36 Inches (Size Matters 3)

“Wow!” Carla claps her hands together, and it seems to wake up the people that are at the bar because they all turn their attention to us. Especially the rude bartender who swiftly comes over with our tequilas.

“Ladies, you’re a lively pair tonight, and I haven’t even given you your tequilas yet.”

He hands them over to us with the salt and as we agree to take the shot and then the cosmopolitan comes, I start to get braver. I start talking, a bit too much.

“No, it’s a lie. I’m not just seeing someone. I think that I’m falling in love!”

“Woo-hoo!” Carla shouts out, and then I nod my head and say, “He’s so into me. But then maybe a little too much, because he’s younger. Much younger…”

She laughs. “Age ain’t nothing like a number. Follow your heart and for once in your life have some fun. You’ve had a crappy eighteen years of being with someone who doesn’t want to be with you. Just go with the flow. Seriously, if I knew being with a younger man could make me look as good as you are at the moment, I would have done it a long time ago.”

I smile at her words; I do feel different. More alive, I never knew until Jason and I started seeing each other that I’d been dead until now.

“Now let’s get another round of drinks. There are two men that look as if they’re going to buy them for us.”

I shake my head. “But I’m a taken woman.”

She winks, “You are. But I’m not.”

Jason

Mom came home pissed, and I don’t even want to know what state Jennifer came home in last night. I just know that I could hear them singing as they got out of the Uber car. Fuck, I felt like a dad. I sat facing the window waiting for them to come in. Mom just flopped on the door. She couldn’t even put the key in. I waited to see if Jennifer was in a better state. But I don’t think that she was in a much better one either, lucky for her Daniel was coming home at the same time, so he helped her in. I wonder where he was so late?

That’s when I remember to ask him. “Hey, last night. Where were you?”

He ignores me as he moves to another machine. Even though it’s out of season to train, we still need to keep our fitness levels up. So, a regular stint at the gym and running in the morning becomes part of our routine.

I smile at the thought that Daniel’s got a secret. One that he’s trying to hide as I think about my own and know that no matter what, his can’t be as bad as mine.

“I didn’t want to tell you like this,” he sighs as he avoids eye contact.

I have a smirk on my face thinking that I’m right. He does have a secret and part of me wonders if it has something to do with some pussy.

“What’s her name?”

“Who?” he asks trying to act innocent, but one thing about Daniel is that he’s not good at acting. Not one little bit.

“Okay, it’s Bethany. I didn’t want to tell you like this. But, we’ve been hooking up.”

I nod my head thinking that it doesn’t matter. I don’t care. I just hope that it’s a recent thing and it didn’t start before I slept with her when I came back home.

“When did it start?”

He sighs as he stands up to me. He probably thinks that I’m pissed or something, but I couldn’t give a rat’s ass. I just want to make sure that she’s not cheating on him.

“Ron’s party.”

I sigh feeling relieved, and then I head over to the treadmill. I feel like going for another run. Daniel follows me like a little puppy.

“Another run?”

I nod. “Yeah, got a lot of shit going through my mind.”

He doesn’t say anything as I put on my headphones and think about his dirty secret compared to mine. I probably made him feel bad right now. I can feel that his eyes on me, but I can’t talk to him right now because I have a secret of my own.

Daniel trusts me enough to worry about my feelings about him being with Bethany. He crossed the line by going with my ex. It’s a cardinal rule for us. Don’t go for sloppy seconds, but I’ve done something far worse. I’ve been sleeping with his mom and the worst part about it is I don’t feel guilty about it. I have been so caught up in being with Jennifer that the idea that I’m betraying one of my closest friends never entered my mind.

I’m running from my betrayal and picking up speed on the treadmill like a mad man. A man on a mission trying to escape the pain that he’s inflicting on his friend. I’ll never tell him. Jennifer said that this is just a summer fling. That we’ll both go back to our old lives when it’s all over. That’s the part that hurts me the most because I don’t think that I can do that. Not after the time we’ve spent together. The last few weeks have been the best in my life. I thought that playing ball made me feel alive. Fucking made me feel superior, but talking to Jennifer. Holding her in my arms at night makes me feel something completely different.