Page 15 of Rim Shot Rebound

“You should call him. Tell him you aren’t ready to commit to anything yet. He just got out of a relationship and you aren’t a rebound. Blah, blah, blah, that stuff.”

Kelsey glanced at the clock on the wall. “I can’t yet. He’s at his mom’s.”

“And you know this because you’re psychic?”

“I know this because he’s at his mom’s every Sunday. Church, then lunch and family. Every week.”

As if he could hear them discussing his future, Eric’s name flashed on Kelsey’s muted phone.

Natalie whistled. “Damn, he’s good. Or at least his timing is spot-fucking-on.”

Kelsey stared at the phone vibrating in her hand. She should answer it. Maybe. She still didn’t know what to say. But Natalie was right. He would call and text until they talked this out. And she owed him…something. The truth. Or a truth, if not all of it.

“Hey.” She could hear the hesitance in her voice, despite trying to make her greeting sound casual and carefree.

“Hey.” His own voice was shakier than hers. It sounded odd coming from Eric. “Got a sec?”

She looked at Natalie. “Yeah, what’s up?”

“I just…I’m sorry about Friday night. I shouldn’t have—”

“It’s fine,” Kelsey blurted out. She was using that word a lot lately. The more unfine things got, the more she tried to convince herself and everyone else that they were fine. “I mean, it’s okay. I’m okay. We’re okay?”

“Are we?”

They were both silent. What did that mean? So many things. And there were so many factors Eric didn’t know about yet. How could they be okay?

She glanced at Natalie again for a boost of support. “Eric, I’m not sure what to say. How I feel about all of that.”

“No, I get it.” His voice was rough and choppy, lacking the smooth, melodic tone it usually had. “I shouldn’t have kissed you. No matter how much I wanted to, I pushed too fast. I dumped a lot on you and didn’t give you time to process it.”

“Thanks. For understanding, I mean. And I am. Still processing.”

“I get it.”

“And you…you just broke up with someone,” Kelsey said, while Natalie gave her a nod of encouragement. “I think you might need some time to process, too.”

There was a long silence. “I don’t think you know just how long I have been processing this. But I get that it seems sudden to you.” He took in a loud breath. “I just want you to know this isn’t me being impulsive or rebounding or anything. I’ve been thinking about this—you, us—for a long time. I don’t think I ever stopped thinking about us.”

“Eric—”

“But I can give you all the space and time you need.”

Kelsey took a breath and relaxed. Time. She needed time. “Thank you.”

“Well, maybe not all the space. We still need to work on that song.”

Her stomach clenched. “Right. I was actually making notes just now. Or trying to, at least.”

“That’s the other reason I was calling,” he said. “When do you want to meet again? Next Friday?”

Something about another Friday not-a-date session felt weird to her, but she wasn’t sure how to explain that. “Well, that would be Thursday rehearsal, then Friday writing, then Saturday gig all in a row.”

“Or we could work for like an hour or whatever after the gig Saturday?”

She relaxed. “That sounds good. Yeah, can we do that?”

“Sure. Absolutely.” Another awkward pause stretched through the call. After what felt like an eternity, Eric said, “Well, I’d better get back in there before Aunt Yvette comes looking for me.”

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