Page 65 of Spark
“Wait, you were out withMattlast night? But I thought you were dating Chris!” Athena asked, with a confused look.
Uh-oh, thought Sophie.
“…you’re dating Chris?” Mom echoed.
They both stared at her with varying expressions of surprise and curiosity.
“Um…” Sophie said.
This was going to be an extremely awkward conversation, and one she’d been hoping to avoid for a while.
“C’mon, spill,” urged her sister. “You’re seriously datingbothof them? At the same time?”
“Yeah. It just kind of…happened,” Sophie confessed. “And I’m not sure what to do about it.”
“Well, I think you should go for it. If you like them both, then keep dating them.” Athena gave an exaggerated sigh and melodramatically clapped her hand over her heart. “Goals. You should have them.”
Sophie was surprised by the lack of condemnation. She’d been worried that her family would disapprove of the situation if they found out. Dating her two best friends…especially when she’d been hooking up with both of them…could be seen as kind of slutty.
Now she voiced her biggest fear. “But what if things don’t work out? What if they go really bad? And one of them ends up hating me?”
“Then they go bad. You’re not responsible for other people’s feelings and reactions, only your own,” Mom said, in her usual no-nonsense tone.
“But—” Sophie began
“Look, you and Matt and Chris have known each other for a long time,” Mom cut her off. “Do they strike you like the kind of guys who’d ghost you just because you had a bad date?”
Sophie remembered how wrecked Chris had been when things went wrong on their first date. She shook her head.
“Or if you end up committing to one over the other?”
“I don’t know,” Sophie said honestly.
Mom’s expression softened. “Well, I can see how unhappynotgoing for it made you. And Chris, too. That’s what your argument was about, right?”
“Kind of,” Sophie replied. She didn’t want to get into the details, especially since it had turned out to be mostly a misunderstanding.
“So, what have you got to lose?” Mom asked.
“Everything,” Sophie replied, trying to push down a sudden surge of hope.
Mom crossed her arms and gave her a look. “If you don’t do anything, you’ll lose, too. Because you like both of them, right?”
Sophie nodded.
Mom sighed. “Look, if you want my advice—go for it. Life is short, and they’re both really nice guys. You’re all still young. Live a little.”
Sophie could only gape at her. Never in her wildest dreams did she think thatMom, of all people, would approve of her daughter dating more than one man at a time.
“But be honest with them,” Mom added. “Don’t play games—not that I think you will, at least not deliberately. The three of you have been friends for a long time. Keep treating them like your friends, and I’m betting that everything will work out in the end.”
“Yeah, they can be, like, your kissy-friends.” Athena pursed her lips and made exaggerated smacking noises.
“Oh, yuck, stop it,” Sophie groaned. Her sister just laughed.
Her head spinning, Sophie went to her room to change into fresh clothes. When she thought about choosing one of them over the other, her heart protested. They were both her friends, herbestfriends in the whole world, and so far, she’d really enjoyed dating them both.
Chris was exciting, generous and funny, but also volatile with a quick temper. Their make out sessions had been mindblowing so far, and she knew that full-on sex with him would be utterly amazing.
