Page 112 of Tell Me When It's Over

Hesitantly, I sit in the furthest spot from him, flattening the skirt Mia gave me as a late birthday present. It’s long, orange, and matches my fingernails that I painted this morning. “What was that about? With Gordy, I mean?”

Something flashes in his eyes, and worry settles back in the pit of my stomach. “Nothing you need to worry about.”

“I just thought…” Stopping myself, I shake my head. Strands of hair fall over my shoulder, obscuring part of my view of him.

“You thought what?”

I shouldn’t have said anything. Wetting my dry, chapped lips, I look up with a bright smile on my face. “I came in to wish you luck. I just saw Mia, and—”

“What did you think, Leighton?”

Lips twitching, my smile slips, giving away the fret before I can mask it again. “It’s nothing, Ky. I’m just being stupid.”

His nostrils flare. “Tell me then.”

Knowing he won’t let this go, even if I stall long enough until he goes on, I close my eyes for a few measly seconds before opening them to an intense, impatient stare. “I thought maybe you were asking Gordy to look into a new house or something.”

He blinks. That’s all he does.

“You know,

because of the other night. The, uh, the thing that happened at Mia’s. And then… Well, you left, and I know you didn’t have anywhere else to go because you’d already said your schedule was clear for the day. I figured you were trying to escape because you were upset.” The shrug I add is meant to be causal, like it doesn’t bother me, but Kyler knows me better than that.

Slowly, he shakes his head in disbelief, his eyes narrowing enough to make me prepare for the response that’s coming. “I told you I’m not running.”

I swallow.

“It was barely a kiss,” he adds.

In hindsight, my brain conjured the same thought. It really wasn’t a kiss—not the first one. That one had been a means to an end. For Mia. But the second one, the one that led to nothing, no follow up or discussion, had been more, and we still don’t broach the subject like we’re letting it slide through the cracks.

But hearing that from him is different than accepting it myself. Those words sting more than they do when my brain formulates the admission to myself, and I wonder if it’s because I don’t want what happened to fall through the cracks, but maybe he does.

So, I don’t say anything.

He does though. “We’ve been fine, haven’t we?”

I want to tell him yes, because we don’t talk about it, but I don’t. “I suppose.”

More staring. Then, “There hasn’t been anything weird between us, so there isn’t a reason for me to spend more money than necessary on another house. If I wanted to run, I’d be back in New York right now.”

My lips part slightly. He’s right. I know he is, but the side of me that insists on overanalyzing everything clings onto the fact he won’t tell me about the conversation with Gordy.

He must know that. “I already told you, the thing with Gordy isn’t anything to worry about. Some stuff with my mom and her boyfriend. That’s all.”

Oh. I frown. “Is she okay?”

A pause. Then a head nod. His lips press into a grim line as his eyes trail off, lost in thought. “They’re going through a rough patch. Same story, different day. Just wish she’d make up her mind about what she wants.”

From what Mia has said, she already has, but I can tell Kyler still doesn’t agree with her choices. “Maybe she has, Ky.”

He looks at me, blinking. “Yeah, maybe.”

Eventually, the TV mounted in the corner across from us starts a countdown for Hot in Hollywood. From the close distance, the audience begins cheering, calling out Penny’s name as the screen shows the same people waving their hands and signs in the air as the camera pans over them.

“Want to watch it in here with me until I’m called?” he asks, eyes focused on me instead of the TV.

I don’t ask him if he means it because he wouldn’t offer otherwise. “Yes, please.” He stretches his arm back out over the top of the couch cushions and settles in, spreading his legs to get comfortable.

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