Page 31 of Unhitched
I shake my head, wanting to pull out my Blow Pop at the thought of food. “Yeah. Couldn’t be me.”
“Me either,” Olivia agrees. “I’ll have to eat before.”
“OH! And then while he’s eating, pull out a stick of gum,” I suggest.
“That’s good ,” she adds.
“Chew your gum obnoxiously too.” Kace draws our attention to him.
“Yes, think Violet Beauregarde chomping away as she talks.” I laugh, picturing her chewing as she turns into a blueberry. I can imagine him giving her a disgusted side-eye.
“Be rude to your server,” Kace adds, and Olivia makes a note on her phone.
“Ugh. Yes,” she says. “Nothing is more of a red flag than that.”
“You should also interrupt him whenever he’s talking,” I suggest. “So inconsiderate.”
“Especially when he’s talking about himself,” Kace adds. “And don’t ask a single thing about him.” I’m shocked by that suggestion because it seems contradictory to the times that Kace has appeared annoyed by my questions.
Olivia makes another note. “I think this could work. I’m feeling hopeful just thinking about how annoyed I’d be if I were him.”
“I think it will too,” I assure her.
“I definitely wouldn’t like you at all after that.” Kace smirks.
“That doesn’t say much,” I tease. “You hardly like anyone to begin with.”
“Not true.” He pauses. “I like you.”
My heart palpitates as I study his face. He’s so nonchalant that I’m tempted to believe he means the sentiment, and my heart rate clocks in at an all-time high.
“Business partners, my ass,” Olivia whispers under her breath.
I slap her playfully. “He didn’t mean it like that.”
“Uh huh.” She grins, focused on me. “Okay, well, I feel great about this. Can I text or call tonight if I need anything?”
“Absolutely. You have my number.”
“I really appreciate this, and thank you for meeting me in person. I hate talking on the phone.” Olivia stands.
“Unless it’s my parents or sister, it’s straight to voicemail.” I shake my head in amusement. “Can you believe we used to pay for ringtones?”
She laughs. “No. That was insane. We should have just stuck to HitClips.”
My smile widens. “Agreed. ”
“I’ll talk to you soon–at least let you know how it goes. Thanks again,” Olivia says, and with that, she walks away, leaving Kace and me sitting on the stone steps of the waterfront park as the sun sets to our right.
“That was not at all what I expected,” Kace admits, leaning back against the step behind us.
“What did you expect?” I twist my body to face him more, the chill from the evening air making me pull my fists into my sweater sleeves.
“I don’t know. Seems like Olivia wouldn’t have gotten along with this dude in the first place. Time would have revealed that without an obnoxious game plan.”
I pull my arms closer to myself, the chill in the air nipping me more than usual. “She doesn’t have that time considering she has a boyfriend.”
“Yeah,” Kace says.
“I’m so glad my parents don’t meddle.” It’s meant as more of a fleeting thought than part of the conversation, so I’m surprised when Kace tacks on a, “Me too.”
“Are your parents in your life?” I hope his earlier comment about showing interest in someone also applies to him.
He hesitates like his answer is top secret information but then sighs. “Supposedly they're turning over a new leaf and are interested in being more involved now. But they’ve always let me make my own decisions.”
I want to pry, but my heart thumps in my chest in discouragement. I want to get to know him, but he doesn’t seem interested in me that way, and the closer we get, the harder it’ll be to truly accept that. “When do you think we become qualified to make our own decisions?”
He leans forward and rests his forearms on his knees, staring out toward the river. “I’m not sure if it’s a when so much as preparation. Research. Planning ahead. Being sure about someone before committing.”
I hum, unsure if I agree.
He glances at me. “What? ”
“It’s just… What about trial and error? Don’t you think that sometimes learning from experience is necessary?
When we’re young, we only have skewed frames of reference from our parents and our own lack of experience.
And we all know Google is the wrong place to go for advice but rely on it anyway.
You know,” I digress. “If I was Lou, from Hot Tub Time Machine , I would have gone back and done a lot more than change the search engine’s name to Lougle.
I would have programmed it to prioritize only facts. ”
Kace chuckles. “You’d have to learn how to program first.”
“Hey, I used to be able to code my Myspace backgrounds. I couldn’t tell you how, and I definitely couldn’t do it today, but still.”
“I’m sure you could figure it out again.” His eyes scan my body. “Are you cold?”
“I’m okay,” I say, willing myself not to shiver. “I’d get you to program, then add in fun designs and a positive affirmation every time someone opens the site.”
He smirks, licking his lip, and I give myself a gold star for amusing him. Tugging his jacket off, he tosses it over my bare legs.
“Thank you.” I flash him a smile.
“I still think you’re overthinking it. It’s a step-by-step process.”
Consider my curiosity piqued. “What do you mean?”
“You’re friends with someone first. So you learn about all those things that would bother you if you were in a relationship with them. Then you date them. I bet it would prevent so many breakups.”
“We’ve already been over this though. Before people get comfortable with someone, they have their guard up–they are afraid to be one hundred percent themselves.”
He shrugs. “If you go into everything only expecting friendship and you take the time to get to know them, then in theory you’d be yourself. ”
“But,” I argue. “Despite anything else, when you live with people they’re different. It’s a fact. There are habits and quirks everyone has that aren’t evident until you’re in their space all the time for all their routines and behind-the-scenes parts of their day.”
“So what’s your solution? Move in with everyone as soon as you’re interested in them to see if they’re the one ?”
That’s the second time he’s suggested something oddly specific, but it’s likely a coincidence. “It’s an easy way to find out,” I admit shyly. He scoffs. “What?”
“I don’t know, Mya.” He tenses beside me. “You tell me. You’re the one who apparently moves in with people just to see if you should be with them.”
I throw my arms up. Okay. Maybe he was specifically talking about me. How the heck did he know that? “It’s not like it was a planned test, Kace! I liked them. I wanted to live with them.”
“How many guys are ‘them?’” He glares, and I wonder why he cares so much. Probably because if I had my own place, I wouldn’t be in his space.
“Only three,” I mutter.
“Ha.” He shakes his head, and all of a sudden I feel small. “This isn’t something you just decide and hope for the best. Relationships are supposed to be taken seriously.”
“I do take them seriously!” I clench my fists inside my sleeves.
“Did you make bets with them too?” His slumped shoulders, furrowed brows and bite in his tone make it unclear whether he’s mad, hurt or disgusted by me.
“Kace, no. Stop judging me. You’re the one who asked ME to move in, remember?!”
“Knowing you, you probably masterminded that plan somehow.”
Screw him, accusing me of the same thing Matt did. Any chill I had immediately disappears with my now boiling blood. I stand, ready to leave, barely catching his jacket before it slips from my lap. “You don’t even know me, Kace!” I stand, throwing it at his face as I walk away.
Considering we are going to the same place, he stomps after me, and I catch him grabbing his jacket in my periphery. “Why does it even matter when we aren't in a relationship?!” he calls after me.
I stop so abruptly he crashes into me when I turn around.
His hands fly to my elbows on instinct, steadying both of us.
We stay frozen, park-goer voices and rustling leaves growing distant as we stare at each other.
Hating this fight, I hold eye contact. “You’re right.
It doesn’t matter,” I snap. I consider threatening to leave but don’t have the energy to be met with the rejection of him not begging me to say.
He takes a deep breath and drops his hold on me. “Let’s just go home.”