Page 35 of Waste Some Time
Well, now she’d done it.
No going back now. Not when she’d thrown Stephen a bone.
“Don’t be mad, but I didn’t actually come into town when I said I did. I got here a day early and went to a party with Amelia.”
Stephen released his hands from her arms, a mix of hurt and confusion in his eyes. “Why would you lie about that?”
“Part of me just wanted to see what it was like to be here. On my own. I know I love you guys, but I needed to know how the city fit first.”
“And it does, right?”
Sydney smiled. “Yeah, it does.”
“Then it was worth it.” Stephen smiled back. “And of course, I’m not mad. You gotta do what you need to do.”
“Well, I kinda did something else,” she said. “Which was the other part of why I didn’t tell you about that night.”
A twinkle of mischief hit his eyes as he wagged his brow at her. “You met someone.”
“Not just a someone,” she said with a grimace. “Katie.”
“Oh,” he said. Then his eyes widened as he repeated, “Oh!”
“Yeah,” she said. “I didn’t know who she was. And it wasn’t what you think. We just kissed. And hung out. And that was it.”
Okay, so that was a lie.
It was definitely something else. Or it had become another thing over the past week.
“I thought something was up with you two after you went around town together. Y’all were kind of weird tonight.” He scratched at the short waves of blond hair on his head. “But I had no idea anything was up before that.”
“She didn’t know who I was, either. And I asked her to keep it quiet when I realized she wasyourKatie.”
“Why? You didn’t think I’d be mad about that, did you?”
“No. I knew you’d love the idea,” she said. “Which, again, was why I didn’t want to tell you. I was still trying to figure things out and explain everything else first.”
He tilted his head. “And have you figured it all out now?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “About the other stuff, yes. One hundred percent. I know who I am and I want to move back here.”
“And Katie?”
“That I’m not sure about.” Every moment they’d spent together over the last week, every text, flooded her mind in a jumbled rush of emotion. “I really like hanging out with her. I really likeher.”
“But?”
“But she wasn’t part of the plan.”
“You sound like Katie,” he said. “And since when is someone ever part of the plan?”
“I know, but I’ve just started to settle into this part of myself. With getting comfortable with the fact that I’m bi. I don’t want to jump into a relationship with the first person I kissed.”
“Oh shit,” he said in a hushed breath. “She was the first?”
Sydney nodded. “It was only supposed to be a bit of fun. Trying out what this all really means for me. How it feels. We both agreed to enjoy hanging out the other day. But now things are… complicated.”
He took her hands in his and squeezed as he looked down at her. “It doesn’t have to be complicated. You can just let yourself like her. Take that as far as it goes.”
