Chapter 15
So he kissed you?”
Becca and Claire sat with Beth around a pizza box at Claire’s kitchen table. They had arranged for the girls’ night, and Becca picked up a pizza and beverages.
Beth knew her cheeks were getting warm. “Yeah. It was just a little kiss, but it was amazing,” she said, covering her face with her hands.
“Wow. It must have been good, as red as you’re getting,” Claire said, pulling the toppings off her slice.
“Just think what sex will be like with him,” Becca said.
“Geeze, it’s only one date, and you already have me in bed with him?” Beth shook her head at Becca.
“Just wait. It’ll happen. Which reminds me, I printed those pictures from the camping trip, and made copies of the one with you and Kyle by the ledge of the hiking trail.” Becca dug in her purse for the picture. She handed two copies to Beth.
Beth looked at the picture, and felt her heart skip. They both looked very happy. Very natural. Nothing felt forced between them. Beth signed.
“He’s a sight for sore eyes, isn’t he?” she asked of no one in particular.
“All I can say is I wouldn’t hold back too long. He’d make quite the catch.” Becca told her, downing her soda. There was no beer at Claire’s request. The smell had been making her queasy.
“I know. I’m taking baby steps to let myself go for him.”
“Well, it’s progress at least. I know we’d all like to see you as happy as you’ve been the last couple of weeks. You know he’s been talking about you a lot too, right?” Claire said, looking over at Beth like she was making sure she’d heard.
“Really? To who?”
Claire gave her a look. “Who do you think? The guys at the hall have been giving him so much shit for how head-over-heels he’s been. You’re defiantly a pair of lovesick puppies, is all I can say. But it’s cute too.”
“I don’t want them to tease him. It’s different for me with you two because I know how you get.”
Becca laughed. “Believe me, I think he dishes out just as much as he gets from the guys. You should know he has a decent sense of humor.”
“Yeah, I suppose you’re right on that one. I think to be friends with your husbands you have to be able to have a good time.”
“So what’s date number two going to be?” Claire asked.
“I don’t know yet. He said he’d call me in the morning and we would figure something out.”
Beth hoped they would be able to talk more. She had more questions for him about himself. She had gotten a little more information from him on their date and thought of other questions she wanted to ask, if she got the guts to do it.
“Well have fun and be yourself. And if he makes any more moves, we’d better be the first to know,” Claire said with a smirk.
Becca laughed, and added, “Amen to that!”
Beth knew she was lucky to have two very good friends. They wrapped up their girls night just in time for Petey to come home.
“Good evening, ladies. To what do I owe the pleasure of the company of three fine women?”
Claire gave him a playful swat on the arm. “Girls night, silly. How were the boys?”
Beth hadn’t realized the guys were also getting together. She wondered what Kyle had to say about last night.
Petey looked at her as if he could read her mind. “The guys were great. Kyle seemed especially happy for some reason. Beth, you wouldn’t happen to know why, would you?” He smiled as he asked her, knowing she was behind Kyle’s good mood. Her cheeks warmed, and Petey rubbed her arm. “I’m just messing with you. But he did say you two had a nice date. I hope you go easy on him.”
Beth smiled warmly at Petey. She had known him long enough to know he was giving her his blessing to be with Kyle. “Thanks, Petey. I’ll try to keep that in mind. You don’t have much to worry about.”
They talked a while longer, but decided to call it a night when Claire looked like she would doze off.
When Beth got home, she sat on the couch to watch a movie. She took her phone out of her pocket, deciding to send Kyle a message.
Just got home from girls nite. What r u doing?
She put her phone on the cushion in front of her so she could see it. Not even a minute later, it pinged that she had a new message.
Just watching tv. Want to chat or need some company?
Beth stared at the screen. What did she want?
U decide. Either sounds fine to me.
She tensed as she waited for his reply. A few minutes passed with no answer. Maybe he wasn’t serious about his offer. She thought of all the reasons he wasn’t returning her message, and felt like a high school girl with a crush.
Beth jumped when she heard a knock at the door. Kyle peeked in her window. She opened it for him.
“Hi,” she said, glad she hadn’t put her jamies on yet. She still wore her jeans and a hoodie sweatshirt. Kyle wore basically the same thing, and had a bottle of wine in his hand.
“I come bearing gifts,” He said, offering her the bottle as he stepped inside. “I hope it’s good, I don’t drink a lot of wine, but the clerk said this was her favorite.”
Beth examined the label. “Dirt Cheap? Interesting name for a bottle of wine.”
Kyle laughed. “I know, I know. Maybe not my best choice but let’s crack this baby open and see if it’s that bad.”
Beth found her corkscrew and two wine glasses. She poured them each a glass, and handed one to Kyle. He was looking around her kitchen and dining room.
“Nice place you have here. This is the first time I’ve seen more than the front door.”
“Oh, sorry. Do you want a tour?”
“Naw, that’s okay. At least for now. Shall we?” he asked, motioning to what he guessed was the living room.
Beth walked in front of him, leading the way to her comfortable living room. She sat on one end of the couch, tucking her legs under her. Kyle took the other end and stretched his legs out towards the coffee table.
“Is it okay if I put my feet up?” he asked.
“Go for it. I was just watching a cheesy girl movie. You can pick something else out if you want to.”
