Five Dates Only

by R. L. Kenderson

  “Good,” I said, not meaning it.

  “Good,” she said and slammed the door.

  I pushed down on the gas pedal before I said something else I knew I’d regret. But, as I drove away, the pit in my stomach that had started at my parents’ house was so big that I feared it was going to swallow me whole.

  Thirty-Eight

  Sloan

  “You haven’t heard from Caleb yet?” Melanie asked me as we lounged on my couch a week later.

  A familiar pain went through me. “Nope. We broke up, remember?”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her turn to look at me.

  “Did you message him?” she asked, completely ignoring the part where I’d said we broke up.

  “Nope.”

  “You know, one of you has to make the first move.”

  I shrugged. “No, we don’t, but if it’s going to be anyone, it should be him.”

  After he hadn’t defended me, I was not going to grovel to him.

  “Damn, you’re stubborn.”

  I shrugged. “Maybe.” Or maybe I didn’t feel like getting my heart broken again. “There’s nothing wrong with being single.” I wish I had stayed that way. This was why relationships sucked. It always ended badly.

  “I’m glad being single is not a negative because I have some news for you.”

  The way she’d said it had me whipping my head toward her. “What news?”

  “I’m pregnant.”

  “No way.” My eyes widened. “Neil’s?”

  “Yeah,” she said with a what are you going to do smile.

  “I don’t know how to react. Are we excited? Are we mad? Are we scared? Are we freaking out?” I gasped. “Oh no. You had wine at the restaurant.”

  Melanie laughed and grabbed my arm in her hands. “I had one glass of wine. The doctor says it’s probably fine. And I love all this we talk. This is why I love you.”

  “You know I’m here for you, no matter what. If you want to go to the clinic, I’m there for you. If you want to give it up for adoption, I’ll help you find the best damn parents we can. Or, if you decide to keep it, I’ll be the best honorary auntie there is.”

  Melanie took a deep breath and rubbed her belly. “I was freaked out at first. I’ve always wanted to be a mom, but I didn’t see myself becoming a single mom. And I don’t know how I feel about being tied to Neil for the rest of my life, but I’m hoping we can co-parent well together. He actually called me the other day and apologized.”

  I lifted my brow. “Really?”

  “Really. Maybe he truly is going to counseling.”

  After I had calmed down a bit from my breakup with Caleb, I had remembered to tell Melanie what his mom had said about Neil seeing a therapist.

  “As long as you don’t get back together with him, I’m all for you two trying to be friends for the sake of the baby. That is, if you’re going to keep it. Have you told him yet?”

  Mel shook her head. “You don’t have to worry about us getting back together. I sincerely hope he can change and grow, but it’s too late for us. And the longer I’m away from him, the more I realize that, while I did love him, I really don’t miss him that much. My life is better without him in it.”

  I wish I felt that way. I missed Caleb like crazy. His jokes, the way he’d held me at night, the way he’d looked at me when he was inside me … I missed it all. Just that morning, I’d reached out for him, only to remember he wasn’t there. Again.

  “As for keeping the baby,” Mel said, “I’ve decided I’m going to do it.”

  I whooped for joy. “I get to be an auntie.”

  Melanie laughed. “But I haven’t told Neil yet, so don’t say anything to Caleb. I just found out. I want to make it to the second trimester before I spring it on him. In case I lose the pregnancy.” She tapped her chin. “Maybe I should find out what days he goes to the counselor, so I can tell him before his appointment. In case he needs the extra therapy.”

  I laughed. “Your secret is safe with me. I doubt I’ll be talking to Caleb anytime soon.”

  “Aw, babe. You don’t know that. And, even if neither one of you admits defeat and contacts the other, don’t you have to go to his closing soon?”

  I groaned. Caleb was closing on his house in a few weeks, so we’d be forced to see each other.

  “Maybe I can get someone else to take over for me.”

