Chapter Five #3
“I know.” I sense his head loll in my direction, but I keep my eyes on the road.
“I might also be insanely jealous.”
“I knew you wanted me.” It’s clear he’s joking, but it doesn’t stop me from backhanding him right across the chest.
“Um, no.” I shake my head with a laugh. “I mean, I love you, but no. I’m jealous of what you have,” I correct.
“You’ll find someone, Mais. A girl as amazing as you... No chance someone doesn’t snatch you up the first chance they get.”
“Who says I want to find someone?”
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t you just say you were insanely jealous?”
“I am. Doesn’t mean I’m ready to tie myself down. I’m only twenty. It’s going to take a lot more than a cute smile and tattoos to get any kind of commitment out of me. No offense to Lyric,” I quickly add.
“When the right person comes along, I don’t think any of that really matters. Not the timing. Not the circumstances. Not your own reservations. When you know with your entire being that this person was meant to be yours, you’d be surprised how easily you can give in.”
“I seem to recall it wasn’t all that easy for you.” I throw him a sideways glance. “In fact, I seem to remember having to come to your apartment and tell you to get your head out of your ass.”
“Some people fight it more than others. I’m ashamed to admit that I was one of those people. That I let the fear of how I felt for her hold me back. But I got my shit together eventually.”
“With a little assistance,” I tack on.
“I would have figured it out eventually. But yes, with a little assistance.” He grins.
“I still can’t believe you’re getting married.”
“Well, it’s still a couple of years out.” He shrugs.
“Are you anxious about waiting until she graduates?”
“Not at all. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’d marry her today. But I know that waiting is the right move and honestly, as long as at the end of the day I know she’s mine, I don’t really care all that much.”
“I never thought I’d see the day when Kai Elliot turned into one of those guys.”
“And what kind of guy are you referring to exactly?”
“The sappy kind.”
“So I’m sappy now, am I?”
“Just a little bit.” I hold my index finger and thumb a couple of inches apart. “Little bit.” I giggle at the look he gives me.
“So are you gonna tell me who you were texting earlier?”
“What?” I act confused, though maybe surprised would be a more genuine response, given that I am surprised that he noticed I was on my phone at all.
“You know, earlier, when you were staring at your phone like it might end up in the pool with me and Jackson.”
“You noticed that, huh?”
“Kind of hard not to when your fingers were tapping against the screen so hard it was a wonder the damn thing didn’t shatter.”
“It was nothing.”
“Didn’t look like nothing.”
“It’s just this guy... Macallan.”
“Stewart?”
“You know him?”
“I know of him. He’s a receiver on the football team, right?”
“He is.”
“So what did he do?”
“Huh?”
“The way you were looking at your phone, I can only assume he did something.”
“Lyric hasn’t told you?”
“Is there something she should have told me?”
“No. Just some stupid stuff that happened freshman year.”
“What kind of stupid stuff? Do I need to intervene?”
“God, no.” I huff out a laugh. “We just don’t like each other, is all.”
“So then why were you texting him?”
“Because we got stuck together as partners for our psych lab. We’re doing this six-week project and most of the work has to be done outside of class.”
“If you don’t like him, why didn’t you request a different partner?”
“Oh, trust me, I did. The professor basically told me to get over it, that he wasn’t going to switch partners.”
“Sounds like an asshole.”
“He’s actually one of the nicer teachers I have. He just clearly has no sympathy.”
“Well, if this guy gives you any trouble...”
“He won’t. And if he does, I can handle him.”
“If at any point you can’t...”
“You’ll be my first phone call.” I smile.
“That’s all I ask.”
“Well, here we are,” I announce as we pull up outside his apartment building. I find a spot at the back of the lot and quickly pull in.
“You can drive my car back to the dorm. I can get it back from you tomorrow. I don’t like the idea of you walking across campus by yourself after dark.”
“One, it’s barely dark. And two, I do it all the time. Trust me, I’ll be fine.” I kill the engine, throwing open the driver’s side door before quickly climbing out of the car.
“Mais...”
“I’m serious, Kai. It’s like a ten-minute walk. I’ll manage. You forget I have one hell of a kicking leg. If someone is stupid enough to mess with me, I’ll have their balls so far up inside of them they’ll have to have them surgically pulled back out.”
He cringes slightly.
“Remind me never to get on your bad side.” He chuckles.
“Don’t worry. I want little Kais and Lyrics running around one day. I would never do that to you.” I wink.
“Somehow that’s not all that reassuring.” Laughter chases his words.
“Tell Lyric I said hi.” I toss him his keys. He catches them without breaking eye contact.
“Will you at least let me know when you’ve made it back to your dorm?”
“Yes, Dad.”
“And please don’t call me that.”
“I’ll stop calling you that when you stop acting like my father.” I smirk, giving him a little wave as I head off in the direction of my dorm.