“Is that what we’re doing? Dating?” I was so afraid of her answer, but I needed to know.
“Well, yeah, Kai. I’d say we’re dating. What would you call it?”
I shrugged. This wasn’t the time or place I wanted to have this conversation, but I had started it. “I don’t know. Friends with benefits? I mean, we are friends and getting all kinds of benefits, right?”
Her smile fell, and I didn’t know what I had said. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
She set her laptop on the table and stood up. Did I upset her? She took a step closer to me, brows furrowed. “I want you to really pay attention to my words. Understand them and believe them, okay?”
I nodded without a reply and let her go on. I was paying attention and prepared to believe whatever she said.
She took a deep breath. “Kaia. We are best friends. I love all the benefits we both are getting, but we arenotfriends with benefits. You mean a lot more to me than that. Please know that. We are dating. I’m not seeing anyone else, and I know you’re not either. If that changes, we can talk about it then, but right now, that’s what we’re doing, okay?”
The smile that took over threatened to crack my mouth. That was more than okay with me, and her saying it made it seem real. We were dating. Like dating, dating.
“I don’t plan on dating anyone else. I need you to know that, but if you want to?—”
She shook her head. “No plans.”
I bit my bottom lip and pulled her in for a kiss. “Good. So we’re dating. Can I call you my girlfriend? Can I change my Facebook status? Should we FaceTime your parents?”
She rolled her eyes. “You can call me whatever you want. In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve already changed mine, and no, we should not call my parents. They already thought we were together long before now, but we can tell them when we go over for dinner next time.”
My heart skipped a beat. She already changed her status? How long had I been in a relationship with my dream woman and not known? This was what I got for not speaking up about the things I wanted!
I didn’t have anything else to say, so I let my lips do the talking and kissed her. She rested her hands in the pockets of my jeans and lightly squeezed. I smiled into the kiss but broke it before I dragged her into Drea’s office. With my luck, Drea would walk in right before?—
The phone rang, cutting off my steamy train of thought. I groaned and kissed Daisy goodbye before I returned to work.
“Hey, Rylee?” I called before I answered the phone.
She popped up from behind the counter and grinned at me. “Yeah, hon?”
“Do you think you could take Daisy her usual? Tell her it’s from her girlfriend.” My grin was giddy and stupid, but I didn’t care.
She squealed. “Oooooooo. Finally! We’ve been waiting to hear that! Yeah, I’ve got you!”
I rolled my eyes and turned to answer the phone. “Thanks for calling Open Book. How can I help you?”
“Hey, Kai. Long time no talk. How are you?”
I froze, glancing at Daisy, who was looking at me with a cocked head and furrowed brow. My expression must’ve given something away, but I couldn’t help it. It had been almost five years since I’d heard that voice, and while it wasn’t unwelcomed, I hadn’t been prepared for it.
I mouthed and signed to Daisy who was calling, and her eyes widened with as much shock as I felt. “Skylar. Hey. Yeah, I’d say it’s been a while. I’m good, how are you? How’s New York?”
A soft laugh came from the other end and I fidgeted with my pen. I didn’t know what else to do.
Skylar and Drea had dated on-and-off for about three years before they broke up at Fallon’s birthday party because Skylar had gotten a promotion and an offer to move to New York, and Drea wouldn’t give up her life here.
About a year later, they ran into each other and closed that chapter of their lives. They parted on good terms, but Drea took the breakup really hard. She drank and slept her way around the city until Mackenzie forced her to make a change.
Now there we were two years later, Drea engaged, and me owning half the bookstore. I wouldn’t change a thing about the way we got here. We both needed the experiences we’d been through, together and alone, to come out of it changed people.
“New York is still amazing, but I miss everyone in Seattle. I got married last year, and we are trying for a baby, but I didn’t call to talk about me. Is Drea there, by chance? I heard she got engaged, and I wanted to congratulate her.”
“What? That’s amazing. Congrats, Sky. I’m so happy for you. Uh, no, she’s not here. She actually just left for lunch with Cara, but I can tell her you called. She did get engaged, right before Christmas. Who told you?”
She laughed. “Her mother, actually. She still calls me sometimes. I don’t know if Drea knows that or not. We haven’t talked in a while. But I wanted her to know that I am happy for her and Blair. I still can’t believe she’s marrying Blair. That’s the last person I would’ve expected to hear.”
