“I wouldn’t say that, but he isn’t entirely ‘nice’ either. Well, he is with me, but you’d definitely call him a jerk now and then.”
“Okay, baby steps, then. The next one might be entirely nice and not a jerk at all.”
“I’m not sure there will be a next one,” Kate confesses, thrilled.
“Do you think he’stheone?”
“I really don’t know. But he’s different.”
“Good different, or bad different?”
“Different like I’ve never been in love like that before.”
“You’re in love?! Kate, what the genuine fuck?”
“I know, I’m sorry…” she apologetically whimpers. “I wanted to tell you, but you were a mess because of the breakup, and I didn’t want to rub my love life in your face. Then you were in Korea, and then I was busy with my case…”
“Are you actually in love, or is the dick so good youthinkyou love him?”
“Oh, the dick is insanely good, don’t get me wrong. I’ve never orgasmed this hard and much in my life. But I’m genuinely in love, yes. It’s only been fuckboys before him, and he’s a real man. I want the full thing with him.”
I’m stunned, especially since I can hear in her voice how obsessed she is with this man. We talk for a while longer, and I try to get more information out of her. But she remains evasive, arguing she doesn’t want to jinx it. She promises she’ll introduce us soon, though. Then, we speak about various things, catching up with one another. These past few weeks, we’ve only exchanged texts, Reels, and memes, so it’s good to have an in-depth conversation again.
When I see it’s dark outside, I sigh. “I should probably call Lex,” I tell Kate, feeling guilty about avoiding him all day.
“Don’t tell me you’ve been screening his calls, too.”
“I kinda have, yes. I was really feeling like shit. Thank you for shaking some sense into me.”
“Wait until you’ve received the bill to thank me. Two and a half hours… I’m expensive as fuck now.”
“Then don’t count on me next time your laptop catches a trojan horse from accidentally clicking on an ad while watching porn,” I humor back.
“You promised you wouldn’t bring that one up again!”
“I was always going to!”
“Don’t you have your man to call instead of arguing with me?”
Our banter lasts a few more seconds, but we eventually wish each other a good evening and hang up. I immediately call Lex, feeling better than I have all day. He picks up instantly, and his voice warms me from the inside out.
“Is everything okay?” he worriedly asks. “I’ve been trying to call you for the past two hours.”
“Yes, sorry. I was on the phone with Kate.”
“Are you feeling better?”
“I am, yes. She made some excellent points.”
There’s a moment of silence, and he hesitantly speaks again. “Do you want me to come over?”
His question takes me by surprise. I still feel like shit for leaving in the middle of the night, but he doesn’t seem pissed at me for it. I do want to be with him, but I also don’t want to make him come all the way here because I was a coward and left.
“I don’t want you to feel like you have to,” I reply.
“I want to, freckles. But doyouwant me to?”
“Of course.”
