Author's note:
This is Chapter Two in a story, but it can be read as a stand alone. Hope you enjoy!
Chapter Two
"I'm not saying you should fuck him, but I'm saying you should fuck him." Angie, Cara's best friend, took a sip of her drink. "He sounds perfect for you."
"Ew, no relationships." Cara wrinkled her nose. "I am not looking to date."
"Nope, just looking to make out with your handsome neighbor, and then let him hear you getting off thinking about him. I agree. No dating. Just fucking."
"Jesus, Angie!" Cara choked on her wine and looked around the busy restaurant. "We're in public."
Angie grinned. She liked pushing Cara's somewhat prudish buttons. They'd been friends since the fifth grade. When Cara met Ethan, Angie knew it would never work. She recognized a soul sucker when she met one. But there was no way she could tell her best friend who was walking around with little hearts in her eyes.
Cara's light faded over the years with him until finally, they both figured out how miserable they were and ended things.
It was Ethan who made Cara miserable, Angie loyally knew.
"I've seen him carry groceries from his car. Nice forearms."
"I never should have said anything."
Angie waved that off. "Nonsense, you have to tell me everything. This is all new and exciting. I had no idea you had such unexplored depths."
Cara laughed, "Me either."
"Invite him over for dinner, proposition him, start the fucking. Men are simple creatures..."
"Says the lesbian."
"Exactly. If I wanted something simple, I would date men. Women are more complicated, with unexpected layers. Like a delicate trifle." Angie leaned back in her seat. "As long as you're having fun, you're being safe, and its consensual, do whatever you want. But you have to promise me you'll tell me everything."
"Deal."
***
It took nerve for her to send him a text message. After their exchange two weeks before, they had texted a few times, all casual. As if Sunday night had never happened. Maybe he wanted to pretend it never happened.
Damnit, there was Ethan sliding into her thoughts like a Twitter troll heading for someone's DMs. Not today, Satan.
Cara pulled out her phone and typed, "Free for dinner Friday evening? I don't cook but I order pizza like a champ."
Her nerves had three seconds to frazzle before her phone buzzed. "Absolutely! Dessert?"
"Your choice."
Ok then. She would be seeing Michael on Friday.
***
Fuck him and tell me everything.
Angie's voice echoed in Cara's mind as Michael refilled their wine glasses. "Ready for dessert?"
Cara shook her head and sighed, "Oh no, I'm pretty full --"
Michael leaned in and paused inches from her neck. "Not that kind of dessert."
Her breath caught in her throat. "Oh."
His lips grazed her neck. "Still full?"
"I don't want to marry you!" Cara blurted out. Damn her stupid nerves and her stupid mouth which never shut up at the right time.
Michael didn't run from the house in fear. Instead he leaned back so he could look into her eyes. "Thank god, because I don't want to marry you."
"OK." Cara knew her entire face was beet red, but she had to keep going. "I met my ex when I was twenty-seven and I thought I was an old maid because I was single. I threw myself at him, gave him everything he could possibly want. I kept doing that for fourteen years until I had an epiphany. Ethan never loved me. He loved what I could provide for him. He loved the children I gave him. But he didn't love me. And he knew it. I'm not going through that again."