Returning to the situation at hand, I realized Kyle had taken a step closer
Returning to the situation at hand, I realized Kyle had taken a step closer while I was arguing with my inner voice (which was taking its mission of shamelessly begging very seriously) and he was saying something about was I sure I wanted to find out. Was I sure I wanted to find out? Find out—oh, that. Remembering, I felt my cheeks grow warm and I couldn't keep myself from smiling rather foolishly.
"Of course," I said lightly. "What's the point in teasing someone if they're only going to ignore you? Conservation of resources and not casting pearls before swine and all that jolly rot."
"Are you calling me a pig?" He took another step toward me.
"Only metaphorically." Heart pounding, I raised my gaze to his face. I wasn't sure how, but Kyle had somehow managed to gain control of the situation and as thrilled as my inner voice was by that, it just made me nervous. "Whatever virtues my mama failed to instill in me, a lack of manners is not one of them, and it's obvious your flirting is nothing more than dissembling prevarication meant to obfuscate me so I won't notice you're all talk and no action." In case of emergency, throwing around big words was a quick way to (re)gain the upper hand.
"What's that mean in English?"
"It is English. Not my fault if you slept through English class in high school. Using smaller words, it's clear that you're all talk and no action and you were hoping to turn my brain to mush so I'd be too confused to notice."
"You—" he lightly flicked the tip of my nose "—are clearly dissembling prevarication because you'd rather have all talk and no action, not me."
"It would be 'dissembling to prevaricate'," I chided, "and, no, I'm not blathering on to try and prevent anything. You're the one who does nothing but talk about how ashamed your mama would be of you. No consorting with women of questionable morals when you've had the chance, just lots of teasing and empty promises. It's disappointing, really." I sighed and made a sad face. "You're turning out to be no fun at all."
"Surely your own mama taught you it's not good manners to do that in front of others."
"Depends on who the 'others' are, and there's no one else around right now—well, at least not within twenty or thirty feet, so are you gonna start giving your mama reasons to roll over and die or are you gonna just keep standing there and flapping your gums?" I crossed my arms over my chest and raised my eyebrows questioningly.
"Tease."
"You're one to talk," I said, irritated, eyes narrowed slightly. "Flirting and coming on to me and acting like you actually intend to back up your words but all you're doing is blowing smoke. If that's all you want to do, tell it to the cattails." I turned and started toward Bri and Felicity.
Kyle grabbed my shoulder and moved quickly so he was blocking my path..
"How can I if you don't stop talking? It's a real mood killer; getting your tongue bitten."
"'Getting your tongue bitten'? How the heck would that happen?" I gave him a withering look. "Try an excuse that makes sense next time."
A slow, smug smile spread across his face and, not taking his eyes from mine, he let go of my shoulder, letting his fingers trail slowly down my arm. I shivered involuntarily and his smile grew. Without looking away, he lifted my hand to his mouth and kissed the palm, and then took my other hand and did the same thing before placing both my arms around his neck. I shivered again.
He put his hands on the small of my back and pulled me closer, making my inner voice purr loudly with satisfaction. Lowering his face so that his lips were barely brushing mine, he said softly, "You've never been properly kissed."
"How would you know?" Hopefully, he'd have a selective memory failure and forget I'd hardly ever been kissed, period, nevermind how good it had been—except for Chris. He could remember everything I'd told him about what happened in London.
"If you had, you'd know why I wasn't making excuses."
His lips melted over mine and I forgot everything but the feel of his mouth against mine and of his arms around me. I eagerly reciprocated, my inner voice shouting very lewd suggestions and encouragement.
'Third time's the charm!' it crowed gleefully. 'He's really good for a guy who hasn't snogged in a while. Just think how good he'll be when he's back in practice!'
'Too busy to think right now,' I thought tersely.
'My bad! We'll talk later.'
Startled by a shout of "Get a room, you two!" I pulled back.
"I'm going to kill him," Kyle muttered under his breath, resting his forehead against mine.
