Never 'Til Now

Chapter 1

7. The number of dates Sam had gone on in the last two weeks. Seven dates and not one gave him hope that he would find a connection with any of the women he matched with on Bumble. This one's name was Jessica? or Rachel? At this point, they all mixed together.

Sam had never been concerned with his dating life before. He always kept it light and never got too close. He figured he was young and had time to settle if that's what he chose to do. Tinder had always been the perfect go-to site to browse, but being "more serious," he thought he'd try one meant for dating seriously.

"So, what do you do for fun?" Sam picked an easy question to find some common ground, hopefully.

"Well, there's shopping, traveling, partying with my friends, and reading." Said the blonde woman who sat across from him. As she talked, she held the glass of wine in her hand and swirled it around the same way someone would speak with their hands.

"Reading. I like reading. What's the last book you read." Sam asked, latching on to something that they could connect on.

"Lately, I've been reading a lot of Colleen Hoover. Her stories are so good." She said as she finished the last bit of her drink and immediately grabbed the nearly empty bottle to finish the rest.

"And what kind of books does she write?" Sam asked, curious if it would be something he might be interested in, too.

"Well, her most popular book is 'It Ends with Us'..."

Sam stared blankly at her, blinking his eyes and searching for the politest thing to say. He had listened to her ramble on for the past 5 minutes about a story that gloried abuse.

"Wow, that sounds...interesting."

"What things do you like to do?" The woman asks the first question about him, which surprised the hell out of him.

"Oh...uh," Sam racked his brain, searching for what to say; he wasn't prepared to talk about himself when she always seemed to bring the conversation back to herself. "I like riding my motorcycle, I spend a lot of time with my family and my dog bear, I like camping, and I spend time with my godson as much as I can, just to name a few."

"OK, but what do you do for fun?" The woman asked as if she were annoyed her question had yet to be answered. She didn't realize there were other things to do for fun out of her interests.

Sam couldn't take it anymore. He had other things he would rather do at that moment, and he didn't see a reason to avoid doing those things instead of entertaining this wish version of Paris Hilton. "I just remembered I have a huge piece that needs to be finished by Monday morning, and I've barely started. Do you mind if I order you an Uber?"

"Oh. I thought you'd want me to come back to my house?" The woman reached across the table to run her fingers over his.

"Uh. Maybe next time. I have to be up at 5 am, and it's already 9. Oh, and my dog. I have to get home to my dog." Sam scrambled to devise an excuse as he pulled his phone out of his jacket pocket and brought up the ride-share app.

"I can always go to your house. I'd love to meet Bear." The woman refuted his objection. This time she leaned forward with her elbows on the table, just forward enough to show off her boobs that were threatening to spill out of her dress.

Sam leaned further into his chair as he confirmed the request for a car. "I don't think this is the best time. This has been quite the experience." He paused to look down at his phone and was relieved to see the driver was down the street. "Your Uber is pulling up. If you'd like, I'll walk you out." Sam did his best to remain the gentleman his mother had raised him to be, but his patience was wearing thin. He pulled out a 100-bill and put it in the center of the table, knowing it would more than cover the cost of the meal and the drinks they had.