Page 82 of Verses

“Who is it?”

I might as well be as honest as I possibly could. “I’d rather not say. At least not yet.”

Kyle looked up again, an almost angry expression on his face. But then he said, “Okay. I guess I’ll find out soon enough.”

When he started strumming again, my muscles relaxed a bit. “Can I ask you something else?”

“Sure.”

“Was it weird?”

“Waswhatweird?”

I looked down at my hands, feeling unsure. “Seeing somebody else. Was it weird?”

“You want me to be honest?”

“Of course.”

A grin spread over his face, but he kept his eyes glued on his hands. “It was fucking exciting at first. Like getting a new car. Not to knock you, Hayl, but when you’ve been eating the same baloney sandwich for eight or nine years, if someone gives you ham, it’s like the best fucking thing you ever tasted.”

“Oh. I’m baloney now?”

He started laughing. “You know what I mean. It was just because they were someone totally different. Now, though…I think it feels more normal again. ‘Cause, yeah, even though it was fun at first, itwaskind of weird. But you’ll get over it.”

“Cool. Thanks.”

“Did you just get that new tattoo today?”

“Oh, yeah,” I said, pulling up my sleeve. It was pretty evident, based on the way the plastic sheet clung to my arm—and how red and nasty my skin looked after being poked a thousand times.

“That looks good. You planning on getting more?”

“Ask me tomorrow. They said this wouldn’t hurt very much—and I guess it wasn’ttoobad—but if other areas hurt worse, maybe I’ll stick with just this one.”

“They’re pretty addictive.”

“That’s what they say,” I said, standing. I started walking to my room but paused outside the door. “Hey, Kyle.”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

“For what?”

“You know.” I again turned to the door but looked back at Kyle one last time. “By the way, that sounds fucking amazing. I can’t wait to hear the finished product.”

He shrugged, frowning. Oh. Poor guy. His self-esteem still had a long way to go. Still, I felt like what he was doing right now at this very moment was a great start.

Later that evening,Wolf picked me up in his truck. As he sped down the road, I asked, “Where are we going?”

“I thought maybe we could go to Silver City and eat at that Mexican food place on the east side of town.”

My heart started soaring. That meant this was arealdate—and that told me exactly where his heart and head were. “Okay. I was kind of hoping you’d take another crack at grilling me a steak.”

“My heart’s not in it. Maybe this spring.”

Nodding, I looked out the side window of the truck. “I think it’s starting to snow.”

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