"Who? Oh, Bri." I smiled slightly. "What did you expect he'd do, walk up and politely clear his throat and say he and Felicity had seen enough dead cattails and frozen alligators?" I stretched up and brushed a kiss across his lips. "We can give your mama more reasons to roll over and die later and the sofas and loveseats at Earthtones would be a great place to do it."
"I like the way you think." He laughed softly and gave my braid a tug.
"I hope that's not the only thing," I quipped dryly, taking his hand and lacing my fingers through his. "Not that I'm not thrilled you actually—like me for more than just my fabulous body and stunning beauty." I'd almost said 'love' but I didn't want to push my luck. I was not going to risk scaring him off by coming on like a ton of bricks.
"Definitely not." He gave my hand a squeeze and stepped back.
Bri, seeing Kyle and I were now only attached at the hand, strode over.
"It took you long enough," he said matter-of-factly to Kyle.
"Sod off." I gave Bri a withering look and wished he'd go away and leave us alone. There was so much I wanted to say to Kyle and talk to him about and I felt like I'd burst if I had to wait to tell him. It seemed like an eternity until we'd be back in the City and I'd have Kyle to myself again.
Felicity came up behind Bri and lightly swatted him upside the head.
"You're terrible," she chided her husband. "Our plane leaves in two-and-a-half hours, so we should head back."
Walking back hand-in-hand with Kyle, I couldn't stop grinning at the sudden turn of events. It was an odd feeling, actually getting what I'd been longing and hoping for and still didn't seem real. I wasn't quite sure what to do now that I'd gotten him but I looked forward to finding out.
Bri said he'd drive back, ostensibly because he thought Kyle and I would want to sit together in the backseat, but I suspected it was really because he was afraid I'd repeat my earlier stunts. Whatever his reason(s), the offer was too good to refuse so I handed over my keys and got in on the driver's side.
"Bri, will it bother you if I kick the seat?" I asked brightly.
"Yes."
"Oh, good! I'll make sure to do it a lot, then." I smiled at him in the rearview mirror. "Nothing like a nice game of Distract the Driver to make things interesting!"
"Kyle, switch places with her. Please." There was a pleading note in Bri's voice that made me laugh.
"Oh, you're no fun," I pouted. "Okay, fine, I won't kick your seat. Now, at least. On the plane back you won't be driving so that's fair game." I grinned brightly.
Kyle touched my arm and when I turned to look at him he kissed me, driving all thoughts of Bri and the best ways to jerk his chain from my mind.
It was just starting to get good when Kyle, much to my annoyance and frustration, ended the kiss. I stared at him dumbly, my mind on overload. Why had he stopped? How could he be so cruel?
The sound of Bri clearing his throat reminded me there were two other people in the car and, glancing at the front seats, they were both looking at Kyle and me with amusement. I felt my face grow hot and wished Kyle hadn't kissed me at all. He knew (or should've by that point) the only place I didn't mind being the center of attention was on stage, and, most importantly, there was a snowball's chance in Hel Bri and Felicity would pass up the opportunity to razz me about being lovey dovey in public. Kyle and I were so definitely having a talk when we got back to the City.
Bri wasted absolutely no time in giving Kyle's and my chains a good, hard jerk.
"Eager much?" He sounded far too excited and eager to give us a hard time for my liking. "Should I put up some curtains so you two can have some privacy?"
"And deny you the opportunity to watch and learn from a master?" Kyle retorted smoothly.
Much to my dismay, the earth did not open up and swallow me whole, nor did my atoms suddenly rearrange themselves, allowing me to sink into the seat. My silent prayer of, 'Kill me now, please!' was also denied, leaving me no choice but to continue to suffer profound mortification and struggle mightily with urges to throttle both Bri and Kyle, which I kept under control by silently repeating 'They're not worth the jail time' over and over, like a mantra.
In contrast to my misery, Bri was grinning and laughing.
"Olivia's turned purple!" he exclaimed. "I had no idea people could do that!"
"Learn something new every day," I muttered. "If you could drop me at my parents' before going to your place, I'd appreciate it."
"That's not going to—I know. We'll stop at my parents' and the three of us will get out there and you take the car back to your parents and we'll meet you at the airport."
