Zoe gave him a look and put her hand on his cheek pushing his cute face away, "Don't tempt me." she wondered if she could make him understand, "Look... Ray loves her psycho dad that did this to me.. Gabe will eventually find someone he wants to settle down with and move out.. my own grandfather doesn't remember me." she shrugged a little, "I don't have anyone. And it's just a few dates, not marriage proposals."
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"Why? It's a little harsh isn't it?" He sat there thumbing his hands at the hem of her shirt that she used to cover up. He looked at the from a raised brow, "who is it?"
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"It's harsh that I'm dating instead of hitting you? Can't I do both?" she let him play with her shirt since he was handling this pretty well. She wanted to be honest with him not to hurt him but for the exact opposite. So he wouldn't see something that she didn't tell him about and feel the pain she did.
She gave a hapless smile, "Thomas. I had a class with him last semester and he's really sweet." she hesitated and rubbed her lips together, "...and Derek." she winced, "Thomas asked me out months ago but you were..." she waved with her hand to indicate that he was sort of the one she was dating at the time as much as they didn't admit it, "And Derek asked me out a few weeks ago but I wasn't ready then." and hell if she was going to do this, she wanted to dive in.
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Greed had a big playground, but it wasn't fun when someone else waltzed in wanting a piece of that sandbox. Here Zoe had the gate down inviting them in!
"Two?" His voice squeaked high. One date he could jump in on, two, well he had to get more clever. He flopped into her lap. "I would have rather you socked me in the gut."
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Zoe smiled a little, "Yes, two. What if I don't like one?" she was only teasing him. She ran her hand through his hair and said softly, "Trust me, you wouldn't have." she knew what the sock in the gut felt like, it wasn't good.
"I can't find someone if I don't start dating so just yeah, anybody that asks, why not. But you have to promise me that you will absolutely not use influence on them. I have no intention of you ever meeting them but just in case our paths cross.."
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"Do you have to find anybody?" Logically that made sense, because the alternative meant he had to share. He flapped his arms up and down with a whine. It was accepting a spoonful of sour cough syrup.
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Zoe ignored his whines and kept lightly playing with his hair, "I'd like to find someone. And you and I will still be friends." she looked at their current position, in her bed, her half naked, him in her lap. She sighed, "The way friends are supposed to be." she smushed his cheeks in her hand and looked him in the eye, "Now promise me you won't influence any of the guys I date. I don't want to be out to dinner and have him trying to rob the restaurant."
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"What's the fun in that? I like pulling shit out of people. It's like a pinata! Whack it a few times and the candy comes rolling out." He gave her a squished smile through her hands, his cheeks puffing up like balloons.
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Zoe gave him a stern look and squeezed his cheeks for a moment, "Because if the guy's an asshole, I want to find that out for myself. Not because you stuffed him so full of you that he goes off the deep end. We're friends and friends care about each other and don't influence each other's dates. Chance, promise me you will not influence any guy I date under any circumstances." she widened her eyes at him as if to say come on, this is serious.
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"Zoeeeeee," his bottom lip dropped, the corners of his mouth hanging down. He crossed his arms, looking at her through his puffed cheeks. He went to speak only releasing a high whine. "In return?" He flipped over, sitting like a dog on his knees. "Does that mean you're going to sleep with them?" He was curious.