True Bliss (11 page)

Nate is a man whore who seeks out fellow man whores. We bonded instantly over a love of hair and cronuts. Cronuts are the genius combination of a donut and a croissant, filled with vanilla cream. Seriously, he introduced me to the glorious pastry and my ass has been cursing him ever since. Of course, Nate says my ass has never looked so good, so I keep him around as my personal ass motivation coach. Every girl needs one of those.

 “Yes, well one can only live in hope that the promise of him is just as good as the reality. You'd know all about that, wouldn't you?”

“Unfortunately yes, but in my experience, the promises are always full of crap,” I say despondently.

Nate leans over and wraps his arm around my shoulder, pulling me into his side. “He's out there, Kate. Your paths just haven't crossed at the right time. Just you wait, I bet he'll sweep you off your feet, and you won't even realize it's happening until you're head over heels.”

I sigh loudly. “If only.”

Zander

It's been three days of radio silence. Well, internet silence. Three days. She hasn't logged in or replied to my messages or anything.

Shit, when did I turn into a pussy? It's only been three days.

The thing is, when she logged off suddenly on Saturday night, our conversation was just starting to get interesting. I was already worried after I had to reject her when she suggested we meet up, but it's too soon. I need to build our connection a bit more, get to know each other more before we meet up and she realizes that it's me. 

By Tuesday morning, I've had enough. So I decide to take action, even if it means outing myself as Kate's new internet admirer.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Mac, it's Zander.”

“Ah yep, kinda got that from my caller ID,” she replies with a giggle.

“Yeah, good point. So um, I wanted to ask you something.”

“Dude, you know I'm pregnant with a super baby right?”

I chuckle. I've definitely missed Mac's sass. “Yes, I'm very aware of that. No way I'm going up against a superhero. I'm actually calling about Kate.”

The line goes deathly quiet. If I thought I had radio silence before, that was nothing compared to the sudden hush in my ear.

“Okay, Zan, you've got about two minutes to tell me everything before I decide whether to kick your ass or not. Was it you that she went out with on Saturday?”

“What? No!” Then it hit me that Kate had mentioned that she'd had a horrific night. “Wait, what happened Saturday night?”

“I don't know, that's the point. She had a date with someone called Spencer. It was a last minute thing, and she kind of jumped into it head first without doing the normal chatting and finding out about him. It was as if she were feeling bad, so she took the first date offered. He asked her out after a few messages, and she agreed straight away, but then came home Saturday night, got drunk, and acted like everything was fine on Sunday when we met Dan's parents.”

“Wait up. You met Daniel's parents? Wow, Mac, that's awesome! How did it go? “

“Well there were no major freak-outs if that's what you're asking. It was great, his parents are lovely.”

“So next comes marriage…”

“What? Hell no! Take it back!” I can't hold back my laughter now. It's good to see that Mac hasn't totally changed. Then she corners me. “But hang on. Why are you suddenly so worried about Kate?”

I stutter for a bit before answering. “Ah, yeah, well, we've kind of been talking on Chicago Singles-“

“Oh my god! That's why you asked me about her internet dating? That's so cool! So why have you only been chatting? It's not as if you're strangers. You guys could be dating already, and then we could go on double dates. Holy shit, this is awesome.”

Like I expected, Mac is blowing this way out of proportion.

“Mac, babe, she doesn't know it's me.”

“What do you mean she doesn't know it's you?”

“She knows me as nightdancer23”

She suddenly starts laughing-insane, crazy woman laughing. “Oh. My. God. You call yourself nightdancer23?”

“Yes. What the hell, Mac?” I'm getting a little annoyed now. The internet dating part of the story is not important right now.

“How has she not figured it out? It's so obvious! Night dancer, stripper?”

“I don't know. But that's not the point, Mac,” I reply tersely.

“No, not really,” she says with a sigh. “So why haven't you told her?”

“I've been wanting to tell her, but I wanted to get to know her first, give her a chance to get to know me without the baggage that is you and me,” I explain.

“Zan, I get it, I really do. And because it's Kate, it is actually a good play. But dude, she's my best friend. You've got to come clean with her, or else it's going to backfire on you and it won't be pretty. She's big on honesty and trust. Like HUGE. They're deal breakers for her.”

Fuck, I feel like an idiot now. Maybe I've screwed this whole thing up before getting a chance to be with Kate; without showing her the kind of man she deserves to be with. 

“So am I, Mac. I just didn't think she'd give me a chance if she knew who I was.”

“You should also know that she wants her happily ever after. If you're looking for a quick lay, then you're going after the wrong girl.”

“I'm not looking for a quick lay,” I growl down the phone. “And I wouldn't use Kate for that. She's worth way more than a one night stand.”

“Eeeek. You like her!” she states, rather emphatically down the phone.

“What I've seen so far of her, yes, of course I do. What is not to like, Mac? And I want to find out more. Which is why I rang you. She told me she'd had a horrific night on Saturday night, which would be that date. I tried finding out what happened, but she wouldn't share. Then she got drunk, we played a question and answer game, and just when it started getting interesting, she bailed and hasn't been online since,” I explain. “And she's usually on at least once a day, and she isn't replying to my messages. Unfortunately, I've now got more pressing things to deal with, like finding a new place.”

“What? What happened?”