"Whatever." My parents needed their car back to take me to the airport, so Bri's plan made sense. I truly didn't care how we did it just as long as the ride from Hel ended as quickly as possible.
The parental units were home when I got back. My mom, of course, had to interrogate me for every last detail about where I'd gone, what I'd done, and how many times I'd taken a breath. I'd made a mental note years ago never to grill my kids like my mom grilled me. She meant well and was just curious, but there were times there wasn't much to say and other times, like today, when I didn't feel like spilling every little detail. I wanted to wait a bit and see if Kyle and I lasted before I said anything to my parents because my mom would make a huge deal out of the fact I had a boyfriend and my dad would make like Robert DiNiro in Meet the Parents, only without the lie detector (my dad didn't have one), and they'd start making comments in jest about marriage and grandkids, and I really didn't want to deal with that. My mom would drive me nuts with how often she razzed me. My dad would drive me up the wall, across the ceiling, and down the other side—where the liquor cabinet was. Unlike my mom, my dad didn't seem to know (or care) when his comments were over the line and I knew I'd be hearing "So when are you going to get busy making me grandkids?" along with other, more raunchy and tasteless remarks not long after he found out I was with Kyle.
I was only halfway up the stairs when, as I'd expected, my mom called, "Where'd you go?" from the kitchen.
"Thousand Acre Swamp with Bri, Felicity, and Kyle. Figured it would be a nice way to waste some time before we went to the airport. It was gorgeous with all the snow and we took some seed and fed the chickadees. What time are we leaving? I just need to throw a few things in my bag, so I can be ready to go pretty quick."
"In about an hour."
"What?" A sick feeling filled my stomach. "Mom, I need to get there at least an hour and a half before my flight or I'll never make it on time! The security is insane!" Just what I needed; another mad dash to the airplane like I'd done in July '04 when I was leaving for the UK.
"Stop yelling and come downstairs!" my dad shouted from the living room. "I can't read with all this noise!"
I rolled my eyes, turned around, and headed back downstairs.
My mom was at the sink, washing her dishes from what was baking at the moment and perfuming the air with—I thought for a moment—the scent of pumpkin spice bread. I glanced at the timer on the stove and saw it would be out before we had to leave.
'Most excellent!' I thought excitedly. I was definitely going to snag a few slices for the road and to share. That reminded me I had leftovers in the fridge I wanted to take back with me, so I got them out and put them in plastic grocery bags before I forgot and left them behind. I'd purposely used my largest backpack, previously used to haul tons of books between classes, as my carry-on so I'd have room to bring the bounty back with me. I looked forward to hearing what airport security would say when they x-rayed it.
"We need to leave in the next half hour or so," I told my mom. "Like I said, I only have my toothbrush and deodorant to throw in with the rest of my stuff so I'm pretty much ready to go.
Mom glanced at me over her shoulder. "Dad will have to take you, then. I have things I still need to get done here."
I shrugged. "Whatever. Doesn't matter." I went into the living room to inform my dad he was the appointed chauffeur.
"I heard," he said, not looking up from the newspaper. "Let me know when you're ready to go and I'll get my shoes on."
My dad and I didn't tend to talk when it was just me and him in the car, so I was surprised when, as we sped up the on ramp to the expressway, my dad said, "What's going on with you and that Kyle guy?"
"What do you mean, 'what's going on'?" I was immediately on the defensive and on guard, using my favorite tool of obfuscation, the non-answer answer.
"You know what I mean." Dad sounded annoyed, as if he were upset I hadn't immediately spilled every last detail of my relationship with Kyle. "Maybe everyone else bought his story about not wanting to watch football, but he was more than happy to go in and watch whatever football game your grandfather and uncles had on. So, what's going on?" He looked over at me for a moment.
"As far as I know, exactly what he said." I was profoundly relieved Dad had chosen the wrong tree to bark up. Dragging Kyle to Rochester after threatening to break his kneecaps if he didn't come was something Bri would've done even if I hadn't, and Kyle wasn't the only one I'd invited to dinner, just the only one to take me up on it.
