32. McKenzie
THIRTY-TWO
MCKENZIE
“Guess who got asked on a date?” Kylie asks during our second week of the spring semester. I’ve just sat down at our lunch table, and she’s looking at me with crazy eyes.
“No way! Who is it?”
“His name is Jake. He’s in my sociology class. He’s super cute.”
“When are you going out? I’m assuming you said yes, right?” When people initially found out that she was Coach Danvers’ daughter, most of the guys we knew kept their distance. All the guys are terrified of him. If they only knew he’s not the big scary guy they think he is. She hasn’t mentioned being interested in anyone since classes started back again. The last guy she dated she didn’t click with, so I’m glad she’s giving it another shot.
“Of course, I said yes. We’re going out on Friday. The only problem is. . . he’s on the hockey team.”
My brows furrow in confusion. “Why is that a problem?”
“Dad has always been like, ‘Don’t date athletes. They’re no good,’” she imitates her father. I chuckle because I can definitely see him saying that.
“Your dad is an athlete, though.”
She shrugs. “I know. I think that’s why he says that. Especially at our age. He had me and my mom when he was our age, but he heard all his teammates’ stories. I guess that was enough for him.”
“Yeah, that makes sense,” I say.
“Sometimes I feel bad for him. Like he missed out on having fun during his college years because of me,” she admits.
“I’m sure he doesn’t feel like that.”
Kylie gets a far-off look in her eyes. “I know it’s silly, but I kind of always hoped my parents would get back together. I know they’ve had their ups and downs, but I figured there had to be some love there somewhere, you know? I mean, they had a kid together. And they practically grew up together.”
I swallow hard and nod along with her, even though I hate every word that she’s saying.
“But now I don’t think that will ever happen. On New Year’s, they looked like they couldn’t get away from each other fast enough. It’s never felt weird being around them together, but that night, something was off.”
That was the night that Kylie’s mom confronted Tyler about me. I’m the one causing the rift without even meaning to. I believe Tyler when he says that he and Shae are truly over. They’ve had hundreds of opportunities to get back together over the years and haven’t. I can only trust him on that.
But I hate that Kylie noticed a change between them. And I hate that it’s my fault.
“Maybe they just weren’t meant to be,” I suggest.
“Yeah, I guess so. I hope they can each find their true loves, though. I’d love to see them each get married, even if it’s not to each other.”
“Well, there’s still time for that.” I pick up one of my already cold fries and dip it in ketchup and hope that Kylie doesn’t think I’m acting at all strange about this conversation.
“Anyways,” she lets out a sigh. “I don’t know why I went down that rabbit hole. I was thinking maybe I could ask Jake if he has a single friend, and then we could double date. What do you think?” She wiggles her eyebrows at me.
My eyes widen, and I slowly start shaking my head, trying to come up with a way to say no without giving up that I’m already seeing someone else. “I, uh, no. Probably not a good idea. I don’t really have the time right now, you know, with work and school.”
“Come on! It’s your last semester. Have a little fun.”
“I just don’t want to lead anyone on. I’m not looking for anything serious.”
“I’m not asking you to get married, but it might be nice to get laid, right?” She cocks an eyebrow at me. If only she knew. . .
“I’ll think about it,” I tell her, just to get her off the subject. “Let’s think about you first.”
She laughs. “Alright, fine. If you insist.”
She tells me what she knows about Jake and how her classes have been so far. I listen as I eat, but in the back of my head, I’m thinking about how all of this is going to be ruined the moment she finds out what I’ve been doing behind her back. Will she ever be able to forgive me?
I’m a terrible friend; there’s no denying it. And I’ve never been this selfish in my life. But this thing with Tyler. . . I’ve never felt anything like this before, and I’m just not sure I’m ready to give it up.
I’m not sure I want to.
The week comes and goes, and by the time Friday rolls around, Kylie is super nervous about her date. Unfortunately, I have to work, so I can’t be there to help her get ready. But we picked out her outfit in the morning, and she sent me a picture before Jake picked her up.
While I’m super excited for her, Tyler was less than thrilled she was going on a date with a hockey player, but he kept his mouth mostly shut when Kylie told him. All he said was to be careful. He told me later how he wished he could forbid her from dating anyone, much less a college athlete.
