Tessa
The phone call I was expecting came much earlier than anticipated.
I had gotten out of bed the next morning to do some stretches before my long run when my phone rang. My brow furrowed until I saw who it was. I had a grin on my face when I answered, even though I knew what was coming.
“Hello?”
“You’re dating my brother this whole summer, and you didn’t tell me?! I had to hear about it from JAKE?” Kelsey exploded into the phone.
I stood next to the wall, balancing myself as I stretched my thigh. “Am I dreaming? You do know it’s 5:30 in the morning, right?”
“You know what they say. Paybacks are a beast.”
I grinned. “Is that what they say?”
“Either way, I had to set my alarm for this, and I haven’t set my alarm for months. Were you still sleeping? Did I wake you up?” Her voice sounded giddy and hopeful.
“Aww, sorry to disappoint. I’m up early to go running. Just about ready to leave.”
“Of course you are,” she said. “Now tell me what’s going on.”
“First of all, the toothbrush thing. That wasyouridea.”
“I know, but I was mad at you, and it felt appropriate. What happened? Was he mad? No, actually, first explain the whole dating thing. Jake was pretty quiet about it.”
I began breaking it all down for her, probably like I should have done a week earlier. I didn’t like keeping her out of the loop, but her feelings had always been clear regarding me liking Logan. When I was done explaining, she sighed. “Holy crap.”
“Yeah.” I sat down on the floor to stretch my hamstrings.
“I can’t believe Jake’s giving away his truck like that.”
“We both tried to talk him out of it, but he’s pretty set.”
There was a pause on the line before Kelsey said, “So, how are you handling it all? With my brother?”
“Fine. We had a good talk before we said yes to Jake. He’s not looking to get serious, and I don’t want anybody not serious. So, we’re keeping things light and breezy.”
After a beat, Kelsey repeated, “Light and breezy? What does that mean?”
What did that mean? “It’s just… We’re just...”
“'Cause you’re still going on dates and stuff, right?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re in so much trouble. Don’t say I didn’t warn you when this goes bad.”
“I almost married a Logan, Kels, remember? I don’t want him, I promise.”
She made a noise that sounded like disbelief. “But he hasn’t always been this way. You know that. And you were obsessed with him for a really long time.”
“Not with this Logan.” My mind went briefly to me holding his hand the night before, and the laughter in his voice, and the strength in his arms when he picked me up and dumped me into the stream, before I pushed those thoughts away. Physical attraction was different than actually liking somebody. “We’re going to check in with each other every week to make sure we’re both still on track.”
“That’s really messed up.”
“The more I try to explain it, the worse it sounds.”
“I just don’t want you to bite off more than you can chew, that’s all. I hope, at the end of this thing, you’re exactly where you want to be. To be clear, I’m against the whole idea, but a part of me is really hoping you’re the one to help him change, because having you as a sister-in-law would be a dream. Cade would be terrified, but I would love it.”
