“But I’m not tired.” Lucas huffed as he squirmed around in his bed and used his charming caramel eyes to his advantage.
“All right, that’s enough with the eyes, Puss in Boots.” Allison tickled his belly. “I’m not fallin’ for it. It’s already ten minutes past your bedtime, so come on. Settle down. It’s time for not-sleepy boys to get sleepy.”
Sheets twisted around Lucas’s body as he rolled and kicked. “But you don’t have to go to sleep!”
“Yeah, well, that’s because I’m a grown-up. When you’re a grown-up, you can go to bed whenever you want.”
“Why can’t I stay up with you?” His bottom lip poked out far enough for Allison to see his bottom teeth. “I’ll be really quiet. Swear.”
Sighing, she pushed his lip back in with her index finger. “I’ll tell you what,” she said, climbing onto his small bed and settling in beside him. He instantly curled into her side, laying his head on her chest when she moved to put her arm around him. “How about I just hang out in here with you for a bit, just until you get sleepy, okay?”
Already the kid had been rubbing at his eyes and yawning more than once in the last hour.
He nodded against her chest. “Okay,” he mumbled, already falling asleep. She dug a hand down into the pocket of her jeans and pulled her cell phone out. Holding it up above them, she whispered, “Want to take some pictures?”
She felt him nod against her chest again.
“Okay, buddy, look up at the camera.”
He rubbed his eyes and turned his head. Allison reached down and tickled his side to get him to smile. As soon as he burst into laughter, she snapped the picture, hoping that the light streaming in from the hallway would be enough to make their faces visible.
She chuckled. “Okay, one more. Big smile.”
Pushing up off of her chest a little bit, Lucas smiled one of the biggest, cheesiest smiles that Allison had ever seen. She snapped the picture and laughed when Lucas instantly snuggled back into her side. “Gettin’ sleepy now?” she whispered.
“Mhm.” His breathing deepened and his little hand twitched as it clung to Allison’s shirt.
The snap of the shutter sounded through the room as Allison took a final picture. When she turned her phone around to look at it, her heart melted at the image. Lucas’s puffy cheek was squished against her chest, his hair a little unruly on top of his head, and his fingers were curled tightly in her shirt right at the neckline. Even with her giant, dorky smile, Allison thought it was a great picture.
She set the picture as the background wallpaper on her phone and then turned to press a kiss to the top of Lucas’s head before slipping out from under him as carefully and quietly as possible. When she pulled his hand from her shirt, Lucas let out a tiny groan but then simply smacked his lips and rolled over. She tucked him in once more before slipping out of the room.
* * *
Elena contemplated pulling a pen or two from her purse, jamming them into her ears, and bursting her own eardrums just so that she wouldn’t have to listen to her date continuously talking throughout the entire drive back to her house. The man had no filter, and he was also apparently oblivious to the innumerable amount of hints she had provided to indicate that she would prefer silence. One could only huff, scoff, disagree, or simply remain quiet so many times to get a point across.
“There she was, right there in my office, being bent over the desk by my secretary. I mean, can you believe the nerve? Well, you can just imagine how quickly I sent her packing, right?”
She merely rolled her eyes as she rubbed at her temples and stared out the window.
“So, that’s how I ended up back on the dating scene. I told myself, I said, ‘Garrett, don’t you spend a minute dwelling on her,’ and I didn’t. I jumped right back into dating, because I knew, you know? I knew that things could only get better for me once I was out of that toxic relationship. I knew there was a good woman out there who would appreciate all that I bring to the table. And then look, here you are.”
He laughed again, and she let out a heavy sigh as she tilted her head forward and pressed her forehead to the window. When was this going to end?
“And I know we had that little upset at dinner. But, of course, that was a mere misunderstanding. When we met, though, Elena, when I saw you at your door, I felt something, you know? I think there was a connection, a little spark.”
Rolling her eyes yet again, she softly banged her forehead against the window.
I wish there was a spark. I wish there were flames. I wish I could set myself on fire.
She nearly cheered when she saw Garrett turning onto her road. As soon as he pulled into the driveway, Elena reached for the door handle and was out of the car in seconds, not giving the man the opportunity to open her door for her.
Any hopes that he would just leave were dashed when Garrett met her as she came around the car to the small walkway that led to the front door. She shuddered as he placed his hand on the small of her back and led her toward the door.
“I think this could be a good thing, Elena.” She had to look away because the slight breeze outside was catching just under his toupee, pulling it up on one side. He smiled at her as he carried on. “So, that spark. Didn’t you feel it?”
“No,” she sighed as she slipped her key into the lock.
“I’m sorry?” Garrett responded. “I didn’t quite catch that.”
She exhaled a heavy breath, realizing that she was going to have to give up the subtleties, and whirled back around to face him. “No, Garrett,” she said. “I said no, I did not, have not, nor will I feel a connection.”
She turned back and opened the door, thinking that would be the end of it, but then he spoke up again. “Well sometimes it takes more than one date to really feel and build that connection,” he told her. “Perhaps you and I could—”
“No.”
