Page 49 of Taming You

I slump back in the booth. “Why does this feel so hopeless? First Liv’s guy stands me up and then Hannah’s guy was a dud. Maybe I should take a break from dating. I need to focus on figuring out what I want to do with my career. Maybe this is all a sign I should focus on me for a while.”

“Focusing on yourself is always good, and who knows, maybe Mr. Right will just fall into your lap when you’re not even looking,” Hannah says.

“Let’s circle back to figuring out your career,” Liz starts. “Do you not want to be a lawyer? You passed the bar and have the pick of almost any job you want.” Her confusion is evident in her voice. She’s right, I could have the pick of almost any job. I passed my classes with stellar marks, I got a great reference from the lawyer I articled under, and I passed the bar in the top five percent of my group. I’m good at it, but knowing my stuff doesn’t mean I’ll enjoy doing it for the rest of my life.

I run my finger over the rim of my glass. “I’ve decided I don’t want to be a lawyer. I’m not sure what I want to do, but I told Henry, and he and Maggie said I can stay with them as long as I want while I figure it out. I’ve been helping Maggie with some foundation work. She’s throwing a gala to raise money for some local food banks.”

“Oh, Josh got an invite to that. It looks like they’re doing amazing work. He RSVP’d for the two of us. We’re going to make a weekend of it, drop Cate off with his parents.”

Bailey faces Liv now. “Caleb mentioned Josh bought the Cyclone. That’s insane. I can’t even fathom that amount of money.”

Liv’s cheeks pinken. “The team is tanking. They haven’t pieced together a solid season in years, and the previous owners were looking to offload the team. As soon as Josh caught wind of it, he jumped straight on it. He talked to me about it, wanting my opinion, but I kept telling him it’s his money, he should do what he wanted. No matter what I said, he kept pushing that it was ours and he wanted my opinion. I don’t know the first thing about owning a sports team. I told him I trust his judgement and he’s the one who’s going to have to run the damn thing.”

“How many people get to say they own a sports team?” I muse.

Liv shakes her head. “I don’t know, but I do know I plan on going to a few more games now.”

Conversation moves fluidly, and when we call it a night, I’m more set on focusing on myself and enjoying what I do have rather than forcing dates.

CHAPTER 18

Matt

Zoey nearly had me breaking my resolve entirely yesterday. When she confronted me about why I crashed her date, she managed to pull out of me that I didn’t want her to go, but I stopped short of telling her it was because I wanted to be the one she was going on a date with. She was so mad when we went our separate ways, and all I wanted to do was pull her in close and kiss her. I wanted to show her what I couldn’t tell her.

I guess her texting when she got home was at least a positive sign that she wasn’t icing me out totally. It’s taken everything in me not to blow up her phone all day. My resolve breaks at the end of the night when I’m lying on the couch, torn between calling her and going to bed. Calling her wins out. I need to hear her voice.

Anxiety fills me as the phone rings. Just when I think it’s going to voicemail, she answers, and it’s like a weight has been lifted off me.

“Hello.”

“Hey, Zo.”

“Is everything okay?” I can hear a tinge of worry in her voice mixed with what sounds like the little lisp that comes out when she’s been drinking.

“Yeah. I just wanted to talk to you. Have you been drinking?”

She hiccups through the line. “It was girls’ night.”

Well, that explains it. “Did you have fun?”

“Of course. A night with my girls is always fun.”

“Mmmhhh. And how’d you get home?”

“Uber. You don’t have to check up on me, Matt. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I’ve done it for years.”

She’s right, but I want to check on her. I want to know she’s okay and having fun. Just because she’s taken care of herself for so long on her own doesn’t mean she should have to. But all of that is too much to drop on her during a half-drunk, late-night phone call.

“I know you can take care of yourself, but I care about you.”

The sound of sheets rustling travels through the phone as she makes a contented sigh. “I care about you, too.”

She yawns, and I know she’s going to be out in minutes. I debate staying on the phone to listen to her fall asleep to have that small connection to her or hanging up and settling for calling her tomorrow. The rational side of me wins out, and I say goodnight before hanging up and moving to my own bed.

The entirety of Friday is spent trying to calm Jayden while he teethes. He is constantly in pain, and it hurts me to see him like this. The teething toys Liv recommended have been a lifesaver. He uses them constantly. From the research I’ve done, he could be like this for up to another week, but I’m hoping it dies down in the next few days.

I pack plenty of his toys in his diaper bag and lots of burp clothes, because he’s been drooling like crazy. Liv seems to have the magic touch with Jayden right now, so I’m hoping she can help him during our game tonight.

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