Chapter 16
“What? No! I can’t go!” Kasey screamed somewhat hysterically later that night when all her well-laid plans were ruined and she found herself trying to smother Sara with a pillow.
In self-defense, of course.
“Let go!” Sara demanded, sounding out of breath as she tore the pillow out of Kasey’s hands and turned the tables on her.
“I’m not going!” Kasey said, rolling over in a desperate attempt to escape the mad woman.
“Yes,” pant, “you,” groan, “are!” Sara bit out as she grabbed hold of Kasey’s ankle and -
“Oh, crap!” Kasey gasped when she suddenly found herself pulled back into the middle of the bed, shoved onto her back and a demented woman pinning her to the bed.
“You’re going!”
“Hell no!” Kasey yelled, trying to wiggle her way to freedom, but unfortunately for her, Sara was a lot heavier than she looked.
“You’re,” grunt, “going!” she said through clenched teeth as Kasey did her best to throw the larger woman off her.
“Oh, my God! I’m naked,” she reminded her best friend, hoping to buy herself a little time.
“You’re wearing pajamas!” Sara shot back, accusingly.
“Same thing!”
“No, it’s not!”
“I still need to get dressed!”
“You can do that in the car,” Sara snapped, adjusting her hold and-
“What are you doing?” Eric asked, as he climbed onto her bed and sat back, grabbing the remote and not really looking like he cared that they were beating the shit out of each other as he sat there, scrolling through channels and taking a bite out of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich that he’d been forced to make since her kitchen was now out of commission.
“She’s trying to get out of going,” Sara said tightly as Kasey continued to struggle.
“I’m not going!”
“Yes, you are!”
“Why do we care if she goes?” Eric asked around another bite, sounding bored.
“Because!” Sara snapped as though that said it all, which in her mind it probably did, but since she’d clearly lost her goddamn mind that wasn’t saying much at all.
“I’m tired and I just want to go to bed,” she groaned, which was sadly true.
From the moment they’d managed to drag her off Eric, they’d been working non-stop, trying to clean up the mess until about a half hour ago when their wives had forced them to call it a night. She still wasn’t sure how they’d managed to get it done so quickly, but within the hour they’d had the water shut off, a large dumpster delivered, and a permit to cover the damages that needed to be fixed.
After Eric had fled for his own safety they’d quickly decided that there was no point in trying to save the rug. So, Trevor and Jason had moved her furniture into the garage and had torn up the ruined rug, rolled it up and threw it in the dumpster while Reese had worked on fixing the damaged pipes. Once the rug was out, she took over the job of pulling up the old padding and carrying it out to the dumpster while the guys were forced to tear out all the cabinets on the damaged wall so that they could replace the pipe that Eric had destroyed.
Except for the meal breaks they’d taken, and she’d honestly never met anyone who devoured as much food as they did, they’d worked nonstop until the pipes were fixed while she’d worked with Mikey on pulling all the staples out of the living room floor. When their wives came over and announced that it was time for dinner, she’d nearly wept with joy.
That is until Reese had reminded her that they had plans. Well, they were really his plans since she planned on curling up in her bed with a bottle of Advil. Every muscle hurt, which made her wonder what kind of sick bastard would even suggest going out tonight? Clearly the man had issues, but that was something that he needed to work out with his therapist, because she had her own issues to work out, the biggest one being the psychotic bitch trying to force her to leave the confines of her bed.
“You need to go!”
“Why do you care if she goes?” Eric asked, shoving the last bite in his mouth as Kasey finally managed to free herself.
“Because she needs to go!”
“Why?” Eric asked, looking incredibly confused.
“I’m not going,” she said firmly as she slowly backed up towards the headboard, not stupid enough to turn her back on her demented friend twice in one night.
“I thought you were looking forward to the fair,” Eric said, oblivious to Sara’s plans, which gave her hope.
“I’m tired,” she repeated, wondering why they were having such a difficult time understanding this.
“Really?” Sara asked, crossing her arms over her chest. “So, your sudden desire to skip the fair has nothing to do with a certain neighbor that makes you blush?”
“I’m not interested in him,” she said, deciding to get straight to the point. “I don’t have time for a-”
“Oh, my fucking god,” Eric mumbled in disgust, cutting her off as Sara said, “This again? Really?”
“What?” she asked, shoving a pillow behind her as she shifted closer to Eric so that the woman scowling at her could join them as they sat against the headboard.
“What? Are you freaking serious?” Sara asked, shaking her head in disgust as she reached over her and snatched the remote out of Eric’s hand.
“I don’t have time for a fling,” she said, shrugging and wondering what their problem was.
She was too busy with Mikey, her job, putting together her cookbook and about a dozen other things to worry about some guy. It just wasn’t in the cards for her right now and that was fine with-
“When’s the last time that you went out on a date?” Sara asked with a pointed look while she shifted to face her as she waited for an answer.
“I don’t know. A couple of months?” she said with a shrug, wondering where she was going with this.
“Try a couple of years,” Eric said with a snort of disgust as he reached over her and snatched the remote back.
“I’m thinking five,” Sara said and this time it was Kasey’s turn to snort in disgust.
“It has not been five years.”
“She’s right,” Eric said, putting the game back on.
“Thank you.”
“It’s been six and she only went on that date, because we guilt tripped her into going,” Eric said matter-of-factly as he settled more comfortably against the headboard.
“It has not been six years!” she said with a scoff and a shake of her head, because someone was lying his little ass off, which was sad.
“When’s the last time that you kissed a man?” Sara asked, cocking a brow in triumph as Kasey suddenly decided that she’d had enough for one night and climbed off the bed. She walked over to the bureau and toyed with one of Mikey’s baby pictures.
“It was Thomas James,” Eric announced.
“I don’t want to talk about this,” she said, all her good humor gone.
“You cried for a week after he kissed you,” Sara said softly as though her tone would soften the blow of the reminder of the first and last time she’d betrayed Michael.
It didn’t.
She hadn’t wanted to go on that date, but she’d let them convince her that it would help her move on. She’d known Thomas since they were kids. He was kind, funny, and one of the few boys who hadn’t called her a slut in high school. The date had actually been nice. They’d grabbed a bite to eat, caught a movie, talked, and laughed. She’d actually enjoyed herself for the first time in a long time, but all that changed when he’d kissed her.
She hadn’t expected it, which was foolish considering that they’d been on a date. One minute, they’d been laughing and the next…
She’d been struggling to catch her breath, sobbing uncontrollably, and he’d been screaming for Sara, who’d been inside her house, babysitting Mikey with Eric and waiting to see how the date had gone. She didn’t remember much after Eric came out and wrapped his arms around her or what they’d said to Thomas, but she remembered the pain that followed.
God, it had felt like she’d lost Michael all over again.
It was something that she never wanted to experience again, which is why she hadn’t gone on another date since. She could tell them whatever bullshit story she wanted, but in the end, it was quite simple.
“I’m not ready yet,” she said softly with a small shrug, waiting for an argument, but instead she felt Sara’s arms wrap around her.
“Then you’re not ready,” she said with a shrug and a squeeze.
“What about Reese?” Kasey asked, worrying her bottom lip.
“Will understand,” Sara promised her.
“But-”
“Honestly, I don’t think he’s looking for anything anyway. I think he just came down here to relax and kill some time. I don’t think that he’s looking for anything more than someone to hang out with and pass the time,” Sara said, giving her another reassuring squeeze.
“Are you sure?” she asked, after a slight pause.
“I’m sure.”