Page 4 of Forever Only Once

“I’m not sweet, and we both know it. I can’t raise a little boy as a single mother and be sweet.”

“No, I guess you can’t,” I said and then rubbed my temples. “Enough about me. We came here to talk about our plan. However, I almost feel like, after today, maybe I shouldn’t join in.”

“No, none of us is going to back out.”

Paris pulled out her day planner and looked at the notes she had made before. “We are going to finalize this plan. Because dating sucks, online dating is worse, and the entire population of men has dwindled to like four single guys. We need to find them.”

“I hope there’s at least four,” Myra responded, tapping her spoon on the napkin in front of her. “If there isn’t, then we’re going to have to share. And while I admire triads, I’m not the sharing type,” Myra said, and I burst out laughing. It felt good to smile and laugh, and these girls usually did it for me.

“So the plan…” Paris continued.

“The plan,” Dakota echoed.

“The plan is, we are going to find each other dates,” Paris said sternly.

“Blind dates suck, though,” I said.

“Have you ever been on a blind date?” Paris asked.

“No, but that doesn’t mean they don’t suck. Going out on a date is scary enough. Going out with a stranger?”

“A stranger that we will find for you. There are men in our lives at work, at the gym, at the grocery store, everywhere. A lot are kind. We’ve all said this in the past. But they just don’t fit us for one reason or another. We’re going to somehow make this work and happen for the rest of us.”

“So…blind dates. That’s what we’re going with?” I was already nervous, and after what had just happened outside, I wasn’t sure I really wanted to be part of this anymore. But it had been far too long since I had been on a date, and I missed it. Oh, I might still have some fears, but I missed being in a relationship. I missed being held. Hell, I missed sex, but that wasn’t something I was going to say aloud.

“Not just blind dates,” Myra corrected. “Perhaps there’s someone you already know in your life that we feel would be good for you.”

“What do you mean?” I asked cautiously.

“We’ve already talked about this,” Dakota said. “We’re going to be open to dating. If there’s a man in one of our lives that we feel would be a good fit for one of the others, that’s one mark. Or maybe we want to help push each other in the correct direction.” Dakota frowned. “Not…correct, but at least decent. You know, or just find something that actively promotes a healthy relationship.” Dakota kept stirring her coffee. I wasn’t even sure the other woman had taken a sip yet.

“Yes, healthy, loving, and hot relationships,” Paris said, tapping her notes. “We’ve already discussed this. Today, we are here to go over the final rules and to draw straws.”

“Do we need rules?” I asked, a little worried now that this was all becoming real.

“You are a mathematician,” Paris said. “You love rules.”

“I know that, but I don’t know if I want to bring math into my relationships,” I said, laughing. I paused. “So math in a relationship does sound kind of hot, but I’m a nerd.”

“I’m pretty sure we all are at this point, especially if we are actively pursuing this type of plan,” Myra said, her voice soothing and always a little classy.

“What do we do?”

“We are going to work as a group to find each of us a happily ever after,” Dakota said, nodding. “Because we are four amazingly smart, strong, and beautiful women.” She rushed the last word, and Paris snorted.

“You are gorgeous,” Paris said. “Don’t even start with the whole ‘y’all are so pretty, and I’m just plain’ nonsense that you sometimes do. You’re fucking gorgeous, so just shut up.”

I snorted and sipped my drink.

“For such a sweet woman, your mouth sometimes surprises me,” I said.

Paris raised a single brow. “I don’t think anyone has ever called me sweet,” she said and then looked down at her notes again.

“We all need to write down the characteristics that we want in a man. Even though we’ve talked about this before, we are going to double-check. Then, we will draw straws and work on each of us one at a time. However, as we go through this, if we find someone that’s perfect along the way, we will take that into consideration. So, are we ready?”

“I guess I don’t have a choice,” Hazel said, swallowing hard.

“Good,” Paris said and looked down at her notes again. “Most of us want similar things, kind, caring. Some of us want beards, no beards. But that is just part of the appearance section and doesn’t matter so much.”