11. Kirin
Kirin
By midday Wednesday, Kirin hadn’t seen Rose outside of class since she had dropped him off early Sunday morning.
She’d arrived to class late yesterday and hadn’t responded to his texts.
Not that he was keeping track or anything, but the last communication was on Monday when she sent him that playlist. He tried not to imagine she was avoiding him, but given her lack of response, he wondered what he might have done wrong.
On the flip side, Maya did not appear to have any problems with reaching out regardless of his lack of response.
Maya
Are you available tonight? I could use a good stretch
He ignored the message and hoped Rose was just busy. Maybe he was overthinking this. She had a game yesterday. It ended in a draw, which he knew Laurel hated. No doubt Rose did too.
Maya
The game was rough. Could use some cheering up.
Come over, baby. I miss you.
When he ignored those messages too, her follow-up was a photo of a lot of skin and very little else. That forced his hand, but it wouldn’t be the response she wanted.
Kirin
I’m with Rose.
Worried it wouldn’t be enough to deter her, he sent another one.
Kirin
Don’t send me any more booty calls, Maya.
He debated, then sent another one.
Kirin
You’re better than that.
Maya
You deserve better than her. Come over and we can discuss it.
Kirin
Find someone else. No discussion needed.
Maya
Kirin, you’re being ridiculous.
He almost laughed at that. Yeah, he was definitely being ridiculous.
All he wanted was to talk to Rose, and she clearly had better things to do.
He just needed to get past the walls she had built high enough to block out the sun.
Chewing his bottom lip, he considered their past discussions.
She was usually more responsive over text, and he had an opening with the game.
And if all else failed, they needed to get to know one another.
Plus, they had barely scratched the surface of the questions she sent him.
Kirin
Sucks about the draw last night.
What’s your favorite place on earth?
It took over an hour to get a response, but he yanked his phone out of his pocket the second it buzzed.
Rose
Completely avoidable if they’d kicked the damn ball anywhere near me.
And Lake Superior.
Kirin
Still giving you the cold shoulder, huh?
Really? Why Lake Superior?
Rose
Of course they are. And I spent many childhood summers on and around the lake. It’s so green, and the water feels endless. It brings me a lot of peace.
He hummed internally as his professor droned at the front of the room.
Lake Superior was gorgeous. No denying that, and he could see why it would be her favorite.
She was a legacy. It made sense that she spent time around that lake.
Maybe that contributed to her choosing Montgomery, since it was still driving distance.
Kirin
Was that one reason you chose Montgomery? So you were still close to Lake Superior?
Gray dots popped up and then disappeared for a few minutes before her answer appeared.
Rose
You know, maybe? I guess I hadn’t thought about it like that.
I just didn’t want to be back in Arizona. I wanted to maintain my independence, and I did not want to give up four seasons.
Kirin
I have always had four seasons, but Maine winters were a different beast.
Rose
Arizona has seasons, but it’s different out here, for sure.
Did you guys leave Maine because of your mom’s job?
Kirin sucked on his bottom lip as he stared at that last text. This was a definite perk of texting. She couldn’t see his reaction. And this topic was another vulnerability, deeper than the distance between him and Laurel.
But he couldn’t expect her to open up if he didn’t offer her the same. And somehow, he thought she might understand. That she wouldn’t react like his ex-girlfriend did when the scandal hit. Somehow, he knew Rose wouldn’t treat him like a broken toy easily discarded.
He took a deep breath and typed out a response.
Kirin
Probably too early in our friendship/relationship/whatever for this conversation, but my dad knocked up one of his students. Unsurprisingly, Mom wasn’t cool with that, so she left him.
There was a noticeable break in her responses after that, and he tried not to let it weigh on him. Especially when he didn’t hear from her before he entered practice, but she responded while he was busy, and that was a relief.
Rose
Shit, I didn’t mean to leave you on read. I had a meeting with the trainer before practice.
I figured your mom got poached or something, not that.
He took a long breath and felt the worry leave his body as he headed home from practice. When he parked, Kirin sat in his truck and considered how to respond until he landed on blunt honesty.
Kirin
Ultimately, Montgomery approached her. They’d been trying to get her to move for a while, but my dad really forced her hand. He moved out and gave my mom whatever she wanted in the split, which included Laurel, Evan, and me.
Rose
I’m sorry you went through that.
We can talk about something else.
Ask me anything.
Kirin
There isn’t much more to tell where my dad is involved. We haven’t heard from him in the last few years, maybe a birthday card, but he’s busy with a new life and so are we.
How are the ribs?
Rose
Still, that’s brutal. Mind if I ask how old you were?
They’re fine. Cyd is happy with them, and it’s not impacting my play.
Kirin
Fourteen.
Good, protect yourself out there.
Rose
A tough age to lose someone you probably looked up to.
Kirin
You have to be around to be looked up to. He wasn’t very present.
He closed his eyes. The emotions from all those years ago were close enough to still simmer beneath his skin.
No amount of therapy had helped with that, but a few slow breaths, and he felt them dissipate again.
He wasn’t an angry teenager anymore. His phone buzzed in his hand, and he glanced down to find a response from Rose staring back.
Rose
When I was sixteen, my mom got tested for the breast cancer gene, resulting in a double mastectomy because, she said, and I quote, “I don’t have time for that shit.”
He chuckled, shaking his head as he tried to picture her mom from the photos on her social media with the same defiant fire Rose had.
It was probably where she learned it, though he’d seen it plenty in her aunt too.
And if he thought hard enough, he could conjure the way Paulie’s office used to look, the photos she had of her and the woman she said was her sister.
He’d bet there were photos of Rose in there too. Shame he couldn’t remember those.
Kirin
I think I’m going to like your mom.
Rose
Just wait, you remember the tit tattoo you noticed on my wrist?
Kirin narrowed his eyes at his phone, wondering where she was going with this as he climbed out of his truck.
Kirin
Yes.
She didn’t respond until the next morning. He was between classes when the response came in, but the notification interrupted his music. He fished his phone out of his pocket and opened the thread.
Rose
To share their glory after her surgery, she’d draw them on the whiteboard attached to the fridge or on the bathroom mirrors with her finger so they’d show up when we showered.
At one point, there were cartoon tits all over the house, under her “Love, Mom” in birthday cards. I think she thought it would empower us to see her take back her womanhood. It caused a lot of questions from my sisters’ friends.
Kirin
LOL, so you got them tattooed?
He chuckled, trying to imagine tits drawn on every surface of his house.
Rose
It stopped her from drawing them everywhere. She and my dad have the same tattoo.
Kirin
Thank you for telling me.
Rose
You shared, so I thought it was only fair.
Kirin
Do you have any other tattoos?
Rose
Yes, but that’s not part of this project.
Kirin
More personal than the tits, huh?
There was a gap as they both dropped into their own commitments.
He had a busy Thursday schedule, starting with conditioning in the morning, a visit to the trainers to get his checkup, film review, and squeezed in between was the odd class he needed to graduate.
But Rose was prepping for a game, one she needed to be getting in the right mental headspace for.
Rose
More complicated, plus you’d have to see it to understand, and we agreed this wasn’t a physical thing so that won’t be happening.
Kirin
I am officially curious.
Rose
Ha! I have no doubt.
Kirin
Good luck tonight. Kick ass.