Second Chance for Romance полностью

Downstairs, Christy turned on the water.

“Ugh! Like finding those damn loose pipes and strapping them down!”

“Huh?”

“That knocking sound,” I explained. “Every time someone turns the water on or off.”

“I hardly even notice anymore.”

“Well I do. And I’ll bet Trip does too. Stuff like that bothers us.”

“What’s this have to do with you being a jerk to Christy?”

“Nothing,” I said. “It’s just one more thing on the list of things I can’t fix until I have some time… which I’m not going to get if I keep talking to you about my love life.” I flung myself into the easy chair and sulked.

“If you’d just give in to the inevitable,” Wren said with exaggerated sweetness, “then you’d have plenty of time.”

“Yeah, well…,” I said. “On that count, your nefarious plan is starting to work.” I waved at the door. “Might as well close that. I have a feeling this is going to get serious.”

She locked it for good measure. Then she sank into the other chair and crossed her legs. “It isn’t nefarious. My plan.”

“It is to me.” My lips twisted into a grimace. “Okay, maybe it isn’t,” I admitted. “But it really galls me to let you win.”

“You haven’t ‘let’ me do anything,” she muttered.

“And you know why? Because I don’t like you meddling with my life.

It’s my life, Wren. Not some recipe or pet project. It’s real people with real feelings.”

She deftly skewered my outrage. “Like Christy?”

“Yeah.” I fell back in the chair. “Like Christy.”

“Whose feelings you hurt?”

“Whose feelings I hurt,” I agreed.

“Why do you get so upset at her?” Wren asked in a much softer voice.

“You know church makes her happy.”

“The part that bugs me is where she feels guilty when she hasn’t done anything. Worse, it makes me feel like I’ve done something wrong. It’s like she’s saying, ‘You did this to me! It’s your fault!’”

“That isn’t what she means.”

“I know. But that’s how I feel.”

She nodded. “She really likes you, you know.”

“Yeah. I do. And I really like her.”

“I know.”

“Is it that obvious?”

“Maybe not to everyone, but it is to me.”

“Does she know?”

“Uh-huh. That’s why it hurts her when you…”

“Behave like a complete and total jerk?”

“More or less.”

“How d’you think it makes me feel? I have to live with myself.”

“Why don’t you just tell her how you feel?”

“Honestly? Till now it was because I didn’t want to admit it, even to myself.” I snorted a laugh. “You know that phone call last night? From the

‘friend’ in California?”

“What about it?”

“It really was a friend. Not Gina.”

“Then who?”

“You remember Sara and Daphne?”

“The strippers? Of course.”

I glared at her contempt. “Seriously? You too? You’re a swinger, for Christ’s sake! What moral high horse are you on?”

“Sorry! I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Then how did you mean it? Think about it, Wren! Life’s hard enough as a woman sometimes. If she takes off her clothes for money, she’s a stripper or a whore. If a guy does it, he’s a fucking Chippendale! How’s that fair? A woman sleeps with more than one guy and she’s a slut. A guy does it and he’s a stud! Come on! I shouldn’t have to tell you this! You should know better!”

“You’re right. I’m sorry.”

I took a deep breath. “No, I’m sorry. You aren’t the problem. It’s society.

And I can’t change it by yelling at you.” I closed my eyes and found an island of peace. “I was talking to Sara,” I said at last. “The photographer.”

Wren nodded.

“We sorta became friends while I was dating Daphne. She needed a shoulder to cry on. Turns out I did too.”

“For real?”

“Yes and no. No, I wasn’t really crying. But yes, I needed someone to talk to.”

“About Christy?”

“And Gina.”

“Her.”

“Yes, ‘her.’ She was an important part of my life, Wren. She might be again. So you’d better get used to it.”

“I—”

“My life, Wren. Mine. Not yours.”

“You’ve made that very clear.”

“And you’ve made it very difficult.” I stared at the ceiling and ran my hand over my face. “Look, I don’t wanna get started again. I know you want me to be happy. I just wish you’d… let me figure it out for myself.”

“You don’t seem to be doing a good job.”

“You’re right about that.” I laughed, but softly. “You haven’t exactly helped, though. If anything, you’ve made my life more complicated.”

“How?”

“By throwing Christy into the mix. I was fine before you told me about her, about what she likes. Now she’s all I think about!”

“Seriously?”

“Yes and no. Again. I know I keep saying that, but I’m pretty mixed-up.”

“I’ll say.”

“I like Gina. I really do. Part of me still loves her. I wouldn’t have to

explain my lifestyle to her. I wouldn’t have to deal with her stupid Catholic guilt. And I wouldn’t have to convince her that I’m not Satan.”

“Christy doesn’t think you’re Satan.”

“She thinks I’m a bad influence.”

Wren shook her head. “She thinks she’s bad, for how you make her feel, what you make her want to do.”

“Did she tell you what happened after the party?”

She nodded.

“All of it?”

“All of it. Including stuff you probably didn’t realize.”

“Such as?”

“Such as… she wanted to do more.”

I quirked an eyebrow.

“Duh. Figure it out.”

I didn’t need to. I already knew.