Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
SUTTON
“ H oney, I need deets.”
Jameson swats my thigh as he sits down at the small cafeteria table for our lunch break.
“What deets?”
“Deets about the man that is making you smile so big.”
I fight the smile as I stick a fork into my salad. It’s hard not to when I think of Derek.
“I’m not smiling.”
Jameson rolls his eyes and he dunks a carrot into a ranch cup. “Puh-lease. You look how I looked when Gunnar?—”
I hold a hand up, stopping his train of thought. “Babe, I don’t need to know how good the orgasms are. Especially when I’m not getting any.”
Jameson gasps. “You’re this happy and he didn’t make you come? You’ve got it bad.”
I drop my fork, covering my face. “Ugh, J. I don’t want to feel these things.”
“Why not?” He leans back in his seat, eyeing me with one of his looks. One that says he’ll get the truth out of me whether I want to share it or not.
“Because what if I get hurt?” I give voice to my biggest fear. “I’m so tired of putting myself out there and then it not working out.”
Sure, I don’t have much experience with men. Right after my divorce, I tried the dating apps. One too many ghosts later, I deleted them all from my phone.
Having a then four-year-old didn’t make me the most desirable person. And if they can’t handle me having a kid, they don’t deserve me.
“Isn’t that always the case? I don’t go into all of my dates thinking the worst.”
I snort a laugh.
“Hey.” Jameson swats at me. “No need to laugh at me.”
“I can’t go into every date thinking every guy is Prince Charming and going to sweep me off my feet.”
A wistful look washes over Jameson’s face. “Then why put yourself out there? It’s scary. But if I went into every date thinking it won’t work, I wouldn’t have any fun. Or meet Mr. Right.”
“So is Gunnar Mr. Right then?” I do air quotes around Mr. Right. I’ve heard it enough times that I never know if I can believe it. Scraped him off the floor after he’s been dumped one too many times to not be wary of this new guy.
“Maybe. I don’t know yet. A few good orgasms does not a future make.”
“Ugh, I miss good orgasms,” I mutter.
“Then take a chance!” Jameson swats at me. “I want to hear about this guy that has twisted my girl all up inside. From one glance, all I know is he is tall, dark, and handsome. And if he played for my team, you know I’d be climbing him like a tree.”
I took a sip of water at the wrong time, choking it down at his words.
“Jameson!” I grab a napkin to mop up the water I half spit out .
“What? Give me deets. I’m not going to quit asking until you tell me.”
“You’re like a dog with a bone.” I laugh.
Weighing how much I want to tell him, I give him a little bit of news. Because I don’t want to tell him everything and then this thing turn out to be nothing.
“Fine. His name is Derek Hollins.”
“Okay, Derek Hollins. What does he do?”
“He’s a high school football coach.”
“And has a son,” Jameson confirms.
“Yes. Troy. He’s a bit younger than Lydia.”
“I bet that makes him more appealing to you,” Jameson tells me.
“Why would that make him more appealing?” I pop a cracker into my mouth and lean back in the creaky, plastic chair.
“Because he knows what your life is like. If you have to cancel plans at the drop of the hat, then he’ll understand.”
“I only hung out with him twice.”
“Plans for another date?”
“Saturday night.”
A wicked smile spreads across my best friend’s face.
“Need any tips? I can help you there.”
“Jameson, I can’t with you sometimes.”
He blows me a kiss, his dark hair flopping down into his eyes. “You love me, sweetheart.”
“I don’t know why.”
The rest of my shift goes by without incident. These are the days I don’t mind having at work. The easy ones that don’t weigh heavily on my mind.
Sometimes, working with children and having my own isn’t the easiest thing in the world. But I love what I do too much to give it up.
Stuffing my stethoscope into my scrubs pocket, I drop the chart of my last patient into the appropriate slot. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Linda.”
“Have a nice night,” she calls after me.
The break room is blissfully quiet as I push open the door, grab my phone from my locker, and collapse onto the couch. Even though I’m used to being on my feet for a twelve-hour shift, I need a minute before changing and heading home.
Opening the text messages, a smile lights up my face at what’s waiting for me.
Derek
I’m looking forward to Saturday
I fire off a text back to him.
Sutton
It’s still four days away
His response is immediate.
