It had been an hour since Brad left the apartment but the sinking feeling in my stomach was refusing to leave me. I couldn't get myself to let him cancel his trip for me. Even though it might have been so impulsive of him to plan it at the last minute.

He did that all the time, and I always marveled at his impulses. The guy had certainly earned the right to do whatever the hell he wanted to by working day in and day out to make a name for himself. Though, his motivations for doing so mostly stemmed from the fact that he wanted to get ahead of his father.

I shuddered at the thought. My relationship with my parents wasn't all that rosy either, but I couldn't imagine things getting ugly to this extent. I often wondered if Brad's affection for me was due to the fact that I was a single mom who was trying to make ends meet. He always seemed to admire me as a parent, probably because he valued the special relationship due to his own circumstances.

But I wondered if there was anything else about me that crossed his mind at night.

I jerked my head to get out of my thought-loop. I had other things to think about apart from my best friend, whose presence had me secretly swooning over him like a little girl. He’d never even touched me romantically and yet had me daydreaming about him.

What was wrong with me?

I didn't blame myself for being horny for him. In fact, there would have been something seriously wrong with me if Bradley didn't turn me on. The guy was a combination of everything that I considered drool-worthy. With a rock-like body and an endearing face, he was the epitome of perfection. His eyes, blue as the sea, would look me over and have my insides tingly in an instant.

Weirdly, I'd never been this attracted to anyone else. Not even to Max's father, whom I'd jumped into a relationship with without giving it so much as a second thought.

I wasn't going to make that same mistake again. After the birth of my son, every big step that I took would have to be well calculated and thought out. I couldn't act out of impulse like Brad could. As much as I would love to jump into bed with him and let him palm my breasts, I couldn't give in to the desire. Not to mention that sleeping with him would potentially mean losing him as a friend.

And at that moment, I needed a friend more than I needed a fuck buddy.

My heart ached when I thought about my recent fight with Rachel and how our living arrangement just wasn't working. I genuinely cared for her and had been friends with her for years, so losing her because I was too afraid to make a change would be stupid on my part.

I opened the door, expecting her to still be asleep. But I found her brewing coffee.

She looked over at me but didn't say a thing.

"Can I speak to you for a second?" I asked.

She dragged her feet toward me and smiled at Max, pinching his nose.

"I know what it is that you want to say," she replied. "You want to move out, don't you?"

I furrowed my brows. "You're quite the psychic."

She shrugged. "You're rubbing off on me. I might have learned a thing or two about reading people's minds from you."

Silence.

"Don't be stupid, though. You're a new mom. I can't just let you leave like that."

She sniffed and sank into the couch. "I'll start looking for a new place for—"

I held up my free hand.

"No. Rachel. You were already living here when I first moved in. This has been your home for years. So, having you move out wouldn't be the right thing to do."

She shook her head slightly and looked away. "This makes me so sad."

I nodded. "But that doesn't mean we can't have fun with it. You want to come apartment hunting with us?”

Her face lit up for just a second as her hand found my arm.

"I don't want to you leave," she said.

"But," I cut her off. "I have to. Otherwise, we might end up killing each other. Well, I will definitely kill you.“

She chuckled and sipped her coffee. "I can't argue with that." Her eyes narrowed when she turned to me. "Maybe we need an intervention, you know? See what Dani thinks about this?"

I rolled my eyes. "You know her. She's going to push us into living together regardless."

Rachel smirked. "True. Well, what about Brad? What does he think?"

"I haven't talked to him about it," I said. "The moving out part, I mean. And I don't want to either. He's off to Spain with a hot pair of legs."

Rachel's mouth opened. "You're joking."

I shook my head. "Why would I joke? Is it that hard to believe that he's being impulsive yet again? I mean, he always—"

Rachel reached over and tapped my shoulder.

"No. That's not what I mean. I'm just shocked that you are able to say that with a straight face. Does it not bother you that he's fucking another woman?"

My nostrils flared when I said, "Language," through gritted teeth.

She stuck her tongue out and apologized before rewording her question.

"Does it not hurt your feelings?"

"What in the world are you talking about? Sometimes, I feel like you live on a completely different planet."

She rolled her eyes and let out a deep breath. "Sure. I'm the one who lives on a different planet."

"Stop being cryptic, Rachel. What are you trying to point at?"

"I'm not trying to point at anything. I am blatantly pointing at the obvious." She paused. "Look, I don't want this to turn into another fight, so don't ask me to explain my point unless you really want to hear what I have to say."

I shrugged. "I'm all ears."

She folded her arms. "Have you seen the way he checks you out?"

I laughed. "Who. Brad?"

She tilted her head to the side with tight lips.

"Yes. Brad. The same guy who’s a combination of a Greek god and Sylvester Stallone."

I laughed harder. "Is it okay if I tell him that you said these things about him?"

She shrugged. "Only if you want to inflate his ego even more. Sure, go ahead."

There was no speck of amusement on her face and that marked the end of my laughter as well.

I laid Max down next to her and stood, running my hands over my body and twirling around.

"Do you really think that a man who is as exotic as you say he is would be interested in this?"

Her eyes darted at the ceiling. "Get over yourself, Heather. You know you're beautiful."

I couldn't help but let a strange sound escape my throat while bringing a hand to my chest. "Aw, Rachel. That's the nicest thing you've said to me this entire month."

She laughed while holding onto my son's hand.

"Max and I will choose to ignore that exaggerated comment of yours and move on with our lives now.”

I sat back down, feeling way more relaxed than I was fifteen minutes ago.

"So who is this guy, Neil? Tell me more about him."

A glow appeared on Rachel's face and she smiled a little.

"Oh, he is so goddamn big," she began. "You have to see it to believe it."

I crinkled my nose and slapped her shoulder. "No, thank you."

She chuckled. "For real, though, I've been having the best sex of my life recently. And if Brad is anything like his friend—"

She paused to raise her eyebrows.

"That's enough. I'm glad you stopped there."

I didn't need her to have me picture Brad's penis. I managed to do that quite often, all on my own.

"How do you do it, Heather?" she asked.

I shook my head. "Do what?"

"Resist his" —she leaned in and whispered in my ear— "cock?"

I groaned. "Let's just say that getting laid is not my priority, Rachel.“

She smirked and looked away, uninterested. "Please. I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to have a little fun once in a while, you know? To get out of your head every now and then?”

She was referring to Wayne, and in a way, she was right.

But it was easier said than done. When Max was born, I felt the weight of the world fall on my shoulders and I was still in mourning over my disastrous relationship with his father. However, I knew that I had now put him in my past, but Rachel didn’t believe me.

"That's a lie," she protested. "If you'd put him in the past, you'd give fun a chance again."

"Fun?" I said. "Sure. How about we find me a new apartment first?"

She bit her lower lip.

“Fine. Then maybe we can produce a plan for you to not die dry."

I raised a brow. "Die dry? Really, now?"