Page 7 of It's Not PMS, It's You

“I don’t go to the gym to pick up chicks.”

“I know that, but that doesn’t mean you need to avoid them. You’re a good man and you deserve love. Everyone does.”

“Thank you and I’m confident I’ll meet someone. When the time is right, it’ll happen.”

“Not even a hello?” Brandon asked. “That’s all it takes to start, you know. Then next time another hello, and by the third hello you can introduce yourself. Nice and slow is the way to go, but it always starts with a hello.”

“Now, you’re a poet. And if it makes you feel any better, I told her she should put ice on her injured wrist.”

“Great!” He scratched the side of his chin. “But I still think you should’ve asked her out.”

We both got in the truck and I started the engine, turning to him before I pulled out of the parking lot. “Asking her out was the last thing on my mind. She could be married with five kids.”

Brandon fastened his seatbelt. “I get it. You’re holding the wedgie against her.”

I chuckled. “Yes—that’s it. Exactly.” I pulled onto the street and headed toward my client’s home. Luckily, it was only a few minutes away.

“Everybody gets wedgies, you know.” Brandon moved his butt around on the seat. “I think I have a little one right now.”

I shot him a quick look and then got my eyes back on the road. “I don’t need to know things like that. And true, people get wedgies, but not everybody falls off a bike in a spinning class. Not that I would holdthatagainst her, but you need to give it a rest. Trust me—there’s no doubt in my mind that she’s hoping to never see me again after what happened.”

“Well, as long as you keep an open mind. You can’t let what happened between you and Crystal stop you from finding someone special.”

Crystal was my ex-wife.

She had worked too much, I had rarely seen her when we were married and when I had, she only wanted to talk about her work. She was the one who pushed my career path into a direction I hadn’t wanted it to go, which led to my health problems. We ended the marriage on good terms and we have a beautiful daughter together, Lindsey, who’s in her last year of college now.

“Crystal wasn’t a bad woman,” Brandon said.

“I know that.” I turned down the next street and slowed down since we were approaching my client’s house. “Crystal was a workaholic, and it takes a certain person to live with and be in a relationship with a workaholic. I’m not that person. Call me crazy, but when I’m in a relationship with a woman, I like to see her regularly. I gave it a shot, tried to be as supportive as possible, but beingcareer-mindeddiffers from beingcareer-obsessed.”

“Can’t argue with that.” Brandon pointed to the driveway. “Back into the driveway, so I don’t have to carry the doors so far.”

“Of course.” I backed in, stuck the truck in park, and turned off the engine.

Brandon opened his door and was about to jump out, but then stopped. “I still think you should’ve asked out wedgie girl.”

“She seemed a little too serious for me. She didn’t even smile.”

“I don’t think anyone smiles in a spinning class.”

“Fair enough.”

“And most people aren’t filled with joy and happiness and smiles when they have something stuck up their butt.”

“Another fair point, but there was also a tiny incident of her threatening to sue the gym and get the instructor fired, even though it was her fault she fell off the bike. I heard the whole thing since I was right behind her. She knew exactly what to say.”

“Did it work?”

I nodded. “The instructor looked terrified.”

“She’s smart, too.”

I chuckled. “Yeah. I did love her confidence, I’ll give her that much. Anyway, she looked like she was out to bulldoze anyone who stood in her path. I snuck out of the class before she killed me for leaving fingerprints on her water bottle.”

Brandon arched an eyebrow. “What were you doing with her water bottle?”

“She dropped it. I picked it up for her.”