“Would you believe that Zach was entertaining and forgot about the dinner he was cooking to impress her? Left him with a burnt dinner and a burnt kitchen.” I have to laugh because if I don't, I'll go crazy. Only Zach could be so focused on getting laid that he'd forget about dinner and burn the kitchen down. Right now I'm staying at a motel until I can find something else.

Radio silence comes back with a vengeance. So much so, that I pull the phone away from my head to check that the call was still connected.

“I got it. Be at my place 8 p.m. tonight.”

“What the hell, Mac? I can't crash at your place. What will Daniel say?”

“Ah, actually, Daniel will be a very happy man. I'll explain tonight. Promise you'll be there.”

“Yes, I'll be there. But what about Kate?”

“I'll sort Kate out as well. All you have to do is turn up looking as hot as you usually do and everything will work out perfectly.”

“Mac…”

“Zan, trust me. This will all work out.”

I hang up the phone, hoping like hell that Mac is right. Because right now, I'm out of options.

KATE

I get home just after six and walk through the door to find Mac at the stove, cooking. What the hell? Mac is not a cook, she doesn't even bake. She's definitely not a chip off her mother's block because Mrs. Lewis can cook, and I mean cook. But Mac...well, she must have skipped the line in heaven when they were handing out cooking ability and gone straight to the big boobs line, or the high sex drive line. Either-or.

“Welcome home, honey,” Mac says cheerfully. Too cheerfully.

I eye her suspiciously. “Hey.”

“Oh, don't be like that. Can't your best friend cook you a nice dinner for once?”

“Yes, a best friend can do that when they can cook, and when their name isn't Makenna Lewis.”

“Oh ye of little faith.”

“I have little faith because I've tasted your cooking if you can call it that.”

She turns around and faces me, putting her hands on her hips. “Well, lucky for us, Danny boy cooked this before he went back to his place.”

“Oh, thank the lord for Superman. He saves the day again,” I reply with a huge grin. “You could take lessons, you know. Surprise Daniel one night by cooking a tasty meal that doesn't give him food poisoning.”

“It was one time! God, you guys will never let me live that down, will you? It's not my fault that the shrimp were past their expiration date.”

I walk into the kitchen and grab a wine glass, pouring myself a nice big glass of Merlot. “It kind of is, you know. Number one rule of cooking, fresh ingredients. Oh, and the ability to actually cook helps a lot too.” I wink before ducking a flying dish towel.

“I miss wine,” she says, eyeing my glass with envy as she takes a seat at the kitchen counter.

“C'mon, you wouldn't change it for the world.”

“Nope, to be honest, I wouldn't. And after the ultrasound in a week or so, we can finally confirm that it is a girl and not a boy, and I'll be a happy mama,” she states proudly, rubbing her rounded belly with glee.

“You'd better be careful. Some of that southern twang is rubbing off on you,” I giggle, knowing that she'll take the bite.

“I'll have you know that I love that southern twang rubbing off on me. Anywhere, anytime.”

“Gross! It's bad enough I have to listen to it. I don't need to be told about it, especially when I'm not getting any.”

Mac suddenly gets a suspicious look on her face, a look that fills me with dread and also makes me wonder what the hell she's up to.

“What's this all about, Mac? You, cooking me dinner, planning an impromptu girls' night in...what's the deal?”

She feigns shock and gasps in mock horror. “I'm hurt, and frankly, disappointed that you'd doubt my intentions, Kate. Can't I have a nice night in with my best friend? Since Daniel and I got back together, I know I've been a bit slack at this whole roommate thing, so I wanted to make up for it. You've always been there for me through everything, and I think it's time I was here for you.” Her voice breaks.

I put my glass down and round the kitchen counter, wrapping my arms around her from behind. “I know you're always here for me. Whether you're with Daniel at his place, or with him here. You're like the sister I never had, and Daniel is like my adopted big brother. Please don't feel bad because you're happy. You deserve happiness,” I add, with an extra squeeze. My eyes fill with tears. I'm going to end up being a blubbering mess.

“Now, can we stop this cry fest and eat? I'm starving!” Mac announces.

Having eaten our way through garlic bread, lasagna and a delicious baked cheesecake for dessert, both Mac and I are parked up in the living room, claiming a couch each as we lie down in food comas, watching some crazy game show on television where people are training to become ninjas.

“I could never be a ninja. My big belly would get in the way,” Mac muses.

“I don't want to be a ninja. Although, I'd always be willing to date a ninja. Can you imagine the positions that they could get into? Oh my god, I just thought of one. The reverse saddle ninja!”

Mac sits up excitedly and faces me, bending one leg under the other. “No, wait! Can you imagine a ninja doing downward facing doggie style? They could probably hang upside down from the roof while fucking you. That would be awesome,” she says with a laugh.

“I know! Instead of the Vibrating V, it would be the Ninja Nooner, or Ninja Nookie!” I say, struggling to talk through my laughter.

Mac looks at her phone briefly before putting it down and looking at me.

“Everything okay?” I ask, looking at her phone.

“Oh… yeah, great. Just checking the time. But right now, we need to talk about you.” Mac sits up and rests her hands on her stomach. I'm kind of envious of her right now, but I won't admit that.

“Why's that?” I say, intrigued. Definitely didn't see the conversation shifting from ninja sex to me. If I were having ninja sex, I'd be a happy camper. Actually, sex of any kind would be happily accepted right now. Anything other than the one handed dialing of the ol' pink telephone. I should be buying my batteries in bulk with the frequent use my purple, pearl vibrator has been getting this year.