We walk into the mall, and I suddenly get nervous with him, which is freaking me out. “Listen, I have to talk to you about something,” I tell him as we head to the men’s department.
“Yeah,” he says, taking a sip of his coffee.
“I’m seeing Kylie.” The minute I say the words, he stops in his tracks.
“I’m sorry, what?” He shakes his head as if he didn’t hear me or understand me.
I take a deep inhale and muster up the courage. “I’m seeing Kylie,” I repeat.
“Yeah, I heard you the first time.” He puts his hand in his pocket. “Kylie, my sister?”
I nod my head at him. “I mean, I don’t really know if we’re seeing each other,” I admit to him. “We went on a couple of dates.”
“How long have you sort of been seeing her?”
“A couple months. I mean, definitely more often the last couple of weeks.”
“You’ve been seeing my sister for the last couple of weeks and you haven’t told me?”
“I mean, I didn’t really think to say anything because I wasn’t sure it was anything.” I confess to him. “Fuck.” I run my hand through my hair. “I haven’t even?—”
“So now you are telling me because it’s something.”
“I really fucking like her, man.” I look to the side. “She’s?—”
“You just got divorced,” he points out. “Is this like a rebound thing?”
“No.” I shake my head. “Definitely not a rebound thing. I—” I look up and think about how to say what I need to say, “I think about her all the fucking time. I want to be with her all the time.”
“Are you two exclusive?” he asks me. I glare at him and he holds up his hand. “I’m just asking.”
“I should fucking hope we’re exclusive,” I declare. “What kind of a fucking question is that?” The thought of her with someone else makes me murderous, to say the very least. I squeeze the cup in my hand, liquid coming out from the top and dripping onto my fingers.
“I’m going to be honest with you,” he says, his voice soft. “She doesn’t do relationships.” The minute he says that my stomach burns and then sinks. “Then again, she’s never been with anyone longer than a month, so you are already winning at that.”
“I’m going to talk to her when we get back.” I make the decision right here on the spot. “I want her and only her.”
“You’re my closest friend, and I know you aren’t a player, so you have my blessing.” He looks down. “I just. She’s?—”
“I know. She’s closed off about a lot of things.” He nods. “I don’t want you to tell me anything. I want it to come from her because she wants to tell me.”
“Sounds good.” He slaps my shoulder. “God, I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“Not even a little bit,” I tell him. “The first time I met her she told me to go fuck myself.”
“That sounds like her.”
“But then, I don’t know we—” I smile. “She’s fucking amazing, man.”
“Yeah, she is,” he agrees with me, “and she deserves it all.”
“Well, too bad I’m the one she gets,” I joke with him.
“Could be worse,” he jokes back with me. “Let’s get you a jacket.”
We continue walking and then he looks at me. “Kylie,” he says her name and I can’t help but smirk.
“Yeah, man, Kylie,” saying her name as if I was always meant to say it. “She likes me,” I tell him. “At least I fucking hope so.” I stop by the coats. “She did tell me she hated me,” I smile at the memory, “after she told me to shove something up my ass.”
