Second Chance Romance - Page 20/137

Throwing back the covers, Mandy swung out of bed. She obviously wasn't going to fall back asleep now. She was thinking about dating again. She had just masturbated alone again, to a fantasy of her high school boyfriend. Her life was on a downward slide. She needed to call Sophia. She needed a kick in the ass in the right direction. The only one who would give her that was Sophia, her best friend since the first day of college when she got lost. Sophia was two years older than her and become like the older sister Mandy never had.

Well, while Sophia loved her to death she probably won't appreciate a pre­9 AM phone call. Sophia's youngest were finally sleeping through the night. That left, oh 4 hours to kill before she could get a kick in the ass. There was all sorts of trouble Mandy could find before then. Like giving Kip her phone number, telling him she lived within driving distance from him. Not that those things weren't inevitable. She was entirely screwed when it came to Kip Turner.

Okay, so, stay away from the computer was the best option. Colton would be up in a two hours, that cut her time to find distraction in half. Working out was a good first choice. She sized up her workout options-yoga or something bouncy with cardio. Early morning wake ups called for something relaxing. Mandy decided on yoga.

Colton got up at 7, like clockwork. He stopped at the pantry and grabbed a granola bar. Without even so much as saying hello to Mandy, who was marking tests at the kitchen table, he headed for the computer to play his favorite video game. "Good morning to you too," Mandy said.

He threw up a hand in greeting. "If you are like this as an 8 year old, how will I deal with you as a teenager?" she asked, good-naturedly.

He flashed her a smile but didn't stop or speak. Mandy shook her head. Two hours down, two left and there was still laundry to do.

At 8:21, her phone rang. No one called this early. None of her family would be up this early, none of her friends called her on a Saturday morning. Had Kip found her phone number somehow? She looked at the call display. It was Sophia. "Hi," Mandy chirped into the phone, "I was going to call you in, uh, 49 minutes."

"Beat you to it. What were you calling for?"

"I needed an ass kicking."

"Don't swear," Colton said, turning from his game to look at her. Mandy stuck her tongue out at him.