Blush for Me (Fusion 3)

“Fucking hell,” Landon murmurs.

“So I did some digging online.”

“This is where it gets really good,” Cami says.

“This is where it gets good?” Jake asks.

“Trust me,” Cami replies.

“He had given me his last name, so I found him on Facebook. It wasn’t hard.” She waves that off like it’s nothing. “I found his wife.”

“Oh God,” Landon says, rubbing his eyes.

“I’m kind of in love with Riley right now,” Mia says with a grin.

“So I sent the wife a message and told her everything.”

“That poor woman,” Kat mutters.

“Did she reply?” I ask, thoroughly enthralled in this story.

“Yeah,” Riley says, and takes another swig of wine, making me cringe. “She said that she wasn’t surprised, and that I’m not the first to tell her a similar story. I assured her that I wanted nothing to do with her husband, and she thanked me. That was it. I hope she leaves him.”

“I hope she cuts his dick off in his sleep first,” Mia says, making all three of us men cringe. “He deserves it.”

“So basically, I’m over it. I’m over men.”

“Does that mean you’ve moved on to women?” Jake asks, earning an elbow in his side from Addie. “What?”

“No, it means that I’m going to stay single. My job, my friends, my family, that’s what matters.”

“We love you,” Cami says.

“And men can suck it.” Riley finishes her wine and sets it aside. “I haven’t eaten my food yet.”

“You were too busy telling us your story,” I reply. “But you should eat and soak up some of that wine.”

“I wonder if the wine likes chicken?” Riley asks, taking a bite.

“She’s funny when she’s hammered,” Kat says with a smile. “But I feel bad for her. It was a bad night last night.”

“You know, not all men are assholes,” Landon says.

“I think Cami, Addie, and Kat got the only nice ones,” Mia says. “Riley and I are shit out of luck.”

“I found a good one,” Cici says helpfully. “You guys will too. You just have to kiss a bunch of frogs before you find your prince.”

“My prince is lost,” Riley says.

“And too stubborn to ask for directions,” Mia adds.

“This is delicious,” Mom says the next night. After I told Kat about my conversation with Dad yesterday, she suggested we invite Mom and Chase over for dinner so we could see for ourselves how Mom is doing.

Frankly, she looks better than I’ve seen her look in years.

We’re on the terrace, enjoying steaks that I grilled, along with salads that Kat made and a nice bottle of Oregon Pinot Noir.

“This is a great bottle of wine,” Chase adds, reading the label. “We should organize a tour to the vineyard.”

“They’re private,” Kat says with a smile. “They aren’t open to tours or tastings.”

“Hmm,” Chase replies. “I wonder if they’d do something special?”

“You could try,” Mom says with a smile. “The answer is always no if you don’t ask.”

“My parents used to say that too,” Kat says.

“Do your parents live here in Portland?” Mom asks.

“Yes, but they travel to Los Angeles quite often as well. There’s a lab there that they work in a lot.”

“Did you go to L.A. with them when you were a kid?” Chase asks.

“I traveled all over with them,” she replies with a bright smile. “My parents were very strict academically, but they were fun too. They wanted me to study the northern lights when I was twelve, so we took a trip to Alaska so I could actually see them, not just read about them in a book.”

“Wow,” Chase replies.

“I thought you said you’ve never flown before?” I ask.

“I hadn’t. We drove.” She shrugs, as if it’s no big deal. “We drove everywhere. It was part of my education. It was an unusual way to grow up, but I learned a lot.”

“I’m sure you did,” Mom says. “Chase and Mac were always good in school too.”

“Well, I was,” Chase replies. “Mac was a solid-C student. He was too busy playing basketball.”

“I had priorities.”

“Haven’t you ever heard that it’s all about balance?” Kat asks.

“I think you balance each other out nicely,” Mom says, sending me a wink.

“What was Mac like as a kid?” Kat asks, watching me with happy eyes.

“He was a pain in my ass,” Chase replies.

“He was a sweet boy,” Mom says, sending Chase the look that says, Shut it. “He was quiet as a little boy. I regret not talking and interacting with him more. But he was content to just play by himself. He found basketball, and that helped to bring him out of his shell.”

I shift in my seat, uncomfortable with this whole conversation.

“He was quite the athlete,” Mom continues.

“He had scholarships,” Chase adds.

“Impressive,” Kat says.

“Not really,” I reply. “I was a good high school and college player, but I was never going to go pro. I’m too short. I was mediocre.”

“Well, I was proud of you,” Mom insists.