“I happen to like cheesy chick flicks. I haven’t watched one in a very long time though. It tarnishes my reputation as a tough guy.”
Beth laughed. Kyle watched her, looking like there was something she wanted to say. He looked down at his glass. “You know, this wine is pretty good. What do you think of it?”
She took another sip. “Yeah, I’d drink more.” He eyed her glass, and got up to get the bottle from the kitchen.
“We might as well.” He refilled her glass and his own before sitting back down.
“So how was girls’ night? Petey said you were meeting at his house.”
“Yep, just pizza and sodas with the ladies. It was fun. Which reminds me, Becca gave me a copy of that picture she took of us on the hike, if you want a copy.”
“Yeah, sure. Unless you want to keep it.”
“She gave me two copies.” She looked up at him. The wine was making her warm all over. She knew if she had too much she would get sleepy, and she wasn’t ready for bed yet. Beth reached over and put her wine glass on the table.
Kyle took a sip from his, and put his glass next to hers.
“Care to play twenty questions?” he asked her.
“What do you mean?” she said with a puzzled look.
“We each get to ask the other person twenty questions, then switch. Or we can go back and forth with the questions too. Kind of an ice breaker or get-to-know-you game. Okay? Ladies first.”
Beth asked, “When’s your birthday?”
“January 7th. Yours?”
“That’s not an original question.”
“Do they have to be?” Beth sighed.
He grinned. “Nope. October 27th. What’s your favorite ice cream?”
“Chocolate chip hands down,” said Beth. “Which is better, ice cream or frozen yogurt?”
“Hmm, ice cream. Sometimes frozen yogurt tastes funny. What’s your signature meal?”
“Signature?”
“Um, the one you cook the best. Mine’s salmon on the grill. At least I learned something from my old man. How about you?”
“It’s boring but meatloaf and home-made mashed potatoes.”
“So when can I come over for supper?” Kyle asked laughing.
“Hey, it wasn’t your turn.” She gave him a little push. “When would you like to come over for dinner?”
“We’ll have to come back to that. But just so you know, my schedule is pretty open. Have you ever been out of the country?”
“No, but I’d love to sometime. What was your favorite vacation?”
He thought a minute. “I’d say my spring break road-trip to the beach with the guys, but our camping trip might have trumped that.”
“I’d drink to that,” Beth said, lifting her glass to toast with him.
“Okay, what is the craziest thing you’ve ever done for money?” he asked.
“I smashed an ice cream cone in the face of another student at college. I got five dollars for it.”
“That’s it? I would have charged more than that.”
“Okay, what about you? You must have done something to come up with that question.”
“Yeah, I have. But the craziest thing eating a handful of worms on a fishing trip.”
“Ugh, gross! How much did you make off that one?”
“Fifty bucks. It wasn’t so bad, once I got past the fact they were wiggling all the way down.”
“Eww! I don’t know if I can look at your mouth the same way again.” Beth covered her mouth when she realized what she just said.
Kyle chuckled. “I take pride in my oral health. I think you’re safe now. That was back in my college party days, and there was plenty I did back then that I won’t do anymore.”
“Sorry. Who’s turn is it now?
“That was a question. My turn again. Do you have any tattoos or piercings?”
“Just my ears. I always thought about getting a tattoo, but I just never found the right thing to get permanently on my body.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that.”
Beth finished her glass of wine, feeling a little braver. “How old were you when you had your first kiss?”
Kyle finished his glass, and drained the bottle into their glasses. “I was fifteen. It was on the bus with the neighbor girl.”
“Ah, all the things you learn on the bus as a kid.”
“What about yours?” he watched her, waiting for her answer.
“I was older, seventeen, before my parents would let me date. We worked together at a bookstore, and the kiss happened in the American History section.”
“Whoa, kissing on the job. That’s risky.”
“Sometimes you have to take a risk or two to get what you want,” she said, not talking about that first kiss any more. Beth stood up. “Care for more to drink? I have water or beer.”
“I’ll talk water for now.”
“Good. Me too. I don’t want the wine to go to my head.”
Kyle waited for Beth to return before asking the next question. She felt him watching her as she sat back down on the couch.
“Have you been with anyone since the accident?”
She adjusted the pillows. “No. I haven’t. I could never decide when it had been long enough to move on.” She looked at Kyle. “Even now it just feels a little wrong, like I shouldn’t be able to love another man. I hope you aren’t offended and know what I mean by that.”
Kyle nodded. “I’m not offended. But I hope I can help you change that.”
Beth took a sip of her water. “I’m working on it.”
Kyle smiled at her. “Okay, let’s move back to some easier questions.”
“Agreed. How long have you had Copper?”
Kyle appeared to tense up slightly. “We got him as a puppy. He was my sister’s dog. She’s the one who named him Copper because she said he had copper eyes. I always thought it was a silly name for a chocolate Lab.”
“Why doesn’t she take care of him? Did she move somewhere she can’t have him?”
“You could say that.” Kyle ran his hand through his hair.
“You never said earlier that you had a sister. Maybe we’d get along.”
“I’m sure you would.”
“Ok, so when do I get to meet her?”
Kyle gave her a blank look. “You can’t meet my sister.”
“And why not?”
“She’s dead.”