"Not everyone likes lots of football on Thanksgiving. You don't. Bri's family is really insane about the Bowl games and they have a TV on near the table so they can watch the game while they eat. Given a choice between that or people waiting until after dinner to turn on the TV and not go ballistic over every play, what would you choose?"
"I don't understand why you two haven't been dating and going out. You're both single, so what's the problem?"
I felt my jaw clench and the muscles of my shoulders and neck grow tight as I waited a moment to speak until the burst of extreme irritation and anger his words had ignited died down.
"Because we're entirely happy just being friends and have no desire to change that?" My attempt to keep the irritation out of my voice failed miserably. "Women and men can have strictly platonic relationships."
"I know, but they're usually married, or at least one of them is. You're both single."
"And?" I shot back. "What does that have to do with anything? So what if we both happen to be single? Just because we are doesn't mean we're obligated to start going out, or that it's inevitable. Mark's single and I've been friends with him longer than Kyle and we're both entirely happy with things the way they are because neither of us have more than a platonic interest in one another. I'm in no rush to get married and I'm not going to go out with someone and be in a relationship just for the sake of being in a relationship." I snorted. "I have too much of a life for that." Liz might be fine with settling and getting married just for the sake of being married, but I had way too much fire in my soul to do that and end up anything other than completely miserable and resenting the guy I'd married for the fact my wings were clipped and I was locked in a cage. I'd settle down when I was ready to and not before. If things went the way I wanted with Kyle, that would be in the near future but I was keeping that to myself.
"I never said do it just for the sake of doing it. It just seems strange you and Kyle haven't started dating, that's all."
'Because it makes no sense why two single people of the opposite sex wouldn't want to date,' I thought sardonically. 'They're friends, so of course they'll end up falling in love and wanting to be more serious. Anything else is inconceivable!'
I lightly bit the tip of my tongue and mentally pictured banging my head against a brick wall. He didn't see where he was wrong and trying to argue the point would only result in increased blood pressure and a bad mood. As long as my parents didn't beat the marriage drum any louder or harder than this, I wasn't going to complain. I'd heard stories about relatives who regularly pounded on the marriage drum and yammered on about getting married before their victim's biological clock ran down, or about how their victim was too pretty to still be single, or something equally as nauseating and infuriating. It was enough to drive you crazy—and straight into the nearest convent, where it was guaranteed you'd never hear anything about why you should marry ever again.
The rest of the drive to the airport was silent and we said only brief good-byes when we got there. As I walked inside, I smiled, feeling as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Anytime I had a conversation with my dad, I always felt like I was walking a tightrope over a field of land mines and it was almost guaranteed at least one would go off before I reached the opposite side. Anytime my dad had brought up my car (which I'd sold when I moved), I'd inwardly cringed and waited for him to say what was wrong and how my bad driving or careless maintenance of the car was to blame, and then go into the whole thing where he'd say he'd cover the cost of it but it would seriously inconvenience my parents and I really should be more careful or I'll end up having to do the same thing again in the future and then I was on my own to pay for fixing it. Hearing about how I needed to stop being so forgetful/sloppy could come up at any time, as could the fact I had to repay my parents the Large Amount of money they'd loaned me over the past several years for rent, food, gas, etc. Times when I wasn't on the receiving end of some critique or my life/the way I did things wasn't questioned seemed the exception, not the rule, and if I complained that I felt like he was always on my case, he justified himself by bringing up the fact I owed him A Lot of money so he'd act however the heck he wanted. I looked forward to the day when I'd be able to pay off what I owed, eliminating my dad's excuse and justification for being a prick, and I couldn't wait until I was married because I knew my dad would see everything he'd been on my case about as my husband's problem(s) now, so he'd lay off. At least, I hoped so.
Kyle, Bri, and Felicity were already waiting at the gate when I arrived with my backpack, now empty.
"Leftovers are a security risk," I announced as I sat down next to Felicity. "At least, that's what the rent-a-cops at the security check seemed to think." I rolled my eyes and snorted softly. "How am I going to blow things up with mashed potatoes, turkey, and squash? Feed everyone until they burst?"