  “Sloan, you might be stubborn, but you’re not afraid of confrontation.”

  “Are you sure?” Because I sure felt like I was.

  “You’ll go, and you’ll talk to him. Everything will be fine.”

  Everything was not fine. Everything sucked.

  It was the day of Caleb’s closing, and I went through every article of clothing in my closet. And then I got mad at myself for wanting to look good for him. I would show up in a potato sack, except it would be unprofessional and everyone would stare at me for the wrong reasons.

  In the end, I ran through the last five outfits I could remember and picked something similar. I would not go out of my way to impress someone who couldn’t even be bothered to apologize.

  My phone dinged, and for a second, I got my hopes up, but it was only Mel.

  Melanie: Go with an open mind today. Remember, you haven’t apologized either.

  Me: Go away and quit reading my mind.

  Melanie: Ha-haha-haha. Love you and good luck!

  Me: Thanks.

  I made sure to arrive early to the closing. I didn’t want to do anything embarrassing by walking into the room and then tripping over my own feet at the sight of Caleb there.

  I arrived first and made small talk with the seller’s realtor and the closing agent. The seller was second to last to arrive, and I began to get nervous that Caleb wasn’t going to show.

  I should have texted him. Even if we weren’t together, I still could have contacted him for professional reasons. Now, it looked like I hadn’t out of spite or something.

  When Caleb finally breezed through the door at five after, I breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Sorry I’m late,” he said, taking the open seat next to me.

  The closing agent, a middle-aged woman, smiled at him. “It’s fine.” She looked around the table. “Let’s get started then.”

  Sitting next to Caleb during the process was torture. I could feel the heat from his body and smell the familiar scent of his shampoo. A few times, his thigh brushed mine, and I thought I was going to jump out of my chair. And let’s not forget how good he looked. He smiled throughout the closing, looking handsome and refreshed.

  He obviously hadn’t lost any sleep over me, and pretending like nothing had happened to us was so much harder than I had anticipated. I managed to hold it together and stay professional until the end when Caleb went to sign the few papers.

  Both his hands were bare.

  I quickly shoved my right hand under the table where I still wore the ring he’d bought me.

  That right there showed me how we both felt. I had been acting tough, but I’d been hoping we’d get back together.

  Caleb had obviously moved on.

  As discreetly as possible, I removed the ring with my hands in my lap and shoved the ring in my pocket. I prayed he hadn’t already noticed that I was wearing it.

  He probably thought I was a loser.

  “Thanks for coming, everyone,” the closing agent said. “And congrats on your new house, Mr. Stanton.”

  Caleb grinned. “Thank you.”

  The rest of us got up from our seats and made our way out of the building.

  Once everyone started breaking off for their cars, Caleb said, “Sloan?”

  I sucked in a deep breath and turned to him. “Yeah?”

  He nervously looked away. “I just wanted to tell you that I’m sorry.”

  Despite the apology, I didn’t have a good feeling about this.

  “I’m sorry I dragged you into my work mess. And I’m sorry I …” He smiled wistfully. “Well, I’m s
orry.”

  I nodded. “I’m sorry, too.”

  Caleb sighed with relief. “Good. I was afraid you’d be mad at me forever.”

  I shook my head. “I could never.”

  He smiled. “I’m glad.”

  He looked at his watch, and I shoved my free hand that wasn’t holding my briefcase in my pocket, so I wouldn’t be tempted to reach for him.

  “Listen, I have to go. But it was nice seeing you again. Thanks for helping me find a great house.”

  “You’re-you’re welcome,” I managed to say. My fingers played with my ring, and I wondered if I should give it back to him.

  Caleb pulled his keys from his pocket and started walking backward. “Thanks again, Sloan. It was good to see you.”

  “It was nice seeing you, too.”

  Caleb turned and headed to his truck while I stood there, staring after him.

  After he pulled away, I realized I was still playing with the ring, and I was glad I hadn’t given it back. It was the last thing I had from him.

