Chapter 8

Eight

Gemma

M ondays are my favorite night of the week.

It’s Bachelor night, which means me, Grace, and our bestie, Charley, all go to Georgia’s house for wine and copious amounts of snacks while we all watch the show. We’ve done this for years now, and it never gets old. Mine and Grace’s kids get to play together in the backyard for a couple of hours as the four of us get in some quality girl time.

“Have you told Charley and Georgia about your hottie neighbor yet?” Grace asks, a smirk tugging on her lips as I glower at her from across the living room.

Popping a cheese cube in my mouth, I say, “No, because there’s nothing to tell.”

She snorts. “Oh, I beg to differ.”

“Do tell,” Georgia drawls, bringing her glass up to her lips and taking a sip of her wine .

“Somebody moved into the house next door, and he happens to be kind of attractive.” I shrug. “It’s no big deal.”

“Rosie’s house?” Charley asks.

“That’s the one.”

She grins. “Oh, I met him. When he got into town, he stayed at the inn for a couple days until he got the keys.” Looking to Grace, Charley says, “He is really cute.”

“See!” Grace’s eyes widen with amusement as she looks over at our sister. “He’s really cute and he was flirting with Gemma.”

“He was not.”

“Oh, yes, he was,” she argues, pouring herself another glass of wine. “I told her that she should have a little fun with him.”

“I mean, it wouldn’t be a terrible idea,” Georgia chimes in. “I’d say you were due for some dick, Gem.”

“Have you…” Charley glances at all of us before landing on me, her voice quieter. “Have you been with anybody since…?”

I wince, my cheeks heating as I shake my head. “No, I haven’t.”

Dylan died when Sutton was a toddler. He was a trucker and was killed in an accident when he was away from home for work. We met when we were kids, started dating in middle school, and got married right out of high school. Losing him was hard, especially since he was all I had ever known. It was an adjustment, learning to live by myself—with our child—and be independent, when for so much of my life, I leaned on him for everything.

“Honey, it’s time you get back out there,” Georgia murmurs, and I know she’s not judging me. None of them judge me.

“I have way too much on my plate right now, and with Sutton… I can’t.”

For several years after Dylan’s passing, I couldn’t even think about dating or moving on. It hurt too much. But as time has gone by, it’s become less about the hurt and more about just not wanting to go there. As a single mom, I have my son to think about. The idea of meeting somebody, introducing him to Sutton, only to have us break up guts me because I know Sutton would probably get attached.

I can’t do that to him. He doesn’t deserve that, not when he already feels like the odd one out amongst his friends because he doesn’t have a dad in his life. When I look at the big picture, and what it could mean for Sutton, the idea of dating ends up feeling selfish, and not at all worth it. Hence why I’ve chosen to be alone all these years.

“Gem, nobody is suggesting you dive into some serious relationship,” Grace chimes in softly. “But you deserve to have some fun every now and again.”

“I have fun,” I argue, knowing it’s weak.

Grace looks at me deadpan. “Oh, yeah? When?”

“ Bachelor nights with you guys are fun.”

Georgia snorts out a laugh. “Not what we meant. You need to get you some naked, sweaty, roll-around-in-the-sheets type of fun. The type that has your toes curling and your eyes rolling back.”

“Easy for you to say,” I mumble before taking a very large drink of my wine. Georgia is the most cynical one out of all of us. She doesn’t date, doesn’t do relationships or feelings, but she does do casual, meaningless sex. And to be honest, I kind of look up to her for it. She has no problem taking exactly what she wants and not feeling sorry about it. Having fun is easy for her because she has the experience.

But me? Dylan is the only man I have ever been with, and the last time we were together was over six years ago. To say the idea of putting myself out there is daunting would be a massive understatement.

“You can’t be alone for the rest of your life, Gem,” Georgia says. “You’re young and hot and deserve to have some fun. It doesn’t have to be something that turns into anything serious. It could just be no-strings fun.”

“But what if I can’t do no-strings fun? The only man I’ve ever been with was the man I ended up marrying. I think it’s safe to say there were definitely strings there.” I can’t help but laugh at myself.

