My Favorite Mistake: A Friends-to-Lovers Romance (A Love Like That)

by R. L. Kenderson

  My father looked confused. “No, I was talking about how your mom kind of gave her the third degree last week.”

  Now, it was my time to look confused.

  “Oh. She didn’t tell you?”

  I shook my head.

  Dad looked around the corner, as if to make sure Mom couldn’t hear what he was about to say. “Your mom was very surprised by the extravagant gift you got Madeline, and it worried her. She told Madeline that she worried you might not find someone because Madeline was in your life.”

  “Wow.”

  “She realized later that she’d overreacted. Madeline has never stopped you from dating, but it was too late. She’s worried she offended her. But Madeline didn’t say anything to you?”

  I shook my head. “No.”

  “Look on the bright side, son. Maybe that means Madeline didn’t make a big deal out of it, and that’s why she didn’t say anything to you.”

  “Yeah, that’s probably it.”

  My dad patted my knee. “I’m sure it is. I’ve known Madeline since she was little. She’s a good egg.”

  “Thanks, Dad.”

  I fiddled with the chip in my hand, thinking about what Dad had just told me. It was odd that she hadn’t mentioned anything to me.

  “Something else on your mind, Griffin?”

  The commercials ended.

  “Nah. The game’s back on.”

  “Believe it or not, I can watch and listen at the same time. I’m not that old.”

  “I know, Dad.”

  “So, what’s eating at you?”

  My dad and I were close, and besides the one talk he’d given me about the birds and the bees a couple years too late, we didn’t really talk about sex. I talked about women I dated, but we avoided bedroom stuff.

  But if I trusted anyone, I trusted my father. More than Blake—that was for sure. And even more than Caleb, who was definitely more knowledgeable than Blake.

  “I’m worried that Madeline didn’t tell me about her conversation with Mom for a different reason.”

  “What would that be?”

  I finally dunked my chip in the dip, so I had a reason to avoid my dad’s eyes. “We kind of started sleeping together.”

  I popped the chip in my mouth and waited for a response, but my father was silent.

  After swallowing, I looked over to see my dad watching the game.

  I frowned. “Did you even hear what I said?” I asked.

  My dad smiled.

  Of course he had heard me.

  His eyes left the television. “I heard you. I was waiting for you to stop freaking out about admitting what you told me.”

  “I’m not freaking out.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay. Good. Then, we can talk about this. So, why do you think Madeline didn’t say anything?”

  “Now that we’re sleeping with each other, it has kind of limited either of us dating someone else.” Although, to be fair, one week ago, we’d only spent one night together. It was possible I had misunderstood Madeline completely.

  “So, you two aren’t dating?”

  “No. We have made it pretty clear that we’re friends, having fun.”

  “And is this what you want?”

  “Yes.” I think. “What does that have to do with Mom and Mads?”

  “Perhaps Madeline wants to be more than friends, and your mom made her feel guilty.”

  It was something to consider, but after the conversation we’d had in the dressing room yesterday, I didn’t think it was true. “I don’t know. She’s never said she wants more. And she’s had the opportunity.”

  “Hmm.”

  I sighed. “What does ‘hmm’ mean, Dad?”

  His eyes widened. “Nothing. It’s just a hmm. I’m simply thinking.”

  I looked down. “Do you think I made a mistake?”

  “I can’t tell you that, son. Does she make you happy? Do you like being with her?”

  I looked at my dad. “Yes, but that’s always been true, or she wouldn’t be my closest friend.”

  “Okay, then how do you feel about no longer sleeping with her? How would you feel if she started dating someone else?” He lifted a hand. “You don’t have to answer me. This is just something I want you to think about. And maybe you don’t know, and that’s okay. But when you do know, maybe you should make some decisions about where to take your friendship.”

  I nodded as I sat back on the couch and thought through my dad’s questions.

  I would be disappointed if we weren’t sleeping together anymore. Sex with Madeline was better than with anyone else. And as far as her dating anyone else, I didn’t like the idea, but it didn’t make me jealous. Harris standing in Madeline’s living room flashed across my brain.

  Harris was different. He was a dipshit who didn’t deserve her. I hadn’t been jealous.

  “You okay over there?” Dad asked.

  “Yeah. Just thinking.”

  “Don’t think too hard, or you’ll miss the game.”

  This was my dad’s way of telling me not to stress myself out. “Thanks, Dad.”

  “You’re welcome, son.”

  Twenty-Seven

  Madeline

  I hit play on my remote and grabbed the popcorn bowl.

  After leaving Griffin’s, I had come home and done some cleaning around my house. Then, I’d cooked myself a healthy dinner, and my reward was sweats, popcorn, and Netflix. I had slowly been binge-watching an older TV show with several seasons, and I was excited to see what happened next since I hadn’t been able to watch for several days.

  I was only about ten minutes into my first episode when there was a knock at my door.

  I groaned and reluctantly got off my couch. Turning on the porch light, I looked through the small window in my front door to see Griffin standing on my steps.

  I unlocked the door and opened it. “Did I miss a message from you?” I asked.

