22. Sean
TWENTY-TWO
SEAN
“So why didn’t you go for it?” Aaron asked as he slouched on the couch, his feet kicked up on the coffee table beside the empty platter of veggies and dip Lizzie had brought us.
I blinked away from the TV. “Go for what?”
“The art teacher. Sounds like she would’ve been wild in the sack.”
I scoffed and shook my head. “Trust me, it would’ve been a bad idea.”
Aaron grinned and lifted a shoulder in a casual shrug. “Lizzie has an eye for these things. You might’ve hit it off if you gave it a chance. And what about the first chick?”
“Why is everyone so obsessed with setting me up with someone?”
Aaron lifted his palms. “Not obsessed. Just trying to help you out.”
“I don’t need help meeting women.”
“Evidence suggests otherwise.”
I huffed a laugh and kicked my own feet up onto the coffee table. I’d wanted to linger in the kitchen with Lizzie, but I felt awkward about doing it in Aaron’s house. I was so painfully attracted to her, but he was my best friend. He was the whole reason I’d moved to this town, along with my aunts. It was for weekends like this, where we could hang out and Mikey could know what it was like to grow up with a community around him.
Could I really blow that up for a woman? For Lizzie?
Last time I’d taken a chance on a woman, she cheated on me during the one time of year I needed her most.
“You still hung up on Melody?”
I glanced over at my best friend. “What?”
“Is that why you keep brushing off these dates?”
“No. No, definitely not.”
“Good. Wasn’t right, what she did to you. Especially knowing what you’ve been through around this time of year.”
A familiar ache throbbed in my chest. I rubbed the spot and nodded. “I’m over it,” I said, but I wasn’t quite sure it was the truth.
“Maybe we forget about the whole New Year’s kiss thing and just get through the holidays. Then Lizzie can come up with some better prospects for you. You can get on the apps, see if anyone’s out there. It’s about time you found someone.”
“Lizzie doesn’t need to do anything for me,” I replied a little too hotly. “She’s done plenty.”
Aaron hummed, eyes tracking the play on the screen. “Yeah.”
“Besides, she’s been divorced longer than I have, and I don’t hear anyone talking about how it’s time for her to start dating again.”
Aaron’s brows drew low over his eyes, but he didn’t take his eyes off the screen. “What do you mean?”
“Why isn’t anyone trying to set her up with a new guy?”
Aaron frowned harder and finally looked at me. “Who? My sister?”
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“My sister doesn’t want to date anyone.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yes,” Aaron replied emphatically. “She’s fine. She’s happy. She’s got the kids and the job and everything.”
“I’ve got a kid and a job and everything.”
“What are you trying to say?”
It was my turn to put my palms up. “I’m not saying anything. Just asking the question. She’s not dating anyone, is she?”
Aaron turned back to the TV. “Not that I’m aware.”
I glanced at the opening that led to the hallway and the kitchen, listening for footsteps. When I heard none, I asked, “What was up with her ex?”
“Whose ex?”
“Your sister’s.”
“Lizzie?”
“You got another sister I don’t know about?”
Aaron snorted, then shrugged. “I think they just grew apart. That’s what Lizzie said.”
“She told me he was flirting with one of his coworkers.”
Aaron glanced over. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“Huh.”
“She never mentioned that?”
Aaron lifted a shoulder and let it fall. “Actually…yeah. He was talking with someone, or something? Some messages? I don’t think he ever cheated on her. She just said it didn’t work out and that she wanted to focus on the kids. He started dating someone new pretty quick, I think. So maybe there’s something to it. Mom mentioned something about it, but I don’t know.”
“That doesn’t bother you?”
“What?”
“That your sister’s ex was basically having an affair.”
“What’s it got to do with me? It was years ago, man. And why do you care? Are you into my sister, or something?”
“What?” I shifted on the couch and adjusted a throw pillow. “No. I’m just asking. While we’re talking about dating after divorce and all.”
Aaron shook his head and chuckled. “Don’t worry about Lizzie. She’s happy. She always wanted to be a mom. The divorce sucked, but she pulled herself together and now she’s good.”
I wasn’t so sure about that. I thought of her frozen smile when Aaron had called her in. The devastated look on her face when she realized no one had saved her any stuffing.
I’d meant to stay and help her, to soak up some of that sunshine she exuded, but Aaron had called me back. His voice had been a jet of ice water to the face, a stark reminder of what was at risk if I got involved with Lizzie.
He thought she was happy in her life, but I saw something different. I saw a woman who toiled without a break, who was taken for granted. A woman whose smallest desires were ignored and overlooked.
She deserved a man who saw how bright she shone despite it all. She deserved someone to tell her she was beautiful. She deserved to be held and cherished and wanted.
And I wanted to be the man to do that for her. Every time I got near her, I ached to run my hands down her curves, to feel how she’d fit against me, to get those dimples of hers to make an appearance when she graced me with a smile.
But what if it was just some temporary attraction? What if it was all this talk of matchmaking, and I ruined my friendship with Aaron? What if I acted on my desires, and it blew up in my face, just like things had with Melody?
My ex had been beautiful and vibrant and magnetic, just like Lizzie. Sure, her efforts had gone into career progression instead of childrearing. She was driven and ambitious. I’d been drawn in by her, just like Lizzie drew me in with her witchy smiles and teasing remarks.
I’d misjudged my ex so badly. I’d put my heart on the line and built a life with her, only to have it thrown back in my face.
Lizzie wasn’t my ex. She was special—one of a kind. I was like some kind of rare jewel collector coveting her from afar, but I knew, deep down, that she couldn’t be mine. I just couldn’t risk the fallout if things didn’t work out between us.
But I wanted her. I wanted her so much I could hardly focus on anything other than the sound of her voice in the other room.
When the game was over, I found myself drawn to the family room. Lizzie lay on the couch while the kids played with LEGOs on the floor, reading something on her phone. She had one knee bent and the other straight, her hip cocked up at an angle and wedged against the back of the couch. She looked relaxed and beautiful, and if she were mine, I would lift her legs and lay them across my lap so I could sit there and touch her. I’d tangle my fingers with hers and bring them to my lips to feel the silkiness of her skin against my mouth.
She glanced away from her phone and arched her brows at me. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah,” I said, but it sounded like a lie. I cleared my throat. “Mikey, you ready to go?”
“Ten more minutes,” Mikey protested. “We’re almost done with the spaceship.” He pointed to the blocks between him, Zach, and Levi.
“All right,” I said. “Ten minutes.”
Mikey grinned and bent his head over the toys. My gaze was drawn to Lizzie, who gave me a wry smile. “You big softie,” she teased quietly.
I took a seat on the end of the couch as she bent her legs and sat up, her hair mussed, clothes wrinkled, looking perfect.
And I knew I couldn’t have her.
“I think we need to reassess our strategy here,” Lizzie said after a few minutes of comfortable silence.
“Oh?”
“You free this week? I have some questions for you that I think will help me narrow down some better prospects. If you’re free one lunchtime, we could grab a bite and get to the bottom of this. Third time’s a charm.”
Lunch with the woman I should’ve been keeping my distance from. What could go wrong?
I shrugged. “Sure.”
Lizzie grinned, then got up off the couch and gathered her kids and her things. I watched her for a few moments, then let out a long sigh and called Mikey’s name.
It was just lunch. An opportunity for her to set me up with yet another woman who couldn’t hold a candle to her. It wasn’t a date.
So why was I already looking forward to it?