Page 37 of Situationship
A skill that was not in his ex’s wheelhouse. Leaving Maddie’s heart shattered.
Ethan let out a long breath. “I don’t know, bro. Maybe she’s right.”
“Are you suggesting I should have said yes?” Colin asked. “With makeup and a push-up bra, Maddie could pass for twenty-five.”
“Fuck no. You can quote me on that.” Ethan went quiet, a clue that he was turning something over in his mind.
“Just say it.”
“Kim thinks the girls have been sneaking out for a while. Going to the mall, hanging at the beach, cutting cheer practice.”
“What?” Colin sat up. “No way. Maddie might have tried to sneak out to go to that party, but she promised me it was a first-time thing. Plus, I’d know if she skipped practice.”
“Did you know about the guy on Tinder?”
“This is your fault.”
“My fault?” Ethan argued. “You’re the genius who let Maddie get her license. Kim and I are making Shay wait until graduation. It will eliminate unchaperoned trips to the mall that result in the getup my kid wore to school yesterday. Oh, and before you go laughing your ass off, Maddie’s was worse.”
Colin went stock still. “Describe worse.”
“She’s my niece, I can’t.” Ethan closed his eyes as if trying to scrub the image from his database. “Just go through her closet.”
“I wouldn’t have to if you hadn’t convinced me to put Maddie in kindergarten at four. She’s a winter baby. I should have waited until she was five, but you went on and on about how the girls would do better together.”
“And they have,” Ethan said. “But we can’t be with them twenty-four/seven.”
“You’re just saying this shit because Kim has control of your nuts,” Colin said. “And Shay will be what? Almost nineteen when she goes off to college? Maddie won’t even be eighteen.”
“Which is why I’ve come up with a plan, since I know how you like your plans.” Ethan sat forward, looking as if he were about to sell Colin on some multilevel marketing business. “GPS tracker.”
“On the girls?”
“No, on your car so we can see where they’re going.”
“That ‘we’ sounds suspiciously like a ‘me,’ which means I get to be the bad guy. No way. Equal risk for equal reward.”
“Well, tracing their phones doesn’t work when they can hack them to say they’re one place when they’re someplace else. Like the mall.” Ethan sat back, arms crossed over his chest, as if he was having a temper tantrum. “If you don’t like it, then come up with a better idea, because I don’t want to hear you crying when we discover our girls have a better dating life than you, Grandpa.”
“Maddie isn’t dating right now. And you’re the grandpa.”
“Are you getting laid on the regular?”
“No.” Last year, he’d started seeing a single mom in town, who was looking for the same thing as Colin, a little fun. They’d met up a couple of times. The first time, they met at her place when her kids were at their dad’s. She’d made it clear that this was a benefits-only situation. Which had been a-okay with him.
No promises, no drama, and absolutely no strings or expectations beyond the night. He’d never stayed over, always keeping it casual. The plan had been working until a couple months back, when she’d admitted she was looking for more than benefits and they’d parted ways.
Again, he was fine with that.
The whole situation made him gun-shy about women. A name flickered in his head, but he quickly banished it. Blamed it on nostalgia and the need to get laid.
“Then you’re a grandpa.” Ethan chuckled, like he was soooo funny. “You know, Amanda would be laughing her ass off if she heard that you’re not getting any. Hell, when was the last time you even talked to a woman who wasn’t asking you to castrate her poor dog?”
“It hasn’t been that long, and who says I’m not dating? In fact, I saw Teagan three times this week.”
“Wow, Teagan.” Ethan studied him long and hard. “Define ‘saw.’”
How did he describe what had transpired? They’d flirted, the air had crackled, he’d checked out her ass, and she’d worn his sweatshirt home. And all of that happened without a single touch.
