Page 21 of Taming You

I bite my lip and nod again. She extends her legs, crossing them at the ankles as she leans back on her hands. We sit in the moment, silent for a while before Hannah speaks again.

“Before Grayson, I was beginning to lose hope.” She chuckles. “Actually, even in the beginning of our marriage, I was losing hope I’d find someone who I could feel soul consuming love with. Give it time, Zo. You’ve still got so much time.”

Of course, my friend can tell how I’m feeling right now. Hannah’s the hopeless romantic of the group, too, so I’m not surprised it’s her sitting with me right now.

I wipe at a stray tear. “I feel so lost, Han.” I take a deep breath. “You, Bailey, and Liv are all getting settled. You’re all in careers you love, even starting families. I have no idea what I want. Even Liz is happy with where she is with her job and life. I have a law degree I thought was going to make life so much better. All I had to do was get it. I’m now living with my brother again, and I’ve just had shitty date after shitty date. I can’t remember the last time I made it past a third date with a guy.” I wipe away another tear.

Hannah pushes herself up and wraps an arm around me as she leans her head on my shoulder. I lean into her, too, resting my cheek on her head.

“Zoey, you are an extraordinary person. You’ll figure it all out, maybe it’s just taking some time so that what you find is as amazing as you are.”

I smile as I sniffle and feel nothing but gratitude for my friend.

Hannah sits with me for a few more minutes before she pats my arm and says, “Okay, so Bailey might not be able to drink, but we can. Why don’t we open that bottle of wine you brought? And didn’t you mention the other day that someone asked you out? Maybe tomorrow you text him and set up a date? Who knows, maybe he’s the one and you’ve just been putting off learning it.”

She’s right, I do have the card from the dad of the kid Matt coaches. I sit straight and pull my phone out, determined to stop feeling sorry for myself, and text him.

Zoey

Hey, this is Zoey. We met when my friend was coaching your son’s team last week. I was wondering if you’d like to get dinner?

I shove my phone into the pocket of my jeans and follow Hannah into the house. She pours us each a glass of wine, and we join the girls while Caleb handles the food in the kitchen.

Matt and I are helping with the dishes when my phone dings on the counter.

“Can you check that?” I ask Matt, and he taps the screen. A look I don’t recognize flashes across his face. He doesn’t say anything, just keeps rubbing the dish towel over the already dry plate in his hand.

“Who was it?” I ask.

“Dean.” His voice is laced with something that sounds like a mix of anger and jealousy. But that can’t be right. There’s no reason Matt would feel either of those things when it comes to me dating.

“What did he say?”

Matt grabs the next plate and starts aggressively drying it. “He said he’d love to grab dinner. He wants to know if you’re available Tuesday night.”

I can’t help but grin to myself. Maybe Hannah’s right and this could be my luck turning around.

We finish the dishes, and as I turn to make my way into the living room with everyone else, Matt stops me with a hand on my wrist.

“Are you really going to go out with him?”

“Yeah, Matt, I am. I texted him first. Is there a reason I shouldn’t?”

His eyes bounce around my face, and he obviously finds what he’s looking for because he lets go of my wrist and shakes his head. “No, no reason at all.” The words almost sound pained. I stare at him for a few more seconds, hoping that whatever he’s holding back, he’ll finally spit out. When he doesn’t, I head into the living room.

After a minute, Matt comes back in and says he needs to leave and get Jayden into bed. I can tell that’s not the real reason he’s suddenly decided he needs to leave, but I don’t press. I say my goodbye to him and Jayden.

Before he walks out the front door, he drops his voice to a whisper. “You still good to meet me in the morning?”

I sigh. I forgot I agreed to watch Jayden again tomorrow morning while Matt coaches. “Yeah, I’ll be there.”

“Thanks.”

Before he can close the door, I say, “I think I’m feeling a peppermint mocha for tomorrow morning.”

He grins and shakes his head. “Sounds good, Zo.”

I close the door behind him and lean against it. I shoot a text to Dean, agreeing to meet at an Italian restaurant Tuesday night. As much as I’m excited about this date, I almost wish Matt had told me not to go on it.

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