Page 49 of For Your Consideration

“Well, he’s a friend.” I shrugged.

She shot me a look. “Do you really believe that?”

Sophie clapped her hands, pulling my attention to her. I looked at her with wide eyes. “Such a sweet girl, are you clapping?” I clapped back and she giggled then reached for my finger, grabbing it in her hand and shaking it.

“You aren’t getting out of this conversation, young lady,” Iris said sternly.

I let out a sigh, looking up at Iris. “Yes, I believe we’re friends. I can’t really do much other than that, plus Ash didn’t seem to have a problem with it.”

“It’s been a while since your stupid, useless ex showed you how much of a garbage human he was. You’re not going to be alone forever. Life is too precious not to share.”

“I’ve got Sophie, and I’ve just got my feet under me—I have absolutely no interest in putting any of that at risk. And again,” I looked up at her, raising an eyebrow, “Asher is just a friend. And I really like having him as a friend.”

She narrowed her eyes at me. “I should meet this man. He sounds like he might be an idiot.”

I huffed out a surprised laugh at her comment. “Why would you say that?”

“He’s an idiot for only wanting to be your friend.”

I rolled my eyes. “Please, he seems just fine with the title. He didn’t even blink when I said it.”

I caught Sophie’s eye and managed to get my finger free just as she threw her upper body at me, clearly done with sitting on her own. When I tucked her into my side, she rested her head on my shoulder.

“You aren’t a good liar.” Iris pointed at me before smiling. “But I’ll drop it.” I was about to say thank you when she kept going. “For now.”

Shooting her a look, I tapped Sophie’s back. “Alright, your turn in the hot seat.”

She sat up straighter, tossing some of her silver-gray hair back over her shoulder. “I’ve been waiting for you to ask me questions.”

“You had plans last night,” I probed. I’d tried to have her over for dinner but she told me she had other plans. Which wasn’t overly surprising because she had a more active social life than I did, but she’d mentioned a man in her response.

“I did. I didn’t even sleep at home last night. His name’s Clint, he’s sixty-two years old and a spirited lover in bed. The man even gave me an orgasm.”

My jaw dropped as I looked around the park, making sure no one was listening to us. “Iris!”

“What? Once he got hard, he had a good dick. He told me he didn’t take anything. Not sure I believe him but he lubed up and got me off so I don’t care how he did it.” She winked.

“Iris.” I put a hand over Sophie’s ear, looking at the woman in shock as she laughed. “I need more hands to cover my own ears. I don’t need to hear about this.”

“You have a child; you know what sex is.”

“We are at a park,” I hissed. “You can’t be throwing these words around.”

“If people aren’t okay hearing about an old lady having a good night, then they shouldn’t listen to us. Plus, you’re my friend, and this is what friends talk about. Do you talk to your friend Asher about this?”

I rubbed my hand over my forehead, shaking my head and completely ignoring her comment. “Well, I guess I’m happy for you.”

“I’m happy for me too. You should try it, Sutton. I bet your ex wasn’t great at giving orgasms but it does wonders for the mood.”

A day later I closed the door in the bathroom, slid down the wall and sat on the ground. Placing the baby monitor beside me, I rested my head on my knees. And as soon as I tried to take a full breath, the tears started.

Most days, Sophie was an angel. I was very lucky. She slept most of the time, went with the flow, didn’t seem to mind spending her days at Iris’s, and followed my lead.

But days like today still happened. Because although motherhood was amazing, it was also really fucking hard.

Sophie woke up grumpy and despite it being the weekend and us having time together, nothing I did would get her to settle. She cried at everything, nothing was making her calm down, she didn’t sleep, didn’t want to sit still, and didn’t want to eat.

I’d finally gotten her down for bed after rocking with her for over an hour. My body was aching from moving around all day. I hadn’t eaten or had much more than a few sips of water.