Shrugging, Georgia offers, “You never know until you try, sis. And if this neighbor is as hot as they say he is, and he flirts with you, meaning he’s probably interested, what better opportunity?”

With an eye roll, I pin Grace with a look. “One thing our dear sister forgot to mention when she brought him up is that he isn’t just my new neighbor.” Glancing at Georgia, I mutter, “He’s also Sutton’s new teacher.”

“Oh, shit.” Georgia chuckles. “Yeah, that may make things a bit more complicated, but also, hot.”

Ignoring the last bit, I say, “You think? I can’t fall into bed with my son’s new teacher, strings or not.”

“Oh, come on,” Grace grumbles. “Live a little, Gem! What if he’s your soul mate? What if you guys fall madly in love?”

My eyes widen as I choke on the wine I just took in, a stream of it dribbling down my chin. Leave it to Grace to get all fairy tale on me.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Georgia nearly chokes on her wine. “Slow down, Grace. You’re not helping my case here. I’m suggesting some no-strings fun to get herself back on the horse.”

“That’s what she said,” Charley cuts in, snickering at her own joke, and I can’t help but laugh too.

“And you’re over here telling her to jump off the deep end. That’s not what she needs.”

Grace rolls her eyes. “There’s nothing wrong with a little love.”

“I’m not disagreeing with you,” Georgia mutters. “I’m just saying, that shouldn’t be the goal for her right now. That’s way too overwhelming.”

I hold up a hand. “You both can save your breath because I’m not having no-strings fun or falling in love with my next-door neighbor slash child’s teacher. Neither will be happening. Ever.”

Huffing out a breath, Grace mumbles, “We’ll see about that.”

“Can we just get back to watching The Bachelor , please? We’ve already missed half the damn episode.”

With the exception of the kids coming in to tattle on one another a few times, we’re actually able to focus on the rest of the episode without any more talk about my love life, or lack thereof, thankfully. If I’m being honest with myself, I can see where Georgia is coming from, and there is a large part of myself that has considered doing exactly what she’s suggesting.

But it’s so foreign and scary. I wouldn’t even know where to begin, and it certainly couldn’t be with my son’s teacher… no matter how appealing the idea is. That’s just asking for a disaster. No matter how hot he is, or how nice he is, or how much it warmed my heart watching him sit and listen to Sutton go through every single baseball card that he owned the other day after dinner.

Especially the last one.

Being around Everett is warm and comfortable, but at the same time, I get little belly flutters I haven’t felt in years. The juxtaposition is equally exhilarating and scary. It reminds me of how it felt when I was much, much younger and learning to date for the first time.

When I finally do put myself back out there and try my hand at dating—or no-strings fun like Georgia suggested—it has to be with somebody who isn’t in my child’s life. I can’t risk that.

After our show ends, we all work together to clean up the food and the wineglasses from the table. It’s getting late, I’m going to have to get home soon, and hopefully get a little work done before bed. I don’t know if it’s just because summer is coming to an end and I have a lot on my mind, with needing to make sure Sutton has everything he needs for the start of school, but my concentration has been garbage lately.

“Sutton!” I call out into the yard. “Come on, time to go.”

Grace comes up beside me, calling her kids inside too. “Oh hey,” she murmurs, meeting my gaze. “I’m taking Beau to get his baseball equipment on Wednesday morning. Want me to take Sutton too? ”

“Sure, that’d be awesome. Then I can get some work done. You sure that’s okay?”

“Of course it is.”

“Thanks. I’ll send you some money for the gear.”

As I pull into my driveway ten minutes later, my eyes can’t help but flit over to the house beside mine, wondering what he’s doing in there. Wondering how Everett spends his free time. Does he read? Is he a reality TV watcher? Does he wear pajamas to bed or is he a sleep-in-his-boxers type of guy? Or even better… a sleep-in-the-nude type of man.

Why is that thought so fucking hot?

Probably because Everett is fucking hot.

Lord help me. It’s going to be a loooong school year.