* * *
Allison stood staring at the microwave, listening to her popcorn cooking, when she heard Elena’s voice echo softly into the kitchen. Frowning, she checked the clock on the wall. It had only been about twenty minutes since she put Lucas down to sleep, so that meant that Elena had most likely had another dud date. She started to make her way toward the foyer, toward Elena’s voice.
“Well sometimes it takes more than one date to really feel and build that connection,” she heard Elena’s date say. “Perhaps you and I could—”
“No.” That was Elena. It sounded like Garrett wasn’t too keen on letting Elena go. It made all the alarms in her head go off and she raced to the foyer.
“You never know until you try. Maybe a second date would—”
“I am sorry to be so blunt,” Elena said, cutting him off again, “but it is apparently the only way I can get you to hear me. I feel no connection, and if I am being perfectly honest, Garrett, this date was little more than sad. I truly do not wish to see you again for a second date.”
“Are you sure?” Garrett asked just as Allison appeared behind Elena in the doorway.
Glaring at the man over Elena’s shoulder, she calmly asked, “Is there a problem here?”
The sound of her voice caused Elena to jump, but when Allison placed a comforting hand on her back, she unconsciously leaned into it.
“No, Allison, there is no problem. I was just saying goodnight to Garrett.”
Garrett narrowed his eyes at Allison but then turned his focus back to Elena. “Well, okay then,” he sighed. “I can respect that you didn’t feel the same way about our date. Still, I’m glad to have met you Elena, and I suppose I should thank you for your candor.”
Elena nodded and offered him a strained smile. “Thank you for dinner. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.” But before Elena and Allison could retreat into the house, Garrett whirled back around with a hand on his stomach. “Uh, sorry, just one more thing. I hate to be a bother, but do you think I could use your restroom? I think those Cajun spices are going to be a problem after all.”
Lip curling in disgust, Elena opened her mouth to respond, but Allison beat her to it. “No way,” she answered, moving out onto the porch. “You can hold it until you get home, or you can stop at a restaurant or something.”
Allison wasn’t an idiot. She knew when to draw a line, and she had been in enough dodgy situations to know how fucked up people could be. She wasn’t about to let some stranger into Elena’s house. It wasn’t that she thought Garrett was much of a threat. The guy mostly just seemed awkward and a little desperate, but she wasn’t about to take any chances.
“He has IBS,” Elena whispered.
“He’s got what?” Allison asked, not even bothering to lower her voice.
Sweat started to bead along Garrett’s forehead, and his cheeks were red in the glow of the porch light. “I have IBS.”
Allison frowned. “The hell is that?”
“Irritable bowel syndrome,” Elena supplied as she hovered just behind Allison.
Crossing her arms over her chest, Allison shook her head. “Sorry but I don’t really care if your bowels are irritated, dude. You’re not coming in this house. We don’t know you and we’ve got a baby inside.”
Elena gently placed a hand on Allison’s shoulder. “Relax, Allison.”
It wasn’t enough to shake Allison, and she only continued to stare Garrett down. “Go on, man. Get out of here.”
Green eyes remained glued to Garrett even as he turned and practically waddled back to his car. Allison didn’t move a muscle, watching until his car was out of sight. When she turned back around, her eyes met Elena’s, and the two women stood on the porch for a long moment.
“Thank you,” Elena said. “But you didn’t have to do that. I can certainly protect myself.”
“I know. But you’re also nice enough to let that guy in, and I was kind of afraid you would.”
Elena smiled softly at her. “You are right. I may have let him in to use the restroom.”
“See, don’t do shit like that. Do you realize how dangerous that is? People are screwed up. They’ll give you some crap excuse to get inside, and then you…Elena, you could get hurt. Lucas could get hurt, okay?”
The slight tremble in Allison’s voice made Elena frown. She reached out again and squeezed her shoulder. “Allison,” she whispered. “Stop worrying. Do you honestly think he would have hurt me?”
“No,” she admitted. “I really do think the guy was just about to shit his pants.”
Elena laughed quietly. “I agree. You see, I am a good judge of character as well, dear.” She then poked Allison’s arm. “I let you in, didn’t I?”
“Oh, well, yeah. You’re totally an awesome judge of character.”
Pleased to see her smiling again, Elena led them inside, sniffing the air as they entered. “Popcorn again?” She dropped her purse onto the small table in the foyer before making her way toward the kitchen.
“Oh snaps! My popcorn!” Allison shot around Elena and into the kitchen, yanking the puffy paper bag from the microwave and dumping its contents into a giant bowl. She then grabbed a couple bags of Reese’s Pieces and dumped them in as well. She gently shook and bounced the bowl until the candies disappeared into the popcorn and smiled as she turned around and held it out toward Elena.
Elena wrinkled her nose and shook her head. “No thank you.”
“One of these days,” Allison said. “One of these days, you will try it and then the heavens will open up and angels will sing and you will be like, ‘I should’ve listened to Allison sooner!’”
“Well, if that day ever arrives, you are more than welcome to your ‘I told you so’. For now, though, I shall stick to my theory that it is as disgusting as I imagine it to be.”
