Page 55 of Falling for the Unexpected

Chapter 14

Kyle

The rest of October and early November was spent trying to find a balance between work and spending time with Simone and Stella. Those two girls had quickly cemented their place in my life, and surprisingly, I was okay with that. Since our date at my house, Simone and I had only managed to be alone a couple other times. Otherwise, our dates consisted of us spending time as a trio, which required a lot of creativity and speed if we wanted to be intimate. Thank goodness Simone had overcome her discomfort at being together when Stella was in the house.

I had to admit that I didn’t mind spending most of our time together with her daughter. Maybe that was odd, but somehow, having Stella play such a large role in our relationship made me feel even more invested. Even though our relationship was very new, there was absolutely no doubt that I had extremely strong feelings for Simone, and by extension, Stella as well.

Tonight, I was reluctantly going out with Trent, Ian, and Erik. The three of us hadn’t gone out together since Simone’s birthday weekend and I knew I couldn’t put it off any longer since I’d bailed on him a few weeks ago. Trent liked to start the fun on Friday and continue through the weekend. Erik was always game, but I was not feeling it.

Simone had made plans with Addie. They hung out at least once a week, usually with Stella. It made me happy that my sister and my girlfriend got along so well. The phrase, “my girlfriend,” still felt strange when thinking about Simone, but I loved it at the same time. Knowing our relationship had Addie’s stamp of approval definitely made things easier.

I also appreciated her efforts in distracting Simone. Tomorrow was Brad’s visitation day and he’d probably be a no-show again. Hence, girls’ nights on Fridays or something on Saturday morning. While expectations were quite low, visitation days still tended to be stressful for Simone as well as for Marla and Jim, and I liked that my sister was trying to help ease some of Simone’s nerves.

According to the text from Ian, we were going to meet up at Dixie’s, a small bar that had live music. While I was looking forward to spending some time with my three best friends, I knew they would notice I wasn’t trying to flirt or hit on anyone. Truth be told, when we used to go out, we usually each went home with a woman. I wasn’t exactly proud of my casual dating history, but things had definitely changed for me.

I put on a pair of black jeans and layered a T-shirt with a gray sweater and then headed out. The weather was getting colder at night as we approached the holidays. While we didn’t get freezing cold temperatures here, the evening breeze off the ocean could get downright chilly. I didn’t want to drive since we would probably be drinking, so I chose to walk the ten blocks to the bar. I could always Uber back home if I needed to.

I decided to text Simone while I walked since I knew I wouldn’t be able to be on my phone all night without drawing unwanted attention.

Me:On my way to meet the guys. Hope you have a fun night with Addie.

Simone:We’ve decided on movie and pizza night. Enjoy your time with the boys.

Me:I would rather be with you.

I knew I sounded completely whipped. But it was true. I would rather be with Simone. I loved the feel of her in my arms, just being around her and doing nothing at all. She brought a sense of calmness and meaning to my life that I hadn’t experienced before. Work had always been my main source of feeling like I was contributing and doing something meaningful, but now, with my two girls, I felt like I had that in my personal life as well. And it felt amazing.

Simone:Me too. : )

I put my phone back in my pocket when I reached the bar. My three friends were already there, outside, watching me.

“Why the fuck do you look so happy? You already lining up something for tonight?” Ian asked, slapping my back.

“Shut up. I was just checking messages for work,” I lied.

“Nothing at work ever makes me smile like that,” Trent quipped dryly. “Someone send you a naked selfie?”

Great, now Trent had inadvertently put the idea of a naked Simone in my head. Not what I needed to be thinking about at the moment. Especially because it had been four days since we’d had sex.

We made our way into the bar just as the band was starting their set. We had seen this group before and they did some pretty good covers of classic rock songs. The four of us headed to the bar where we each ordered a beer on tap and managed to find a table off to the side of the makeshift dance floor.

We took some time to really catch up with each other, something we hadn’t done since Ian had returned home. He told us how things were going with the contracting business he was taking over from his father. Unlike Trent and me, Ian had never planned to work in the family business. Unfortunately, his father had started to have some health problems so Ian agreed to move back home and take over.

Erik shared with us how his business was going. He was making a name for himself in the racing circuits and his auto shop was taking off. So much so that he had to hire two additional mechanics, bringing his staff up to six.

“So, Mom wanted me to ask all of you what you were doing for Thanksgiving. She said you’re all welcome to come over for dinner,” Trent said, addressing all of us.

“That sounds good to me. My folks are heading back to Florida to visit my sister since my dad doesn’t need to stick around for the business,” Ian said.

“I can probably stop by,” Erik added.

“What about you, Kyle?” Trent asked. “We invited Brad, but once he found out Simone was also invited, he told us he had other plans. Mom called Addie and she said she was coming.”

“I’ll be there,” I stated. There was no way I was going to miss spending the holiday with my girls. Besides, Simone and I had agreed to let people know we were together at Thanksgiving and I was more than ready to take our relationship public.

We continued making small talk, scanning the crowd, and listening to music. A couple girls approached our table, striking up conversations with whichever guy interested them. Trent and Erik were all over that while Ian and I were mere observers. Even though I knew why I wasn’t joining in, I was a bit surprised that Ian wasn’t showing any interest. I looked over at him with a raised brow, questioning his intentions. He just shrugged his shoulders and went back to drinking his beer and avoiding further eye contact. I wasn’t going to push him if he didn’t push me.

After a few minutes of conversation, Trent and Erik headed out to the dance floor with two of the girls, leaving their other friends with Ian and me.