"They're just following orders," Felicity remarked sardonically. "Oh, did you see if our flight is still on time?"
"Didn't look. Too busy checking my watch while I wanted in the five-mile long baggage check line and the four-mile long security line. I can go take a look." I was standing and walking toward one of the TVs listing the status of various flights before she responded.
"Right now, it's on time," I said, returning a minute or two later. "Wouldn't be surprised if that changes. With the number of people traveling today and the number of things that can go wrong between Point A and Point B, Murphy's Law will strike with the force of a Grade 3 hurricane. Maybe Grade 4. They already took my highly dangerous leftovers." I made a face.
Kyle lightly tugged my braid. "It's not Murphy's Law when you set yourself up for something to go wrong. Of course they wouldn't allow you on the plane with that many containers."
I gave him an annoyed look and lightly swatted his shoulder. "It was all food and that could've been easily verified if they'd taken a brief moment to open them up and look. I'd have eaten some, too, to prove it wasn't anything toxic and horrible." I sighed. "You're right, though. I should've expected it and stashed them in my checked bag. They'd all probably be empty by the time the bag reached New York, though," I added after a moment. "Contents confiscated on the grounds that the people going through my things were hungry and didn't feel like walking down the hall to get lunch. Would Murphy's Law cover being driven here by my dad instead of my mom, who I thought would be doing it and whose company I infinitely prefer?"
"He start going on about how it's too bad Bri married a spic instead of you?" Felicity's voice was dripping with distain. Between the racist remarks my dad made at Bri and Felicity's wedding reception that she'd overheard and occasional dealings with him in the eight years since, to say she intensely disliked him was an understatement. To her credit, she'd never been anything but polite and gracious the few times they crossed paths, and snarky remarks were few and far between. I blamed today's on the hassle and stress of post-holiday travel.
"No. He knows better than to say that stuff in front of me. Well, he should," I amended when Felicity gave me a 'What reality are you living in?' look. "Anyway, he was on about how the fact Kyle came to dinner with my family was obviously because he and I are involved and saying he didn't like football was just an excuse and he'd seen right through it. I set him straight in no uncertain terms and reminded him I've asked friends to Thanksgiving before and most of them have been females and a few of them are gay, and that just because two people of the opposite sex are single and friends doesn't mean it's inevitable they're going to end up in a romantic relationship." I looked over at Kyle. "So how much of a cover story was it? Are you truly as abnormal as me and not enjoy the traditional holiday entertainment, or was it just a cover story meant to hide your devious and pervy intentions?"
"What do you think?" His expression was inscrutable.
"My Monopoly money's on that you wanted to avoid the crazed football fanatics in Bri's family. Do I win the million dollars and the new car?"
"You live in New York City. What do you need a car for?"
"Never said I wanted it, only asked if I'd won it. I'd sell it and pay off most of my student loans, or some part of all the money I owe to people." I'd lost count of the number of collection agencies bothering me on behalf of the credit card companies and utilities I'd been too broke to pay until recently.
"You're half right, so you only get the million dollars. No car."
I laughed. "I think I can handle getting Ionly/I a million dollars. When can I pick up the check?"
"Come by my place later. Come alone," he said with a wink.
"I may have been born yesterday, but it wasn't last night. You can't fool me. I know what men like you want, saying I have to show up alone. Mom says you're all dirty old men with pervy minds." I smiled widely. "What time should I come?"
"Call me when you're unpacked and Laurie's finished interrogating you." He took my hand. "We'll go get dinner somewhere."
"Sounds like a plan." I felt sixteen again, mind on overdrive, intensely conscious of my hand in his. Unlike when I was sixteen, I wasn't nervously wondering what I was supposed to do and hoping I didn't do anything to scare him away. There were things I missed about being a teen, but those were definitely not among them.
Being a much more confident twenty-nine, I laced my fingers through his and leaned against him, resting my head on his shoulder. "You still make a good pillow."
"Glad I meet your approval."