“Suit yourself.” Allison dug a hand into her popcorn. Before she put any in her mouth, though, she looked back up at Elena and said, “If you want me to go, I can just put this in like a billion Ziploc bags and take it with me. No big deal. Unless you would rather change into your jammies, plop down on the couch, and rant to me about your undoubtedly lame date with crap-your-pants guy?”
Elena’s lips parted with a wide grin.
“That option is totally on the table, too. Just sayin’. You look like you wanna bitch about him, and I’m a good listener.”
Her smile never wavered as she sighed and said, “Very well, but I am most definitely going to need a glass of wine for this one.”
* * *
“Ew, seriously? He did not say that at dinner!” Allison gasped when Elena informed her of Garrett’s IBS confession.
“Oh yes, he certainly did,” Elena told her, shaking her head. “I was utterly mortified, of course, as was the waitress; poor girl.”
“I’m mortified and I wasn’t even there.” Allison shoved some more popcorn into her mouth as she relaxed into the arm of the couch opposite Elena.
“Honestly, who does that? At dinner, no less, and also while attempting to woo a woman!”
“Apparently Garrett does that,” Allison said, shaking her head. “Poor dude. No one ever taught him proper date etiquette.”
“And what do you consider to be proper date etiquette?”
“I consider not talking about the high probability of shitting your pants to be proper date etiquette. Also, one should either bring their real hair with them or no hair at all.”
Wine burned in Elena’s nose as she coughed and laughed at the same time. Allison burst into loud laughter and leaned across the couch to whack Elena on the back a few times. “Sorry, didn’t mean to nearly kill you.”
“I am so glad I wasn’t the only one to notice that awful toupee.”
“Notice! What do you mean notice? I didn’t notice the toupee; it noticed me. The damned thing was flapping around in the breeze and waving at us, Elena! He apparently forgot to extract the animal before he pasted its hide to his head, because I’m pretty sure that thing was still alive.”
Elena laughed so hard that tears streamed down her cheeks. She waved her hand for Allison to stop.
“What? Don’t pee your pants from laughter, Elena, because then you’ll have to admit that you and Garrett are a perfect match for each other.”
Elena attempted a glare but it was a hopeless pose while still laughing. Allison merely smirked.
“Seriously, though,” she said once Elena regained her composure. “That dude should come with a warning label attached to his forehead or something.”
She pointed her index finger at her own forehead and mimicked writing the words she then recited in a robotic voice. “Warning: Avoid Strong Winds and Spicy Foods. Subject is likely to lose hair and shit pants.”
Elena dissolved into laughter once more until the best kind of ache throbbed in her ribcage. She hadn’t laughed this much in such a long time; in fact, she didn’t think anyone had ever made her laugh like that.
The decision to have Allison stay had been surprisingly easy. Elena had always been such a solitary person, but she liked having Allison around. Maybe it was because they were so different. Maybe it was because Allison embodied everything Elena had never been—easy-going, fluid, carefree.
It intrigued Elena even as it confounded her. She was ever impressed by the younger woman’s confidence. Elena herself was an extremely confident woman, but Allison’s confidence was different. It was present in everything—the way she carried herself, the way she laughed with abandon, and the way she interacted with her.
Elena was drawn to it and she didn’t have a clue why. She entertained the thought that it was because there was a part of her that had always wished she could be more like Allison—younger at heart, wilder.
Allison Sawyer was like a cheesy comedy movie—an instant way to cheer oneself up after a bad night.
A happy sigh left Elena’s lips as she tucked her feet under her and rested her head against the back of the couch. “He was quite short as well, wasn’t he?”
Allison nodded as she finished up her popcorn and sat the bowl on the table beside her. “Totally. I bet you were regretting your heels as soon as you opened the door.”
“I think Vivian must not have actually met the man prior to setting me up with him.”
“I think Vivian must have been drunk or something when she set you up with that guy. You sure you wanna trust her to set you up on a third?”
She shook her head. “I know. I must be losing my mind.”
“Eh, maybe this guy will be the worst of ‘em, yeah?”
“I certainly hope so.”
* * *
About an hour later, after Allison finished cleaning her dishes and tidying up, Elena walked her to the door. Once Allison was out of sight, she retreated back into the house and walked down the hall toward Lucas’s room. Once she made sure he was still sound asleep, she retired to her own room, dropped onto her bed and pulled a small bottle of lotion from her bedside table.
As she lathered the lotion over her feet and hands, her phone beeped on her dresser. It must be Vivian asking about the date, she thought. Elena hopped off the bed and went to grab the phone; she had quite a few words for her best friend.
But when she swiped her finger across her lock screen, a notification box popped up and informed her that she had one new text message from Allison Sawyer.
Elena’s brow arched but she quickly pressed to open the text. A soft chuckle escaped her as she saw that it was a photo of Allison and Lucas. Her son’s face was tucked into Allison’s chest and it was obvious that he was laughing. Allison was smiling brightly as well.
Elena smiled and pressed to save the picture into her phone’s photo gallery. She felt that smile still painted across her lips even as she crawled back into bed and even when her eyes fluttered closed and her breathing grew deep.
