The zoo had been a brilliant idea on my part, if I did say so myself.

Lots of meandering time to talk, cute animals to occupy the silent spaces, kid friendly, and great snacks along the way. All around, I’d planned a kickass date. And with my connections and some strings I’d greased and pulled, I’d gotten us up close and personal with the penguins, an activity that Lennon had loved.

I wanted to impress Samantha, but I also wanted to knock her socks off by how well I was treating her daughter. Not that my intentions were insincere; Lennon was truly cute and fun to be around, and her comments made me laugh my ass off. I don’t think I’d ever gone out with a woman who had a child, much less taken one on a date with kid in tow. I’ll admit I’d been intimidated leading up to it, but all in all, we’d done great.

Well, until Lennon had a major hissy fit in the elephant exhibit and all hell broke loose. I’d never seen a little body convulse like that, or a woman act so calm as a child ripped apart at the seams. I’d panicked, trying to calm her and compromise with her until Samantha shot me a look that said I’d better shut up or I’d lose my balls.

So I shut up and stood against the wall as Samantha stood by, her arms crossed over her perky chest, quietly speaking to Lennon as she wailed and whined. After a while, she’d picked her up, asked me to lead us to the car, and we hadn’t said a word since.

The sun was just setting over the buildings as I pulled up in front of their high-rise, and my nerves were still unsettled. What I’d witnessed was real life shit, and I was just a bachelor looking to take a pretty woman on a date. It was a gutless move, but I stayed quiet, knowing that I wasn’t this girl’s father and honestly, I didn’t really want to be.

I helped Samantha remove her things from my car, a relieved breath moving out of my chest as the realness moved out of my universe.

“Thank you for a fun day, I’m sorry about the ending.” Her big, chocolate eyes regarded me apologetically as she held a sleeping Lennon in her arms.

I shifted uncomfortably, not sure how to say goodbye. This was awkward, and nowhere near how I hoped we’d be ending the night. Our conversation, banter really, had been great during the trip to the zoo. I learned more about her, she learned about me. By all accounts, it should have been a success. But … here we were.

“Yeah,” I rubbed the back of my neck. “Hopefully she’ll be okay.”

“Oh, she’ll be fine.” Samantha gave a small smile, and I think she felt the vibe that I couldn’t handle this.

I felt like an asshole. Shooting out a hand, I weirdly rubbed her shoulder. “Well, have a good night.”

Her head tilted and a strange expression came across her face before she turned and walked inside the glass doors.

Fuck me, I rubbed her shoulder. Who was I? Clearly all game had gone out the window due to a child’s tears. I really was a prick.

* * *

I pushed open the door next to my apartment, and walked in, groaning as I saw that the Nationals were losing.

“Get off your knees ref, you’re blowing the game!” Bryan shouted at the TV, a beer bottle in a hand appearing over the top of the leather couch.

The door slams shut behind me as I reach his fridge, grabbing a much-needed beer of my own. I grimace as I uncap it and take a swallow, my palette annoyed at the shitty suds of Bud Light sliding down my throat.

“You need better taste in beer.” I sink down onto the leather lounger opposite the couch, and kick my brown Steve Madden slides off.

“You didn’t seem to mind that shit when I was buying it for you senior year of college, ya cheap ass.” Bryan doesn’t even look over at me, his blond hair that usually hangs down past his shoulders was up in a ponytail.

“Yeah, well, I’ll take anything tonight.” I fisted a hand in my hair, sighing at the utter disaster that ended up being my date.

“Went that well, huh?” Finally, my best friend directs his eyes to me. And then sticks his hand down his gym shorts and scratches his balls.

“Nice, man, thanks for that. You’re no better than a mangy dog.”

“Is that why you kicked me out of the house?” He gave me his best puppy dog eyes.

I’d met Bryan my sophomore year of college, and we’d had that instant kind of friendship that hadn’t waned or changed over the years. After school, we’d both stayed in the area, opting to get an apartment together. Now, it was my apartment. Once we’d hit thirty, we both agreed it was too weird and we made too much money not to have our own places. So Bryan moved into the one bedroom right next door, and things basically hadn’t changed. Except now, I didn’t have to put my headphones on when he was getting laid, and he didn’t have to bitch at me about doing the dishes.

“I kicked you out because I thought having a bachelor pad would be cool, mostly. Now I barely use it to bring women home.” I was sulking.

“So things with the single mom didn’t pan out?” The smirk on his face was a little told-you-so backhand.

“Don’t look so smug. It was going great … until her kid had a meltdown in the middle of an exhibit. I freaked, I don’t know the first thing to do when it comes to children. She looked at me like I was such a major disappointment.”

The sourness of Samantha’s one eighty was still bitter in my mouth.

“Man, I told you not to go there. So she had a nice ass in college … doesn’t mean you know a thing about her now. Usually I’m charming a woman and asking her where she hopes to travel throughout the world … not what color grapes her daughter likes. You were in way over your head, bud.”

Maybe he was right. But it still sucked. “I guess you’re right.”

We drank our beer in silence for a while, and I tried to push past the failed attempt to take Samantha out. The Nationals scored a run, and Bryan clapped his hands.

“Oh well, it’s over now. What should we do tonight?” I did not feel like going back to my apartment and thinking about how worthless I’d been.

Or why it was bugging me so much. It was one stupid date.

“I don’t know … McFlannery’s?” Bryan shifted his eyes to me, raising a brow.

Our usual bar, just a block over, did not interest me tonight. “How about Jefferson Spy?”

We didn’t normally frequent the showier nightclubs in the city, but I was feeling agitated. I needed to break out of my own head when I was this frustrated.

“The last time we went to the Spy, I brought home the freakiest chick, with one of the biggest bushes I’ve ever seen. Actually, it was kind of a turn on.” Bryan tipped his beer back, finishing it.

“Dude, TMI.”

“You know, I’m not really a man who requires grooming, or no grooming for that matter. I like ’em smooth, hairy, even with a little landing strip. I don’t understand guys who discriminate. A woman is a woman, and I’d like to try all flavors.”

He was babbling now, as my friend liked to do. Once he started, there usually was no shutting him up. But I had a short fuse tonight.

“So let’s go out and I’ll find you whatever type of pubic hair you’re feeling tonight. Hell, it could even belong to a man since you sound so interested. Let’s just go.”

“Testy, are we? Sounds like somebody needs a good blow job.”

I shake my head, laughing. “Are you offering?”

“Fuck you, go home.” He finally rises off the couch, taking my empty bottle and his own and putting them in his recycling bin.

For a crude guy, Bryan was always obsessively neat. It’s why he fit so well in his job at the Environmental Protection Agency.

“Fine, but pick me up in ten. We’re going to the Spy.”