"You should be." Across the aisle, Bri and Felicity were looking at us with amusement. I flashed them a smile. "I think we're making the married old farts jealous. They miss the days before the passion vanished and they started sitting primly next to one another, never touching. I bet they sleep in twin beds with a nightstand between them now."
"How did you know?" Bri feigned surprise.
"A lucky guess."
"Separate rooms, actually," Felicity remarked. "I couldn't stand being in the same room with him anymore. He too loudly."
"I do not! It's you who snores!"
Felicity looked at him like he were a little boy who'd just announced confidently he was going to dig a hole to China in the back yard after lunch.
"I have it on tape, Brian. It's you who are snoring. Stop pouting." She lightly patted his cheek twice. "I still love you, even if you keep me awake most nights. If you don't go to the doctor about it, though, I will start sleeping in another room."
Kyle gave my hand a squeeze and I looked up at him questioningly. He was smiling and, in response to my expression, gave a small nod towards Bri and Felicity. .
I grinned. "Bickering and fighting. Told you they were old married farts. If he knows what's good for him, he'll do what she says."
"What happened to all that 'wives, submit to your husbands' stuff?" Kyle teased.
"I'll burn that bridge when I get to it, that's what, and I meant it's a good idea to talk to the doctor and have a check up. You never know if there's something going on that you're not aware of. Speaking of which, I need to get to the doctor myself. I can't go until the ninety days are up, or however long it is, so health insurance covers the visit. It would help if I actually had a doc down here to go see. I'll ask around at work to see who's good."
Laurie was lounging on the futon, watching TV, when I let myself in.
"Hey!" she exclaimed, dropping the remote and springing to her feet. "Have a good time?"
"More than words can express. You?" We hugged.
"The usual. Nana gave Ma a hard time about being too thin and me a hard time about not finding a good man and having kids, and Gram came to my defense, saying there's no reason to hurry and I'll marry when I'm good and ready and how it was true what 'they' said about marry in haste; repent in leisure. My dad's family has always been the liberal, hippy types." She grinned. "It's been like that since I graduated from high school. Ma and Pop changed the subject to how great my older brother's doing out in Silicon Valley, developing microprocessors, or something like that. I don't understand tech stuff." She made a dismissive gesture. "He stayed out there for Thanksgiving with his girlfriend's family. He's always been the star of the family and Nana and Gram both adore him so they started going on about how he'd always been a good boy and they knew he'd end up rich and blah, blah, blah. The usual stuff. Guys watching football in the living room, the women in the kitchen getting things ready or taking care of the younger cousins and making sure they didn't kill each other or pull heavy appliances down on themselves."
I laughed. "Sounds crazy. My family's small and the only cousins are my two male cousins, brothers, who are older than I am and myself. We went to my mom's parents' for dinner. Gramma is a fabulous cook. I tried to bring some leftovers back but I made the mistake of trying to take them in my carry on and security wouldn't let me through with them, so the guards are going to eat well tonight," I told her as I headed to my room to unpack. "Gramma was up and down every five minutes, asking people if they wanted anything and she was like 'Are you sure?' when we all said we were fine. Like you said, the usual. My mom's brothers were there, so there were only…eleven of us. There was football but the volume was kept low and it was off while we ate. Gramma always insists she doesn't need help in the kitchen, even when it's obvious an extra pair of hands or two would help get things in dishes and on the table faster. She doesn't argue with my uncles anymore about one of them helping her get the turkey out of the oven, which is progress. All in all, nothing of significance to mention."
"Nothing?" Laurie, standing in the doorway, asked incredulously. "What about Kyle? He went with you, didn't he?"
"Yeah. He stayed at Brian's." It was taking all my willpower to keep from grinning and laughing as I tossed dirty laundry into my hamper. "He decided to mooch off my family for Thanksgiving dinner because, according to him, he wasn't up to dealing with Brian's football-mad family and wanted something quieter. Goes without saying my entire family loved him and I'm surprised Gramma didn't say anything to me about how I should ask Kyle out. She's like your Nana, only not as vocal about it."
"So nothing happened?" Laurie sounded a bit forlorn.