  “No. I didn’t tell you I was coming over,” he said as he stepped inside. “It was a last-minute thing.”

  “Okay.” I shut the door behind him. “What’s up?”

  Griffin took off his coat, threw it in the corner, and headed for my couch. “Whatcha watching?”

  I sat down beside him. “Netflix.”

  “Do you mind if I watch with you?”

  “No. But you’re going to have to make more popcorn when we run out.”

  He smiled. “Deal.”

  I hit play, and we settled in.

  After three bags of microwave popcorn and two episodes, I hit stop before the next one could start.

  “Okay, spill it,” I said.

  “Spill what?” Griffin looked pretty clueless, except I knew him well enough to know he was hiding something.

  “Spill why you’re here. You didn’t come over out of the blue for no reason.”

  He wiggled his eyebrows at me and ran a hand up my leg. “Maybe I came over to get you naked.”

  I made a buzzer noise. “Wrong answer. You were on edge when you got here. What happened? I thought you were with your parents today.”

  He groaned. “I was. My dad told me what my mom said to you last week. I felt a little foolish because I had no idea what he was talking about.”

  I winced. “Sorry. I didn’t mean for you to be embarrassed.”

  “What did my mom say to you?”

  I sighed and pressed myself deeper into the couch. “She knows you’re lucky to have me, but she’s worried that maybe I’m the reason you haven’t settled down with anyone.”

  He shook his head. “She had no right to say that to you.”

  I lifted a shoulder. “She’s just worried about her only child. And I think she really wants to have grandchildren.”

  “At this point, she’d probably be happy if I just knocked somebody up. She wants grandchildren more than she wants me to get married.”

  I poked him with my toe. “That’s not true. She loves you and wants you to
be happy.”

  “She still had no right to accuse you of being the reason I’m not in a serious relationship. Jeez.”

  “She didn’t accuse me exactly. She wasn’t saying I had done it on purpose. More like I was the unconscious reason.”

  “It still doesn’t make it better.”

  “You didn’t say anything to her, did you?”

  “No. I wanted to talk to you first.”

  “Please don’t. I don’t want her to think I went to you and complained.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure and tell her that my dad was the one with the big mouth.”

  I laughed. “Poor Glen.”

  “Glen can take care of himself.”

  I chuckled for a few more seconds but lost my smile. “Seriously though, Griff. If your mom had asked that question a month ago, I would have laughed it off, but now, I do worry she has a point.”

  His brow furrowed. “How so?”

  “We’re sleeping together. And we’re friends. We’re not just a couple of people who hook up every once in a while. We see each other all the time. We talk all the time. And now, we can add that we sleep together all the time.”

  Griffin grinned. “Yeah, we can.”

  “Get your head out of the gutter. I’m being serious.”

  He tried to wipe his smile away, but the corners of his mouth were fighting him.

  “What happens if the woman of your dreams walks into the bar one day, but you feel like you can’t flirt because of me?”

  “Okay. What happens if you bump into the man of your dreams at the grocery store?”

  “Exactly. That’s my point.”

  Griffin seemed to think this over before looking back at me. “And what is your suggestion?”

  “Who says I have one?”

  “Don’t you?”

  “Okay, I do. But I haven’t been planning this. It only just came to me.”

  “What’s your idea?”

  “We keep sleeping together as long as we both benefit from the situation. If either of us wants to call it quits, whether it be because we met someone else or because we just don’t want to do it anymore, the other person has to accept the reason, be understanding, and accept the quitter’s wishes without a forced discussion at that time. There will be no fighting and no dragging it out.” I tilted my head back and forth. “Maybe after a little time has passed, we can talk what happened, but I think in the moment, we both might be too close to our arrangement to be objective.”

  Griffin didn’t say anything.

  “What do you think?”

  “So, if you meet someone or you’re just plain tired of sleeping with me, you can say, It’s over, Griff, and I’ll have to accept it. Later, I can come to you and ask why you kicked me to the curb, but at the time, I can’t press you for answers?”

  “Yes, exactly. I figure there is less of a chance of feelings getting hurt if we have a cooling-off period before we talk about what happened.”

  He nodded his head. “Okay. That works for me.”

  I held out my hand. “Shall we shake on it and watch another episode?”

  He grabbed my hand and pulled me into his lap. “I say, we fuck on it. Screw another episode.”

  “Oh, Griff, you have a way with words,” I said sarcastically. “I think you already met the woman of your dreams, but she got scared away by your potty mouth.”

  He smiled. “I guess it wasn’t meant to be. Unlike you and me and naked time. I’m absolutely convinced that this is meant to be.”

  I threw my arms around his neck. “Fuckshake it is then.”

  “What the hell is a fuckshake?”

  “Instead of a handshake. It’s a fuckshake.”

  Griffin laughed. “I agree. Fuckshake it is.”

  Twenty-Eight

  Madeline

  I walked into My Favorite Place and pounded my boots against the floor to get all of the snow off of them. Winter could be beautiful in Minnesota. As long as you didn’t have to drive or walk outside in it. As far as I was concerned, it could snow the week of Christmas and then go away before the new year. That would be perfection.

