Kayla

"I think you should dance with Dean," Allison said. "God, he was practically drooling when he saw you in the dress."

"So what," I shrugged. "We can admit we are attracted to each other. I mean, it's obvious. You've seen him now. I wasn't lying when I said he was cute."

"No you weren't," she said.

"Jerry is easy on the eyes," I said. "Why did you two split up?"

"He cheated," she said.

"But you're not over him..."

"I am too," she said.

"Whatever," I said. "If you dance with Jerry, then I'll dance with Dean."

"It will be a cold day in hell before I let Jerry touch me again."

"Well... then I'll do what I want."

Allison rolled her eyes.

"Whatever," she sighed. "I'm going to the ATM. Have fun with the boys."

I walked back and set the drinks down and smiled.

"Ok," I said to Jerry. "I need the scoop on your marriage with Allison. I've never seen her so worked up before."

"No men have captured her attention?" Jerry said.

"Oh she has men," I said. "So many men. She usually dates for a while and then moves on. This one guy almost got her to settle down, but she ended it. He tried to buy her gifts and she went on and on about how she wanted to be independent. "

"Independent?" Jerry scoffed. "That is rich coming from a gold digger?"

"Oh Jerry, "I said. "The only gold she needs is in her purse. She has been quite successful at..."

Allison came back and slammed the drinks down, glaring.

"Stop," Allison yelled. "Don't tell him about my life! He doesn't get to know a single detail."

"But he just called you a gold digger," I said. "Shouldn't he know you're actually a..."

"No," Allison yelled. "Now, Jerry, you claimed I owed you three hundred dollars?"

"Yes ma'am," Jerry said. "But it's been ten years so it at least doubled it with interest."

"They broke up over money?" I whispered to Dean, who just nodded.

"Here," Allison said. She pulled out a wad of hundreds and dripped it down on the table. "There's two grand. Take it and now you have no reason to bitch."

"I don't want your money," Jerry screamed. "I want those eight months of my life back."

Allison stood up a little taller. She looked furious.

"It's been five years," she said. "And you're still a dick! You cheated! I want MY eight months back! "

"Guys," Dean said. "Why don't you two go outside? People are starting to stare."

"Why did you even come if you hate me so much," Allison yelled louder. "Because if you think I need you, I don't! I have plenty of men, plenty of money, and plenty of bullshit to cover anything you could provide."

"Let's go for a walk," I said to Dean, standing up. He just nodded and grabbed his drinks. We headed back to the bar and I shook my head.

"So how long until they either have sex or murder each other?" Dean asked.

"I'd give it a week," I sighed. "So much for my girl's night out."

"I'll can still be fun," Dean said.

"Ha," I scoffed. "Look around. Who am I going to dance with? There's three guys here and they all have grey hair and bimbos on their arm."

Dean glanced over and shook his head.

"Whatever," Dean said. "Do you really want to dance to this crap anyway? Really dancing has a Latin beat. I love a woman who can salsa."

My ears perked up.

"Salsa?"

"Yeah," Dean said. "I used to go salsa dancing with Greta all the time before we had kids. It was so much fun, and so sexy. Women moving their hips like that...it's so much more appealing than twerking. Whatever the fuck that is."

"I used to go salsa dancing," I said. "The boyfriend before Darius turned me onto it."

"So," Dean said. "If I could get the DJ to play something to that line, would you want to dance?"

"If don't know..."

"Just a dance," Dean said.

"Ok," I said. "One dance won't hurt."

He just nodded and walked away, approaching the DJ. I ordered a shot and downed it, feeling the burn. My wing woman abandoned me and now I was about to dance with Dean. Why did I say yes? So far, I've only said yes to Dean. What if I said yes to everything? The image of me saying yes to him over and over again as his lips covered my neck entered my mind and I shoved it away. Why was I thinking about that?

He came back and I remembered why I thought such dirty things. He was toned but wasn't too skinny. His dark eyes called out to me as his perfect smile reached his eyes. And beneath that beautiful exterior was a deeply good man. How could I think about a man I just met as if he was the ticket to paradise? I'd been happily married yesterday.

Ok, not happily. But I had been married.

I'd also been sex deprived, broke, and deceived. Darius didn't really care about me and wasn't even around when I needed him. Not usually. Did I even love Darius? Perhaps not. I was more upset about losing my Honda Civic.

"You ok?" Dean asked.

"Yeah," I said. "I just... I was thoughtful. I'm sorry. It's been a big week. "

"Well," Dean smiled. "The next song is sure to have a Latin beat. Care to join me?"

He held out his hand, and alarm bells rung in my head.

