Page 74 of The System

“Carina, want a beer?” a woman asked. “I’m going to grab one.”

“No, I’m not much of a beer drinker,” Carina replied without noticing that Kieran was there yet. “Amalia, do you want some of this dip stuff? They have carrots and celery to go with it.”

Amalia. Carina’s date. Carina was on a date. She’d brought a date to this party. Kieran didn’t know what to do, so she just stood there, waiting to be seen, but her heart hurt. It actually hurt. She wasn’t sure it had ever hurt like this before, but it sure as shit did now because she liked Carina, and Carina was on a date with another woman. It hurt because Kieran wanted to be the one getting her a drink, and it wouldn’t be beer. It would be Carina’s favorite wine. She held up the bottle in her hand because she had brought Carina a drink.

“Sorry. I’ve got to take this,” Amalia said from the corner of the kitchen as she stared at her phone. “It’s work. Can I go outside?”

“Sure,” Carina replied.

“Hello?” Amalia said into the phone and hurried out the open back door off to the right of the kitchen.

“Hey,” Kieran greeted.

Carina looked up and smiled instantly.

“Hey. I didn’t know you’d be here.”

“Dylan invited me. I wasn’t sure I’d come. She said you might be here, and I know you asked me for some space…”

Carina walked around the island and stood a few feet away from her.

“It’s all sorted out, I think. My boss isn’t happy with me, but there’s nothing he can find that I did wrong thanks to that email someone sent in, even though I said that she shouldn’t.”

“Are you mad? I only wanted to help.”

“No, I’m not mad,” Carina replied. “And it helped, so thank you.”

“You didn’t call or text.”

“I know. I needed a little more time than I thought I would.”

“So, I should go?” Kieran asked.

“No, you don’t have to go. I meant that it’s not just about the work thing. I… Well, you know how I feel, and I think I needed a little more time before I reached out.”

“You’re here on a date,” Kieran noted.

“I am, yes. Amalia called me and asked if I wanted to do something tonight. I told her I was coming here already, so I invited her.”

“But you like me?”

“I do like you. But you don’t feel the same way, or you might not be ready to admit it if you do. I needed to get out of the house, though, and the thought of coming here alone was more than I could handle right now, so I brought her.”

“I’ve never been with a woman, Carina.”

Carina seemed caught off guard by that but replied, “I know that, Kieran.”

Kieran held up the bottle again and said, “I brought you this.”

Carina looked down and took the bottle from her.

“You brought my favorite wine?”

“I didn’t think they’d have it here,” she replied.

“And you remembered that this was my favorite from the bar? You didn’t even see the bottle.”

“You told me what it was, so yeah, I remembered.”

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