  I was able to get my feet moving again and made my way to my car. Caleb was happy and had moved on. He and I were truly over.

  I cried all the way to my office, and later that night, I went home and filed for an annulment. It was also the day our marriage certificate came in the mail. Life was a fickle bitch.

  Thirty-Nine

  Caleb

  I stared down at the papers that had been delivered to me.

  Annulment papers.

  I sat down at my new dining room table, stunned.

  I couldn’t believe it. I supposed I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was.

  I’d left the ball in Sloan’s court, hoping she’d reach out to me. Instead, she served me with annulment papers. They were almost worse than divorce papers because it was like saying our marriage had never happened. It was like saying we had never happened.

  It was the end of October, and I hadn’t seen Sloan for a month now, but I had been busy. Moving took a lot longer and was more effort than I had anticipated. Also, I was working my ass off at the store to get back into Ted’s good graces, so a part of me put my relationship with Sloan off to the side. Maybe too much off to the side, as I didn’t realize how much time had passed since I last spoke to her.

  I thought things were good between us after seeing each other at the closing on my house. I had almost left without saying anything, but I couldn’t just walk away without trying. So, I’d apologized and let her know there were no hard feelings on my side. The way she’d told me that she couldn’t stay mad at me gave me hope. Yet my phone didn’t ring, and I didn’t receive one text from her. I then assumed she needed more time, and I would hear from her when she was ready.

  I had not thought I’d hear from her in the form of annulment papers.

  And I didn’t know how that made me feel.

  I missed her like crazy. Seeing her a month ago had made me realize how much I cared about her. But she’d been cold and distant. Much like the Sloan I’d known before our agreement.

  I needed time to think, time to process, so I put the papers on my stuff-to-do pile and went out for a run.

  A few days later, there was a knock at my door. I was surprised to see my brother standing on my front steps.

  “Hi.”

  “Hey,” I said.

  “Do you mind if I come in?”

  “Uh, no.” I turned around, so Neil could follow me into the house. “Sorry for the mess. I’ve been slowly unpacking. Now that I have a bigger place to live, Mom and Dad brought over old boxes of my stuff they’d had in the basement. It’s been a process.”

  “You’ll get there.”

  I raised my brow at his words of support. I’d expected him to tell me to hire someone to take care of my mess.

  “What’s up?” I asked because my brother had never come over just to visit me.

  The two of us had never been close. Well, maybe when we were kids, but even back then, we’d been interested in different things. I always liked sports, which made my job all the more fun. Neil was always interested in other things. I remembered him playing a lot of video games on the computer.

  But even though we’d never been close, he hadn’t always been an asshole either. Sure, he’d never been faithful to a girlfriend, but the way he’d treated Melanie was a newer thing.

  Neil took a deep breath. “I came here to tell you thank you.”

  Whoa. That was unexpected.

  “For what?”

  He pointed to my couch. “Do you mind if I sit?”

  I shook my head. “Be my guest.”

  We took seats on opposite ends.

  “That night you came and got me from Mel’s house, you told me to go and talk to someone.”

  “Oh, yeah, Mom said you’d been doing that.”

  “And, if you hadn’t pushed me in that direction, I don’t know that I would have.”

  “I’m glad you did. Honestly, you were so drunk that I didn’t think you’d even remember our conversation.”

  Neil smiled. “I was drunk, but it did come back to me in pieces. Especially the part about how I would feel if I found out Melanie had cheated on me.” He shook his head in amazement. “I was a real ass.”

  “Wow. That’s an honest therapist.”

  He laughed. “She didn’t say that in those exact words. She is my therapist after all. But she did show me that I’ve been selfish. She explained to me that the things I do in my career to help me move forward don’t work so well in my personal life.”

  I nodded. “That makes sense, in a way. You need to be ruthless and driven to get promoted.”

  My brother hadn’t become the financial director of a company by twiddling his thumbs.

