Page 92 of More To Us

"We're good." She smiles.

"Then I'll call you in the morning and we'll figure out what we want to do."

"Okay." She leans over and I kiss her, but just once because if I keep going, I'll never leave. I walk her to the door and we say goodnight.

I'm surprised at how well she handled tonight. Girls were yelling my name, trying to grab me, asking me to sign their bodies. That's how it always is when we play so I'm used to it, but Kira isn't, so I'm surprised she wasn't angry. I know she didn't like it, but at least she didn't start a fight about it like girls I've dated in the past have done.

The next morning, my dad tells me he needs help dropping off some equipment at one of our job sites so I call Kira to tell her.

"Did I wake you up?" I ask because she took forever to answer.

"No. I just didn't hear the phone. So what's going on?"

"I have to help my dad with some work stuff this morning but I could be over there around noon. We could have lunch then head downtown. I checked and there's free concerts at the park all day."

"That sounds fun. I'll see you at noon."

I hear noise in the background, like some guys talking and then the sound of weights clanking together.

"Where are you?" I ask.

"At the gym. I wanted to get a workout in since they're closed tomorrow."

"Why didn't you tell me? I would've gone with you."

"I didn't want to make you get up early."

"I work out early all the time. And it's not that early. It's nine-thirty."

"I know but I just thought I'd work out alone today."

There's something going on with her. It has to be about last night.

"Kira, if you're mad at me, just say so. Let's talk about it."

"I'm not mad at you. I just wanted to lift weights. That's it. I didn't plan to be here long and I wasn't sure if you wanted to sleep in, so I just went without you."

"Okay, well, don't wear yourself out. As your trainer, I'd advise you to rest today but I guess it's too late now."

"I don't need to rest. I feel great."

"I have to go, but I'll see you soon."

"Yeah. Bye."

She works out even more than I do. I'm starting to see what Amber meant when she said Kira tends to push herself too hard. After all the rollerblading and biking we did, and the workouts we did last week, she really should be resting today.

At noon I pick her up and we get some lunch and take it to one of the downtown parks. We go on a long walk, then stop to hear one of the bands that's playing.

"What do you think?" I ask as the band starts another song.

"You guys are better," she says, lying back on the sleeping bag. I had it in my truck. I unzipped it and laid it out over the grass.

"Right answer," I say, lying beside her.

"I'm not kidding," she says turning toward me. "You guys sound better. Vandyl should be playing here today instead of whatever this group is." She leans over and kisses me, then rests her chin on my chest, looking up at me. "So tell me about some of the songs you've written."

I smile, because nobody ever shows this much interest in my music. Even my own family doesn't want hear about it. They come to hear me play but they don't want to hear about why I wrote a song, what inspired me, that type of stuff. But Kira does. And as I tell her about it, she actually listens and asks me questions.

---