  After I wiped the bottom of my feet as well as I could, I stepped off the big rug by the front door and took a seat at the bar.

  “Hey, Madeline,” Casey said. “What can I get you?”

  “Right now, I need a water.”

  “Boring but okay.”

  I laughed and looked around. “Where’s Griff?”

  She pointed to the back. “He’s in his office, interviewing someone.”

  “Oh, that’s right. He wants to find another bartender. How long have they been in there? A long time?”

  She shook her head. “About fifteen minutes. But that’s longer than the last guy. His interview was nine minutes.”

  “Wow. I guess Griffin is lucky to have found you and Mitch.”

  “He sure is. It’s also a bad time of year to hire. Summer is when all the college kids come home.”

  “You’re right, but college kids don’t always stay. It might take more time, but at least he might find someone for the long haul.” I looked toward the back, but the office door was still closed. “I told him to wait until after Thanksgiving, when people need extra cash for Christmas presents. But I suppose he’d be in the same shape as college kids who leave.”

  Casey shrugged. “I guess we’ll see.”

  A few minutes later, Griffin’s door opened, and he exited with a guy who looked to be in his mid-twenties. Griffin walked the guy to the door. “I’ll keep you posted,” he said, but as soon as the door shut behind him, he lost his smile. He came around the bar. “I will not be keeping him posted.”

  “That bad, huh?”

  Griffin sighed. “No experience and wants to work only day shifts. First, we aren’t that big of a place, and I specifically said in the posting that I am looking for someone to work nights and weekends.”

  “I don’t get it,” Casey said. “That’s where you make all your money too. Griffin’s day regulars don’t tip worth a shit.”

  “Casey.”

  “I’m kidding. I know you have a soft spot for some of those old guys.”

  “No, you’re right. They don’t tip well. You make a lot more money working nights than days.”

  “Are you going to miss all those tips if you stop working so many nights?” I asked him.

  He smiled at me. “Nah. I have something even better than money.”

  He meant sex. And me.

  It had been over a month since my birthday, and Griffin and I still had our arrangement going on. Neither of us had met the person of our dreams so far, and neither one of us wanted to stop sleeping with the other.

  Quite the opposite. Griffin and I spent almost every night together. I was getting more sex now than when I’d had a real boyfriend.

  But Griffin had realized he was getting tired of the late nights all the time, so he’d decided he could afford to hire someone else, and then he could go to bed earlier on more nights.

  “What’s better than money?” Casey asked.

  “Sleep,” I said.

  She shook her head. “You two aren’t that old,” she said and walked away.

  “What the hell? I’m not old.”

  Griffin smiled. “You do have eight years on her.”

  “I’m still not old,” I yelled loud enough for Casey to hear me.

  She turned around. “You are when you pick sleep over money.”

  “Griffin, I’m sorry, but you’ll need to find two new bartenders. Casey’s ass needs to go.”

  He leaned on the bar, so we were face-to-face. “I’m not firing my best bartender because she called us old.”

  “Then, take it out of her Christmas bonus.”

  “I don’t give them a Christmas bonus.”

  “You are a horrible boss. Casey should quit for that reason alone.”

  Griffin laughed. “Someone is feisty today. First, I should fire her, but now, you’re on her side, and
she should quit.”

  I frowned. “I just got my period, so that means no sexy times tonight.”

  “That’s okay, babe. You and I went years without having sex. A couple nights won’t kill us. Besides, you know your period doesn’t bother me.”

  “I know,” I said in a pouty voice. I was always crampy the first few days, which was the main reason we refrained from having sex.

  I sat back in my seat and looked up at his daily sign.

  What is your favorite Thanksgiving side dish?

  “Are you still going to your aunt’s on Thanksgiving?” I asked. The holiday was three days away.

  “Yep. Your mom still hosting?”

  “Yes. Are we still planning to leave our Thanksgiving get-togethers early and spend the night together?”

  He grinned. “Yes.”

  “Good, but not until I get some cheesy hash browns and scalloped corn.”

  “Cheesy hash browns and scalloped corn, huh?”

  I pointed to his sign. “They’re my favorite side dishes. I don’t think we’ve ever spent Thanksgiving together. What’s yours?”

  “Mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie.”

  “Pumpkin pie is dessert.”

  “Not for me. I have a piece with dinner and then another for dessert.”

  “Your mother spoils you rotten. No wonder you can’t find a woman.”

  He laughed and met my eyes. “Nah. Right now, I just don’t want to.”

  Twenty-Nine

  Griffin

  I sat back in my chair and rubbed my stomach. “The food was excellent, as always. I don’t think I could eat another bite,” I said.

  “Thank you, Griffin,” my aunt Ophelia said.

  “Now, how about dessert?” I joked.

  Everyone at the table groaned. I was pretty sure they were all as full as I was.

  “Let’s give everyone a half hour or so,” Ophelia said. “Then, we’ll break out the pie.”

  I looked at my watch. It was already after two in the afternoon, and I had plans to meet Madeline at her house by four.