The Assignment

Okay. Way to ease into things.

“Say what?” His eyes narrowed as he bounced his daughter on his lap. “You dated that guy?”

“That’s Troy. Remember me telling you about him? He cheated on me with Noel’s wife, Samantha, back when we were cheerleaders together.”

“Oh, that guy.” He turned to me. “Didn’t Aspyn make him shit himself or something?”

Clearing my throat, I nodded. “I tried…with a donut.”

“Why the hell are you dating him, Aspyn? That’s crazy.”

“She’s not dating him,” Jasmine clarified. “She’s messing around with him.”

I swallowed. Troy had become quite a bit more to me than a convenient fuck, but no way was I getting into all that with them.

I rubbed my palms together. “Well, like you said that day at your house, Jasmine, he and I are both single. And we’d been spending a lot of time together anyway. It’s not easy to meet people. Especially in Meadowbrook. So, one thing led to another. I figured there was no harm if we’re both adults.”

“Yeah, I mean, as long as you don’t go getting attached to the guy,” Cole said, placing his hand on his wife’s thigh. “Because clearly he doesn’t know how to treat a woman, if he cheated on this beautiful one.”

That stung a little. Not only because it made me feel like Cole thought I was gullible, but because it also reminded me of Troy’s past, something I’d been working hard to forget. Yes, Troy had cheated on a beautiful and kind girl. He was technically the same person who’d done terrible things. But more and more, I also felt like he’d changed. To what extent, I still couldn’t be a hundred-percent sure. But he wasn’t the same person he’d been back then. It didn’t seem like the appropriate time to defend him, though, when I’d literally been caught with my pants down.

“Be right back,” I said, needing a moment to breathe. “Gonna put on that coffee.”

I fumbled with the coffee jar, practically forgetting how to complete this simple task. Vowing to put my big girl panties on, I needed to face this situation head on.

I returned to the living room carrying a tray with a carafe of coffee and three mugs. I poured each of us a cup and let them handle putting their own milk and sugar in. Embarrassingly, I didn’t have anything in the house to serve alongside the coffee on such short notice. Food wasn’t my priority these days, apparently. Perhaps I should’ve offered them a TV remote to munch on.

“I just don’t want you to get hurt,” Jasmine said as she stirred sugar into her drink. “You’re good with Troy as long as you don’t take it seriously. I wholeheartedly believe that guys like that don’t change.” She looked over at Cole. “I’m just so relieved I got one of the good ones.”

I wanted to throw up a little. That was great for them, but hadn’t she confessed that sex wasn’t all that exciting anymore? Anyway, I digress. The real reason I felt so uneasy was this inexplicable need to defend Troy. It was killing me not to. And that, I suppose, said a lot about my feelings for him.

“I agree that you got a good one.” I forced a smile. “But Troy is good for me right now. He’s what I need in my life at the moment. And he may not have known how to be a proper boyfriend in the past, but he was practically a kid then and going through a lot. There’s stuff I’ve learned that I didn’t know then. Things you don’t know either, Jasmine. I’m not saying he’s perfect. But I wouldn’t be spending my time with someone I believed was still an asshole—even for casual sex.” I looked her in the eyes. “It’s taken me some time to draw that conclusion about him. This was not something I jumped into.”

Jasmine just stared at me for a few moments. “Are you serious? You’re thinking he’s boyfriend material?”

“Right now we’re just seeing where things go. But the side of him I’ve experienced over the past few weeks isn’t anything like I would have expected. He’s been nothing but considerate, reliable, attentive—kind to Kiki. I understand where you’re coming from as well, though. That’s why I’ve had my guard up this entire time.”

“Well,” she said smugly. “I guess time will tell.”

I could surmise from her tone that regardless of what I might say, she felt I was being naïve. But she was right about one thing: time would certainly tell.

“Honestly, I’ve been terrified to tell you. Because that night at your house, I never saw this coming, even if you say you did. And I knew you would reiterate that ‘once a cheater, always a cheater.’ Just know that I’m being cautious, and that I’m sorry for any awkwardness I’ve caused you because of this decision. You’re handling it a heck of a lot better than I ever would.”