Page 34 of Give Me a Shot

Mo remembered the uncomfortable conversation at their parents’ house. He frowned again, furrowing his eyebrows.

“Yes,” he grumbled.

“Excellent! I knew it,” he said, elbowing Mo. “I knew she wasn’t just a friend or fellow committee member.”

Mo didn’t like that.

“She was…is just a friend. Why would you think something different?”

Khalil chuckled.

“You brought her up,” he said. “And Rachid was right—if you think her advice is good enough to listen to and share, she’s gotta mean something to you.”

Mo chewed that over for a moment.

“You make it sound like I never take anyone’s advice,” he said.

“Uh…you don’t. You’re usually the giver, not the taker.”

Mo wasn’t sure that was fair.

“It’s part of your charm,” Khalil said. “You automatically know better than any of us.”

Mo frowned again. Especially since he was there hoping Khalil could help him. Khalil leaned back a little, assessing him.

“Why do you look grumpy about this? Oh. Did she not kiss you back?”

“She did. But I feel guilty.”

He was grateful that Khalil’s expression had shifted to concern.

“Why would you feel guilty?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Mo said. “It’s…I feel…uncomfortable and guilty.” He looked off to the side. “Not sure why,” he grumbled.

“Okay. Let’s look at it,” Khalil said. “Did you kiss her at a bad time? Like, was she having a difficult moment, or do you think you took advantage of her having her guard down?”

Mo rolled his lips.

“I’d be surprised if she ever lets her guard down. But I haven’t known her very long, maybe I’m not reading—”

Waving a hand in the air, Khalil cut him off.

“If that’s your takeaway, it’s the truth. My whole life, you’ve never been wrong about someone’s character,” he said.

“Oh,” Mo said, not suppressing his smirk. “So you can admit that I’m always right.”

“About people, jerk,” Khalil said, rolling his eyes. “So she never lets her guard down, but she was cool about you kissing her. I know that didn’t come out of nowhere. What was the shift? How did you go from…colleagues to make-out partners?”

Mo narrowed his eyes and explained. About her quickly understanding that he was too empathetic, not angry. About howshe’d forbidden him from calling himself weird, and about how she’d taken up for him about “performing” and making things to sell, emphasizing that the others were asking too much of him, something they’d never noticed even though they’d known him much longer.

Khalil’s eyebrows had nearly migrated to the top of his forehead.

“She really likes you,” he said, grinning again and nodding.

“Why do you say that?”

“Man, I love you, but you’re clueless,” Khalil said.

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