Still. I wish I could see you sooner
Me too
Troy is asking me when he can have a playdate with Lydia again
Maybe after our second date. I want you all to myself
You do, hmm?
You know I do
I drop my phone onto my chest and hide my squeal in my hands. I feel like a teenager again, texting with Derek like this. Confessing how much I really want to see him.
God, I wish we didn’t have to wait so long
Me either
Is it too much to say I’ll be thinking of you every day until then?
Butterflies explode in my stomach. Happy, fluttery butterflies. Ones that I haven’t felt in a long time. Ones that I hope to keep feeling because of Derek Hollins.
No. Because I’ve been thinking about you since our last date…
Me too, Sutton. Me too
“Sutton!” Jameson comes barging into the break room, a look of pure panic on his face.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” I spring off the couch, dread settling into my stomach. The butterflies take flight. “Is Lydia okay?”
So much for the warm, happy feeling.
“You cannot date Derek.”
Out of all the things I expected my best friend to say, that was not it.
“I’m sorry, what? What are you talking about? Lydia is okay?”
Jameson waves me off. “Why wouldn’t she be okay?”
“You come in here like your ass is on fire and it freaked me out!” My voice is louder than necessary, but he deserves it for jacking up my heart rate when it didn’t need to be.
“Well, I have information on your new man. You cannot date him.”
“What information?”
Jameson holds up a finger before pulling out his phone and tapping away. I try not to let my impatience get to me, but it’s hard not to.
“Would you hurry up? I have to get home to Lydia.”
He peeks one brown eye up at me before going back to his phone. Jameson thrusts it at me. With an angry huff, I grab it. When he’s in his balloon animal scrubs, it’s hard to take him seriously.
Instead, I shift my attention back to an article that is pulled up on his phone.
“What is this?”
“Read it,” Jameson instructs me.
An ugly altercation between Hollins and Young: What really happened?
By Chase Hall
Everyone at the game on Sunday saw what happened. Vegas has always been a dirty team, but today, they took it to the next level. Denver Mountain Lions quarterback, Alex Young, known for his calm, cool demeanor on the field, got into a fight with the Vegas safety.
So what exactly caused the two of them to finally come to blows?
Derek Hollins has always been a dirty player. Cheap shots. Ugly words.
A hit he leveled against Mountain Lions wide receiver Colin James took him out of the game with a concussion for six weeks last season.
With Alex Young not being punished for his role in the fight, you have to wonder, what exactly happened for Derek Hollins to be suspended?
This reporter has a firsthand account from those on the sidelines that recalled what happened.
“He used the f-word,” one fan told me.
“Why are you showing me this?” I shove his phone back at him, trying to ignore what I just read.
“Because he’s not a good person, Sutton.”
“You don’t know him.”
“And you do?” Jameson spits out. “Because that f-word he used? It describes me.”
I wince, turning my back to him. There’s no way the man I met could be capable of using that word. He couldn’t.
Except…like I told Jameson at lunch, I’ve only hung out with him twice. But this is the man who played with both our kids. Who cuddled his son when he was scared in the hospital. Who brought me a picture Troy drew for me when he didn’t have to.
“Jameson…that’s not him. It can’t be.”
“Do you really know him, Sutton?”
“Do you?” I fire back, turning back to face him. “Because you’re judging him based on an article that is what…when was that written?”
An annoyed look washes over his face as he pulls the article back up. “Five years ago. ”
“And you’re telling me you’re the same person you were five years ago?”
“I might have changed…”
“From what you told me, you weren’t out of the closet to your family back then.”
“No.” A pout now graces his pillowy lips. “I wasn’t.”
“So if you’ve changed since then, what makes you think he hasn’t?”
“I…”
I hold up a hand. “Look, Jameson. Before you go casting judgments, meet him. If you think there’s an ounce of that man inside of him from five years ago, I will cut him off without a second thought. But please, meet him?”
“Do I have to?”
“For me.”
Jameson rolls his eyes at me. “Ugh. Fine. Only because I love you.”
I wish his words calmed me more, but they don’t.
Because what if Derek hasn’t changed? What if he puts on a good image when you first get to know him and then he turns out to be a massive dick?
Wouldn’t be the first time it happened to me.
I fire off a text without thinking.
We need to meet. Now.