After Veronica’s steamy night with the firefighter Jonathan, it’s back to real life for the recent divorcee. In between keeping up with her children and dealing with the emotional turmoil of her ruined marriage, she once again seeks comfort in Jonathan’s arms.
But when things don’t work out quite as she had planned, she turns her attention to Matthew, the young football stud who has been hounding her for a date. And just who was that handsome stranger she met in the bar?
More From Veronica
“Another text?” Jeremiah asked as he obviously heard Veronica’s smartphone buzz over his phone.
“Yup,” she answered. Checking that her phone’s headphones were firmly in place so she could continue talking to her cross-country friend, she flipped the lock screen to read the message.
“What’s that, like, the fifth one this hour?”
“I haven’t even replied once,” she said. “I shouldn’t have even friended him on Facebook, let alone given him my number. This boy is too desperate.”
“Sounds like you guys would make a good match then.”
“Shut up, Jeremy.” She read the message aloud. “What are you doing tonight? I’m still in the neighborhood. Smiley face.”
“Did he write ‘smiley face’ or is it an icon?”
Veronica huffed. “What do you think? It’s an icon.”
Jeremiah laughed. “I don’t know what these crazy kids are doing these days.”
She rolled her eyes. Ever since she told Jeremiah about this new guy, and his age, he wouldn’t let up about it. He was nearly half her age; he was twenty-one and you can do the math. She didn’t really see anything to come from the harmless flirting. It just felt nice to be desired by someone younger.
Although many men, Jeremiah included, had complimented her on her looks over the years, none of them outside of her ex-husband had seen her nude. Everyone looks good with their clothes on, she thought. But when she caught glimpses of herself in the mirror, what she saw horrified her. She was a thirty-six-year-old woman who had given birth to two kids. Her tits weren’t as perky as her bras made them out to be. Her skin had stretch marks, and even though others pointed out her slim figure, she had put on weight over the years, and even more these past four months since the divorce.
And what would Matthew expect? A MILF from a porno, airbrushed and coated in makeup then everything else fixed with lighting and editing? Veronica wasn’t that.
She imagined the girls Matthew must have fucked in college. Young freshmen with clear skin and long smooth legs unblemished by time. Perfect hair, bright smiles, and tits that stood straight out, bra or no bra. How many of those girls had he been with? And why was he so determined to get her? Jeremiah brought her back to reality.
“What are you doing tonight?” he asked.
“Talking to you.”
He was silent for a moment. “Veronica… I appreciate that, but if this guy is in town for only a little while…”
“I’d need to find a babysitter. My kids have been hellions, and they’re both on restriction. Anyways, I…I don’t know if I can. You’re right. He’s so young! What do we even have in common?”
“Uhm, you’re a girl, he’s a guy. The fact that you’re opposites is what makes sex possible.”
“You know what I mean,” she said.
“What did you have in common with Fireboy?”
“Jonathan?” she asked, trying to put his name to Jeremiah’s nickname for him. “That’s different. People of the same age—it’s just different.”
“Maybe you have something in common with Footballboy.”
“Can we change his nickname? That seems too long. Jockboy maybe?”
“What if you fuck another jock?” Jeremiah protested.
“I think you have incredibly high hopes regarding the amount of men who want to fuck me.”
“Whatever. Jockboy is fine,” Jeremiah said. “We’ll deal with the others later.”
Once again, Veronica rolled her eyes.
“Hey,” Jeremiah continued, “ask Jockboy what his favorite show is or something. Find some common ground if it helps. Or just fuck him. Either or.
“I’m texting him back,” Veronica said. “I can’t go out tonight and what his favorite show is.”
“Kind of random, but okay. Now let’s see how long it takes for him to—”
Veronica’s phone buzzed.
“He wrote,” she read aloud, “‘Damn, girl, you finally responded?’ Really?”
Veronica and Jeremiah laughed simultaneously before she continued reading. “Okay, okay, he wrote, ‘Damn girl, you finally responded? Glad you got something to do tonight. A girl like you needs to be entertained. I just wish it was me. Winky face. L-O-L Some other night then. Just want to kick it with you. Smiley face. My fave show is The Walking Dead b-t-w.’ There is nothing in that message that surprises me. That is exactly how I figured a twenty-one year old would text.”
“Hey, ask him if what he thought about Beth getting shot,” Jeremiah said.
“What? Who’s Beth?”
“She’s from The Walking Dead!”
“No, I’m not going to ask him that, Jere.”
“Dude, you should ask him if he left that rose!”
Veronica started to text him that very question when her phone buzzed.
“Is he texting you again?”
Veronica opened the message. “No, it’s Fireboy. He wants to meet up tomorrow.”