Since Kylie is out on her date, Tyler comes to Alessandro’s for dinner. He sits at the bar, so I don’t get to serve him, but it’s nice to see him. It makes my shift go a little faster, just knowing he’s there.
When he leaves, he sends me a look that makes me eager to get home to him. I even volunteer to leave a little early when Angel asks if anyone wants to leave after the dinner rush. I need the money, but I also need Tyler.
Kylie isn’t home yet when I’m finally off work. Tyler is on the couch watching footage of possible new recruits when I walk in.
“Hey, baby. How was work?” His voice is low and husky like he’s just starting to get tired. But I know he won’t go to bed until both me and Kylie are home safe.
“Good. I got pretty good tips, too.” I drop my bag on the floor and make my way over to him. Since we’re alone, I straddle his lap, and he wraps his arms around my waist. “Guess people like what they see,” I tease.
“What they see is mine,” he says, pressing his lips to mine. “I’ve been waiting for this all day.”
Like always, his kiss consumes me, and I soon forget about anything and everything but him kissing me. Our bodies mold together, and his fingers dig into my hips as I move on his lap, trying to create whatever friction I can.
We’re in our own world when I hear the front door open. We both freeze and stare wide-eyed at each other.
We got carried away.
In the middle of the living room.
It’s almost comical how quickly he throws me off his lap, and I scamper to the other side of the couch. We have a matter of seconds to control our breathing. Tyler grabs a pillow and puts it in his lap to cover his situation.
“So work was good,” he says, attempting to make it sound like we’re having a casual conversation.
“Good. Yeah, it was good. Really good.” God, we sound like idiots.
Kylie bounds around the corner with a huge smile on her face.
“Hey!” I say, unusually loud, but Kylie doesn’t seem to notice.
“Hey!” she says.
“How’d it go?” I ask.
“It was great. Don’t worry, Dad. He was a total gentleman. But I like him. A lot.”
“That’s so awesome, Ky,” I tell her.
“Glad you had a good time,” Tyler says.
“He asked if I wanted to hang out again on Sunday. If it goes well, I was thinking about suggesting that double date.”
I sigh, and my shoulders slump. I’d really hoped she had forgotten about that. “Kylie, I told you, I’m not really looking to date anyone.”
“And I told you , it would be good for you to get out, even if it’s just for a night.” She gives me a pointed look.
“Ky, don’t push it if she doesn’t want to go,” Tyler adds. The two of us share a quick look. I know he doesn’t want me going on a date with anyone else, but it’s hard to give a good excuse without telling her that I’m already seeing someone.
“She needs to have fun before she graduates. She hasn’t dated anyone in like a year. It’ll be fun, McKenzie. I’ll even plan it around your work schedule so you don’t have to take any time off.”
Well, damn. There goes my last excuse.
I don’t get to say anything else before Kylie says, “Ok, I’m going to go get ready for bed. Come up, and I’ll tell you all about tonight.”
“Yeah. I’ll be up in a sec. I’m just gonna grab some water,” I tell her.
She turns and heads for the stairs, and I look over at Tyler.
“What do I do?” I whisper.
He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “I guess you’re going to have to go on a date.”
I freeze in my seat. “You’re really going to let me go out with another man just so you don’t have to tell her that we’re together?”
“You think I want that to happen? I don’t even like it when other men look in your direction. But the second that I tell Kylie that I’m in love with you, everything is going to change. She’s going to hate me. I’m not ready for that yet. Are you?”
Of course, I’m not ready for that, but what are we supposed to do here? “The longer we wait, the worse it’s going to be.”
I stand to walk upstairs because I know there’s nothing more I can say tonight. I don’t want to push Tyler too fast, but I hate keeping this from Kylie. She’s been so good to me, and I’m betraying her at every turn.
“McKenzie.” Tyler grabs my wrist and turns me toward him. “I love you.”
“I know.”
“This is killing me.”
I blink back tears because I feel the same way. “I know.”
He drops my wrist, and I make my way to Kylie’s room to listen to her tell me all about her date.
A little after midnight, Tyler sneaks into my room. But this time, we’re not instantly pulling at each other’s clothes. He slides in behind me and tugs me toward him. He holds me all night, and I’m starting to feel like we’re in so far over our heads that we can’t recover from this.