Page 56 of The Progressions

“You’re not with anybody, and neither am I. What’s stopping us from enjoying this comfortable bed?”

I smiled. “Just the lack of foam and support, I guess. Do you really want to fool around?”

“I wouldn’t call it that. I would say, we’ll have fun. What do you think?”

“Um…” Was there really a choice here? No reasonable woman would have said no to him. Besides how he looked, I liked him—but it would only be for fun, as he’d said. It wasn’t anything to do with emotions.

But I also saw how it could go really wrong, even if it started for the right reasons. No, it wouldn’t be like how things had ended after the first time with Cody, when I’d been crying and in pain and he’d been angry and calling me names. But there were other potential pitfalls that someone could tumble into, and those could hurt just as much.

Still. How could I say no?

“We could start slowly. Like kissing,” I suggested. I remembered how he and Shay Galton had kissed and had immediate second thoughts. “I’m sure that your former girlfriends had a lot of experience with hundreds of guys.”

He frowned.“So?”

“I’m not criticizing. I’m envious,” I explained. “I’m saying that I don’t have that, so I won’t have their skill level, either. Don’t expect, you know, a Shay Galton-style kiss.”

And that, apparently, had been the wrong thing to say. Tyler rolled onto his back and put his forearm over his eyes. “I don’t want to think about that woman.”

“Are you still into her?” I asked. “I thought she’d offered another chance but you’d—”

“No, I don’t want Shay,” he told me, but at the same time, he stood up from the bed. “If I don’t ever hear her name again, I’ll be a lot happier.”

“Oh, ok.” I nodded.

“What does that mean?”

“You’re not totally over her—”

“I’m totally over her,” he stated. “You know what I found out when she came here for Fan Day? She was messaging the guy she’d taken out a restraining order against. He has serious problems and what she was doing was dangerous. It was mean, too, because he’s mentally ill. But I found out that she was still contacting him and we fought almost the whole night before I had to go meet all those people.”

“Why?” I asked, bewildered. “Why would she do that?”

“Because when he caused problems, she would get attention.” He paused, shaking his head. “I told her to go, that I needed some time, and that time showed me that I’m over her. I never want to hear anyone call me Royaux, either.” He looked toward my dad’s bedroom door. “I shouldn’t have suggested this.”

“I think it was a good idea!” I said, rising up to kneel on the mattress. Something metal gouged into my knee. “It was a great idea.” I had been ready to go, before I’d ruined it.

“Maybe.” He stood for a moment, looking down on me. “It’s probably too late for you, anyway.”

“Too late?” As in, it was to late for him and me? Or did he mean that no one would ever want to—

“Grandma hours,” he reminded me, and he touched my cheek briefly with his fingertips. “Now I understand why you keep them. With all the shit you do, you need your rest or you’ll end up sleeping on the floor somewhere.”

“No, I don’t need to sleep right now,” I argued, but I also looked toward my dad’s door. “I guess this isn’t the place.”

Tyler nodded but then he added more. “It’s a bad place, and it was a bad idea.”

A bad idea? “Well—”

“I’ll see you Monday.” He was already turning to go, but I scrambled to my feet, not ready for him to leave quite yet. The bed made a terrible noise, like an elephant trumpeting, and we both heard my dad’s voice call out.

“Kasia?What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I’m fine!” I answered, but I didn’t want him to try to get up to check on me. “Tyler, I didn’t think that was a bad idea at all. We’re two unattached adults. Why not?”

“Don’t tell your dad that I was here. I don’t want him to think I’m sneaking around with his daughter. Good night.” He closed the door quietly behind himself.

As I’d feared, my dad was struggling to get up when I went into his room. “No, don’t,” I said. “I’m fine.”

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