This was a very sexy man who want me to let loose and move my hips, and have fun. My natural instinct was never to let go and let loose. But yet, something in me didn't care. Alarm bells be damned; I deserved to have some fun. Lord knows my husband had been it doing it lately.

Our fingers touched and I smiled. The song Dean had requested began and we started to dance. It took just a minute to find our footing because I was so rusty. But Dean was a good lead and I found myself getting into it as my hips found their rhythm and. I just followed the beat. For a few minutes all of my reservations disappeared and I just danced. I could feel Dean's eyes on me as we got lost in the dance. The song came to a close and he dipped me backwards, my back arching as his lips hovered above my neck. It wasn't until we heard applause that we broke from our moment, and Dean tilted me back up. Everyone around us had been watching us.

"I'm so embarrassed." I blushed.

"Don't be," Dean whispered. "You're a great dancer. And you looked beautiful. "

"We should..." I said, stuttering as his eyes landed on me. "Go check on our friends. Let's make sure no one is dead."

"Oh," Dean said. "Of course."

We walked back to our table and I decided I needed water. Both because I was overheating and because I was sure the alcohol was in my head. I kept debating the idea of pulling Dean into the coat closet and ripping his clothes off. That was the tequila talking.

I came back to the table and Jerry was sitting there with an annoyed look.

"Where is Allison?" I asked.

"She called a cab," Jerry shrugged. "She said that life was too short. Whatever."

"What did you do?" Dean asked.

"Don't judge me," Jerry said. "You are the one dry humping your "nanny" Dean."

"What did you do?" I demanded.

"She asked me if I would ever admit I was wrong for cheating, and take responsibility. I told her it wasn't my fault she was such a lousy fuck."

"Jerry!" Dean yelled. "You piece of shit. You practically salivate when that woman is in the room."

"Yeah," I said. "You know, she was normal before New York. Allison never told me what happened there. But she came back all jaded. She hasn't been in one long term relationship. And you see her and insult her, talk to her like she is trash? "

Jerry just looked at me with a look that said he knew he had messed up.

"What kind of flowers does she like now?" Jerry asked. "Is it still Daisies?"

"The last time a guy bought her daisies she set them on fire." I said. "Now I know why... they remind her of you."

"What do I do?" Jerry asked me. "When I see her, I go crazy. I become a piece of shit. I don't mean it..."

"Sorry," I said. "I'm so not helping a cheating husband. You don't have my sympathy."

Jerry just nodded and put some money on the table.

"Let's go home," Jerry said. "I'm tired. "

I grabbed my purse and the three of us left.

*

*

*

I was in bed, sitting in my pajamas. I'd went downstairs strikingly fast, since Jerry came inside to talk to Dean. I tried texting Allison but she didn't answer. Finally, I sent the text that I knew she'd reply to.

KAYLA: I had sex with Dean. CALL ME.

Three seconds later my phone rang. I answered it.

"You dirty slut!" She yelled.

"I lied," I said. "But it's good to hear from you."

"You lied?" She sulked. "One of us should get laid tonight."

"Your ex-husband is upstairs," I said. "You could easily get laid. I'll give him your address. "

"You're not funny," she said. "I'm a successful woman. I'm beautiful and independent and strong. One night with that ass and I feel like shit."

"Allison... don't let him get to you. If anything you should feel empowered. Five years later and he is still drooling at your feet. "

"He seemed fine," Allison said. "He didn't even care. I asked for a simple apology and he just...laughed at me. Then he said the worst things."

"He told me..."

"Why do men cheat, and then blame us?" Allison seethed. "And you spent years thinking maybe if you'd dressed differently, or been sweeter of skinnier, and then it wouldn't have happened. Maybe if I'd been different, I wouldn't have seen the love of my life on top of some stripper with glitter on his ass."

"At least I never caught Greta and Darius," I said. "But you weren't the problem, Allison. Maybe he was just young and stupid. Maybe he is just a douche bag. You have to let it go."

"Ok," she said. "Hey, I watched that lotto thing. I'll text you the numbers in case you win something. "

"Thanks," I laughed. "But don't be sad over Jerry."

"Are you sad over your divorce?"

"No," I said. "I'm ok. I guess I figure Darius needed me but I never needed him."

"That sounds nice," Allison said. "You should totally bone Dean. He's a dilf."

"A dilf?"

"It means dad I'd like to..."

"Ahhh," I said. "Yeah. He is. But maybe it will be fun to have a hot platonic friend."

"Good luck with that," Allison laughed.

I hung up with her and shook my head. That girl was crazy and every time we hung out I aged at least three years with worry. I checked the text she sent me and shook my head. Where was that lotto ticket at? I pulled it out and compared them, freaking out.

Apparently I'd would won the lottery. All of my problems faded away as I jumped up and down and screamed like a psychopath.