“So, who is she?”
“Her name’s Cleo. It started off as friendly, but then we crossed a line last weekend and I panicked and bailed. I haven’t talked to her since.”
“Yikes.” Nate grimaced and downed the rest of his beer.
“Yeah. I know.”
“So, what’s stopping you from calling her?”
“I don’t know. I just don’t think I’m ready for commitment.”
“But you like the girl?”
“Yeah. A lot.”
“So, call her. Text her. Whatever. It’s not like you’re marrying her. Just see where it goes.”
“I don’t know. She probably doesn’t want to hear from me after I snuck out of her place.”
“Look, Avery and I didn’t have the smoothest of starts either, but we ended up just fine. You never know.”
“Thanks, man. I appreciate it.”
“Any time.” Nate patted him on the back.
On the drive home, Kenny was feeling better. He wasn’t ready to reach out to Cleo just yet, but that was okay. He was going to see her at the party tomorrow night. That would hopefully give him the answers he needed. Would she ignore him? Would she talk to him? Would she forgive him? Would he be ready to see where it could go?
He ran through all the different scenarios in his head and soon arrived home. Nico was in the kitchen eating a slice of pizza. He looked up at him nervously as Kenny leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.
“Look, man. Don’t be pissed. I didn’t know what to do. You’ve been such an ass lately.”
“It’s fine.” Kenny rolled his eyes.
Nico smiled with relief.
“Are you coming out tonight?” asked Kenny, grabbing a slice of pizza.
“Yeah. What time does Justin get in?”
Kenny checked his phone for the time. “In about an hour. He’s going to check in at the hotel and then head over.”
“Cool. But remember, we can’t go too crazy. Tomorrow’s Mae’s party. I’d feel lousy if I was a hungover host.”
“Of course.”
“It’ll be nice to see Cleo, huh?”
“Yeah, I guess. I kind of forgot she would be there.” Kenny lied. He finished his pizza and headed to his room to unwind before their night out. He was glad Justin was coming into town. Having his best friend around for all this Cleo and Nate drama was just what he needed.
Two hours later, the three of them called a cab and headed to a steakhouse for dinner. They ordered a nice bottle of red wine and some ribeyes with mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli.
“It’s nice to be out without the rest of the team,” said Nico between bites.
“Tell me about it. I was starting to get sick of them, since coach doubled up on practices.”
“Everyone is saying you guys are going to go all the way this year,” said Justin.
Kenny shrugged, “I don’t know. Maybe. I don’t want to jinx it.”