Page 16 of Happily Ever Never

I went to my station and got ready for my first appointmentof the day. A cover-up on a woman’s ankle. She had an old dolphin that hadfaded to a blob, and I was going to do a wraparound rosary for her. We wereboth excited, and it was something I had done before.

Yet it was hard to think with so many couples all around me.In fact, right at this moment, I was the odd man out again—the only person withoutsomeone.

Except, of course, Sebastian. Sebastian didn’t have anyoneeither. And now I felt like shit. Because while hewasn’t here today, the youngest of us had once had a connection that madeeverybody smile and feel only a little bit jealous.

Now, Marley was gone, and Sebastian was a single dad. Ineeded to figure out how not to walk on eggshells around him. He would neverask that of me, and he wanted things to be normal, but I always felt like I wasdoing something wrong around the kid.

I also had to stop thinking about him as a kid. He was afull-fledged adult—and a dad. He wasn’t some kid still in high school, figuringout who he was. He was working, going to school, and raising adaughter on his own.

And here I was, having sex dreams about a woman that barelyeven knew I existed. Yes, she knew my name when we’d spoken those few times inodd circumstances, but she hadn’t looked twice at me.

I needed to remember that.

Everyone was talking around me and laughing with oneanother. I looked up at my client.

Brandi sat on the chair across from me and gave me a curiouslook. “You’re looking all serious like. You want to talk about it?”

I shook my head at the woman with dark hair, kind eyes, anda familiar lift to her mouth that I couldn’t quite place. I knew many people,though. For all I knew, she had a Montgomery in some part of her family tree.

“Just thinking about life.”

“And all the lovebirds around you?” she asked, teasing.

I rolled my eyes. “It’s like an epidemic. Everybody’sfalling in love and making out with each other at work. This is a place ofserious business.”

“Oh, fuck off,” Nick grumbled.

Lake shushed him. “Don’t curse in front of the clients.”

“I don’t mind the cursing, ma’am,” his client said, and Iheld back a laugh. Nick’s client was a man who looked to be around threehundred pounds of solid muscle. He was a former linebacker for the DenverBroncos and could probably break anybody with his pinky. I was sure he hadprobably said worse in his life, so when Lake blushed, I shook my head.

“See? Serious business.”

Brandi rolled her eyes. “Whatever you say. Now, are youready to help me fix my teenage decisions?” She fluttered her eyelashes at meand pointed at her ankle.

“A porpoise with a purpose.” I nodded, my lips twitching atmy joke. “I guess it’s time to say goodbye.”

“You did not just say that,” Leifsaid with a groan. “Seriously? How long have you been waiting to use that withthe dolphin tattoo?”

“I have no idea what you mean. You flipped.”

Brandi groaned, and I grinned.

“I guess this is the tail-end of this conversation.”

“You don’t even have good dolphin jokes. I mean, at leastwhen you went on a minute rant about sheep, goats, kids, and baaaaad jokes, it made sense.”

I looked straight. “I was trying to say something about mecrossing a fine line, but the dad jokes just needed to be said.”

“Well, thank God for that,” Brandi said with a laugh.

“Two peas in a pod right there,” Nickgrumbled.

I froze and slowly turned to look at my friend. “Did youjust make a dolphin joke?” I asked incredulously.

“Of course, I didn’t. You’re fishing.”

I threw my head back and laughed as everybody tried to addtheir own fish jokes that made no sense but still made us laugh. It wassomething my parents had always done for us when we were kids. If you saidsomething about a cow and we turned it into a joke, we would make random cowpuns until the cows literally came home. It was what we did. Now, I felt alittle bit better with my friends making worse jokes than mine.