"Depends on what you're talking about. Lots of things happened. Food was eaten, TV was watched, coffee was consumed, an ex I never thought I'd see again turned up—"
"What do you mean, an ex you never thought you'd see again turned up?" Laurie plopped down on my bed and sat Indian style. "Spill!"
"I'll fill you in on the details later, but in a nutshell, I met Chris when I was in the UK four years ago and I said as soon as I tied up loose ends in the States I'd move to England to be with him. He broke up with me two months later because he thought I was taking too long to move. That happened right before my now-former best friend got married so I had to suffer through being her Maid of Honor while I was in agony over Chris. I'd never told anyone back home about him for a variety of reasons and the Bridezilla got the wrong idea about why I was in a funky mood and that started a huge thing that ended up with the friendship ending. But I digress. Wednesday night, Kyle, Bri, Felicity, and I were at the coffeehouse Bri and I used to go to all the time when we were in high school and we're having a fine time. I'd told Bri and Felicity to bugger off for a bit because I had something I needed to tell Kyle I wanted to keep just between the two of us, and get your mind out of the gutter. It wasn't anything dirty. Anyway, we were having one of our usual zinger-fests when I look over to the counter and I see Chris there. After having a major heart attack, I look again and it's still Chris. I've gone white by this point and all I can say to Kyle's frantic questions is 'Chris is here' and I had to get Bri and Felicity, and I was just as articulate telling them why we had to leave pronto."
"On the way to the door, Chris sees me and tries to get me to stop but like heck I was going to. He blocks us and wants to know if I remember him." I snorted. "As if I could forget him. I tell him I wish I didn't and I try to pull open the door but he won't let me, so Bri goes all big brother protective and tells Chris to get out of the way and probably gave him a Death Glare or something. Whatever it was, it worked and we got out of there. Thanksgiving night, I took containers of leftovers back to my parents' before heading to Bri's for coffee and a movie. Kyle was with me because, of course, he'd been riding with me. We're joking around and then the doorbell rings. I go and look out the peephole in the front door and it's Chris. I have no idea how he figured out where to find me but he did and I knew he wouldn't just go away if I pretended no one was there so I opened the door."
"What did he want? Was he coming to beg your forgiveness because he'd realized he'd loved you all along and he traveled all the way from England to ask for another chance? How totally romantic!" Laurie flopped back on my bed, smiling.
"That would've been an entirely wasted trip, but that's not it. After I asked him what the heck he wanted and how he'd tracked me down, he tells me he's been going to one of the universities in my hometown for a few years and he's supposedly been looking for me the whole time. Said he'd come to do graduate work and chosen that school because he knew I lived in that city and he wanted to try to find me. I told him in no uncertain terms that if he had any illusions of us picking up where we left off he was kidding himself because I'd moved on. As if I'd bother with a guy who'd already proven he's impatient and has unrealistic expectations." I smirked. "He sees Kyle standing behind me and asks if that's my boyfriend." My smirk grew. "I tell Chris that he's a boy and he's my friend, so yes, he was my boyfriend but that's none of his concern; that he'd picked a bad time to find me because I was leaving the next day because I live down here now and, in as many words, tell him I know his talk about spending years trying to find me is crap and if he wanted to get in touch with me so bad he could've emailed me. He says all he wanted to do was apologize, so I tell him his apology is accepted and ask if there's anything else. He asks how I'm doing and I say I'm doing fabulous and that I have to go." I shrugged. "That was that. I think Chris made Kyle kind of jealous. Kyle was all upset and mad protective and said he just didn't want to see me get hurt again and that he was wary of Chris lying about trying to find me. Maybe it's just me, but he seemed too irritated by Chris for it to just be worry."