  “Pretty much. Apparently, I need to learn to turn off that part of me.”

  “I’m glad you’re working on those things.” But it still didn’t really explain what he was doing here. “Did you really just come to tell me thanks?”

  “Yeah. I figured, with the big news, you’d understand.” He raised his eyebrows. “But, now, you look confused, like you have no idea what I’m talking about.”

  I shook my head. “Because I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about. I haven’t talked to Mom for a few days.”

  “This wouldn’t have come from Mom. I thought Sloan would have told you.”

  Upon hearing Sloan’s name, I tensed up. News and her together did not sound promising. “I haven’t talked to Sloan for a long time.”

  Neil frowned. “That’s odd. Mom said the two of you were dating, which I’d kind of wondered about since you both showed up at Melanie’s house that night together.” He rubbed his nose. “It also explains why you punched me.”

  I wanted to laugh that my brother could joke about me hitting him, but all I could manage was a sigh. “Yeah. I haven’t told Mom and Dad that we broke up.”

  After the two of us had left my parents’ house that night, I hadn’t gone back after dropping Sloan off. After hearing Ted’s disappointment in me and then Sloan and I fighting, I had been in no mood to be around people. And, so far, I had avoided any talk of her when my mom asked. I didn’t want to tell her how I’d failed Ted and Sloan, so I always changed the subject.

  “Ah,” he said with a look of understanding. “Sorry to hear that.”

  “Yeah. Me, too.”

  I didn’t want to talk about it anymore. I already had to sleep every night in the bedroom and look out onto the balcony where we’d had sex. It was a good thing I had plenty to do during the day to keep my mind occupied.

  Perhaps too occupied since she’d gone and served me with annulment papers.

  I shook my head to clear it. “Anyway, what’s your news?”

  “I’m going to be a father, and you’re going to be an uncle.”

  For a second, my brain stuttered and switched the words around. I pictured Sloan heavy with my child, and my traitorous brain—and, apparently, my dick, going by the hard-on I was getting—liked
the idea of her pregnant.

  It’s not going to happen. You don’t get to have sex with Sloan anymore, I tried to telepathically communicate to my stupid erection, but it ignored me.

  It didn’t help that I hadn’t had sex since Hawaii. My poor cock was getting sick of my hand. I was getting sick of my hand.

  Jesus. I needed to stop thinking about her.

  I tried to read my brother’s face, but I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. “Who’s the mother?” I asked.

  He narrowed his eyes. “Melanie.”

  I held up my hands. “I’m sorry. I assumed that’s who it was, but you also cheated on her and gave her an STI.” I shrugged. “You could have gotten someone else pregnant.”

  Neil’s face was red. He opened his mouth to say something but stopped himself. He took a deep breath. “You’re right.”

  “Shit, man. I think your counseling is actually working.”

  “Yeah? Because, right now, all I want is to call you a fuckhead even though I know you’re right.”

  I laughed. “Go ahead. I am a fuckhead. I should have worded that better.” I cleared my throat. “Let’s try this again. So, you’re going to be a dad. And I assume the mother is Melanie.”

  Neil smiled. “Yes. And, while I did catch something, I always used protection with … the other woman. My doctor thinks I got it from oral sex.”

  I grimaced.

  “I know,” he said after seeing my face. “It’s another reason I’m working on not sleeping around.”

  “How’s that working out for you?”

  “It’s a lot harder than I expected. My therapist says I get a mental high off of cheating or some crap like that.” He looked down at the floor. “She also says I don’t put enough value into my relationships, and I always see them as temporary.”

  “Well, if you ever need someone to stop you from doing something stupid, you can call me. I’ll tell you like it is.”

  Neil laughed. “I might have to do that.”

  It felt weird, getting into touchy-feely stuff with my brother, so I changed the subject back to what we should be talking about. “Back to you being a father. Melanie’s keeping the baby?”