, you’re not around, so what can it hurt?”
She flinched, and I immediately felt bad.
“No. Shit,” I said. “I’m sorry. This isn’t about you. I was starting to get pressure to date again, and it was upsetting Toby. This was a way to give him some time to come to terms with the divorce. He still wants us back together.”
“I know,” she said softly. “I’m sorry, but I can’t—”
“Neither can I.”