"Maybe he really is just concerned. When I broke up with my boyfriend of two years in August, I was absolutely devastated because he dumped me for some undergrad slut from NYU. He got sick of my work schedule making it hard to go out and do things. I was totally devastated and when Frank had his slut girlfriend stop by to pick up his stuff, she had the nerve to ask me for advice on what Frank liked in bed and if he liked oral. Oh, and she seemed to think we could compare notes on how Frank was in bed because she says Frank just won't let her sleep and was he like that with me. When I saw Kyle a few days later and told him about that, you'd think I'd said the girl asked if she and Frank could come over later to screw and would I run the video camera." Laurie rolled onto her side, propping up her head with her hand. "Kyle's just protective, Olivia. As much as I know you want to think he was green with jealousy, he was probably just being himself."
"I'd concede that it's possible you're right, except there was this little thing earlier that makes me rather sure it wasn't just wishful thinking."
Being a cruel, nasty person who enjoys leaving people hanging in suspense, I chose that moment to go use the bathroom. To really wind her up, I took my time.
Laurie gave me a dirty look when I came back into my room. I just smiled.
"If you're going to be like that, I'm not going to tell you anything," I teased. "You can wait and wonder and hear about it from someone else tomorrow."
"I will shave your head while you sleep, take pictures, and post them online." Laurie narrowed her eyes.
"You're threatening me with the Britney look? Geez, it's just a little bit of gossip, not the nation's nuclear secrets!" I sat down on my bed next to her feet. "Since I'm not entirely evil and uncaring, I'll overlook the fact you're totally overreacting and let you have the honor of being the first to know and the pleasure of spreading it around. After this, it'll cost you lots of chocolate to be in the know."
Laurie tossed Quincy, my stuffed iguana, at me.
"Are you going to tell me what's going on or not?"
"Okay, fine, if you insist." I filled her in on everything that had happened that morning. "And, before you ask, yes, he's one hell of a fabulous kisser." I grinned and Laurie laughed. "Keep that under your hat, as hard as I know it'll be. I don't want to end up in hot water with Kyle for kissing and telling. What you can tell everyone is that he's a total gentleman, in that he treats me with respect and keeps his hands to himself—he hasn't tried to cop a feel or anything like that, I mean, and when we go out tonight—" a warm rush of pleasure swept through me "—he's talked about going for dinner and coffee and hanging out for a while at Earthtones. Not a word about wanting to go back to his place."
Laurie sighed sadly. "You need to loosen up more, Olivia. Dinner and coffee and discussing your innermost feelings afterwards? That's so…tame and boring."
"We will not be discussing our innermost feelings," I said with a touch of scorn. "As great as he can be about actually listening when you have a problem, he's a guy, Laurie. A straight guy. The only kind of innermost feelings he likes to discuss are the ones related to his passion for rock and heavy metal, and things like that." I smiled wryly. "I really dislike metal, which he exploits to get a reaction out of me. Does that qualify for your 'discussing your innermost feelings' glurge?"
"How long do you think he'll be happy keeping it G-rated? He's a guy, and even the nice ones have a sex drive."
"Some more than others," I quipped dryly. "I'd be disappointed if he didn't. Having a sex drive doesn't mean you have to act on it, though. We've chosen not to have sex until we're married, be it to each other or to other people. That's why we're going to try to spend as little time alone together as possible. Too much temptation."
"If you want to, then do it! There's nothing wrong with having sex. I didn't think you were so uptight."
I sighed. "Laurie, I never said there's anything wrong with sex. I said I want to remain a virgin until I get married. Big difference. I'm very much looking forward to an active sex life. I have my reasons, both religious and practical, and to help me stick to it I try to avoid situations where I could be tempted to get it on with a guy I'm not married to. I don't give you a hard time about your sex life, so I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't get on me about mine—or my lack of one." I smiled sardonically. "Keep that to yourself, and keep what happened in the car on the way back from the Swamp to yourself, too. If you don't and I hear about it, you'll be the one looking like Britney."
"I can't tell even one person?" she whinged.
"No, because I don't want my private life broadcast around and I know Kyle doesn't want his to be, either. I know you wouldn't go around telling everyone you see, but even if you tell just one person, if they feel it's too good not to share then details will get out. All anyone needs to know is that yes, we're going out and no, we're not having sex."
"Prude," she teased.
"Loose woman," I shot back, smiling. "I'm kicking you out. I need to shower and change before I head to dinner with Kyle."