Page 10 of Snowballing

“Sure, bro. Thanks.” He grabbed my arm on the way by to stop me. “You won’t know if a relationship will work for you again unless you try.”

“I know that, but I still don’t know. Not sure Peachy is the place to find husband number one.”

“Peachy?” Lane got up to follow me into the kitchen.

I rinsed our old bottles in the sink to recycle, then grabbed us new ones from the fridge.

“Yeah, peach is emoji slang for butts. Dudes like butts.”

“Like I would know that.”

“You’re younger than me. You should know that. And to tell you the truth, I’m not sure this guy would’ve been interested in a relationship.”

He wasn’t a date - I hired him - but I wasn’t about to tell my brother that. We headed back into the living room.

“Oh, come on. Give him another chance.” Lane collapsed into his recliner. “I can tell you liked him.”

“How?”

“Did you already forget your minute long memory coma from before? I bet you were thinking about his peach.”

I turned pink almost immediately. I hated that it happened, but I showed a lot of emotions on my face. Most observant people, i.e. people with eyes, could see what I was feeling.

“Fuck off, Lane.”

“I knew it!”

I had a few minutes alone and Jayden immediately came to mind. If I didn’t know any better, Lane’s words were affecting me. Or maybe it was the beer.

But I had yet to apologize for the other night, and that, combined with Lane’s relationship talk, which kept replaying in my mind, made me want to reach out to him. I wouldn’t ever know if I didn’t try, and the thought of Jayden in my bed every night for the rest of my life was at least enough for me to try to make amends for kicking him out half-dressed.

I opened Peachy and started typing.

Hey Jayden, I wanted to apologize for last night. You probably think it was my boyfriend or husband that came home too early, but it was actually my son. I should’ve explained that immediately to you and had you stay, but I panicked. My kid’s never seen me with another guy (he knows I’m bi) and I haven’t dated anyone in so long, I just didn’t know what to do. Not that we were dating, but you know what I mean. Hopefully.

I feel awful that my treatment of you was less than stellar. It’s downright shameful, if I’m being honest with myself. I’d like to take you out to dinner as an apology. Please message me back. I’d at least like to know you made it home okay. I don’t have big plans for Christmas week, so my schedule is pretty open.

And send!

“Why’s your leg bouncing, Eli?”

I tried to ignore my brother.

“Eli?!”

I slowly turned to him. “What?”

“You heard me, jackass.”

I held back my grumble. “I messaged Jayden.”

“Who’s Jayden? Oh, holy shit, his name’s Jayden? Sounds spicy.” He waggled his eyebrows. “What did you say?”

“I apologized for kicking him out, and explained that I’m single and it was my son that came home and not my lover.”

“Oh god, this could be a movie. I swear you’re living in a movie right now.”

I had to force my eyes not to roll. “You can stop planning the wedding. I just asked him to dinner.”