Page 157 of Champagne Nights

I couldn’t sleep anymore. When I last looked at the clock, it was five a.m., and now it was six thirty. I threw on my running clothes and went for a run. My mind was only focused on Paisley, and I found myself missing her already.

“Hey, Ben,” David said as he jogged up next to me.

“Hey,” I said.

“How’s everything going?”

“Things are good. I had Paisley over for dinner last night.”

“How did that go?”

“It was an eventful night, that’s for sure. The power went out, so we were in the presence of candlelight for a few hours.”

“Sounds very romantic.” He smiled.

“Actually, it was. We danced, and I kissed her for the first time.”

“That’s great, man. It sounds like things are getting pretty serious with her.”

“Serious, no. It’s way too soon for anything like that. But I love spending time with her. She was a little upset last night after we kissed because she said she felt guilty, which I could relate to. We talked about it, and she felt better.”

“I heard that the support group meeting is happening tomorrow night because of the Thanksgiving holiday. Maybe you and Paisley should go and talk to some other people about the guilty feelings.”

I had to stop for a minute and take a breath. “I’ll ask Paisley if she wants to go. Thanks, man.”

“Any time.” David smiled as he patted me on the back, and we continued to run.

After I got home and took a shower, I decided to call Paisley. I wanted to tell her about the meeting tomorrow, and I wanted to hear her voice.

“Hello,” she answered.

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

“A friend of mine told me that the meeting for the support group is tomorrow night instead of Friday because of Thanksgiving. I thought maybe we could check it out together.”

“Really? You want to go back to that meeting?”

“Sure. Why not? I thought it might be interesting to hear what other people say.”

“Okay. I’ll go.”

“Great. I don’t go back to work until Tuesday. I thought maybe we could grab some dinner before the meeting.”

“Dinner sounds good. I do have to go into the office tomorrow for a meeting, but I’ll be home around four o’clock.”

“How about if I pick you up at five thirty?”

“Five thirty it is. I’ll see you tomorrow, Ben.”

I smiled as I set down my phone and looked at the sofa table that Paisley liked so much.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Paisley

I sat in the driveway of my parents’ house and stared at the front door, waiting for the herd to bust through and hammer me with a shitload of questions about last night. My phone beeped with a text message and pulled me out of my trance.

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