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Chapter Six
At noon the next day, I met Sasha at her office to start our spa day together. I’d enjoyed a morning at the hospital, visiting and even getting to hold Josh and Haylee’s baby girl. But with the revolving door of friends and family dropping by to see the new parents, I tried not to overstay my welcome. Instead I’d returned to the apartment, used the treadmill to run seven miles, and then mapped out my commute route to my internship starting Monday. I hadn’t seen Colby since last night. He’d opted to go into the office to take care of some things for Josh, which had left only Mark and me for pancakes this morning.
As Sasha and I sat in our pedicure chairs, both of us with our feet in the water, she looked over. “Your brother said you didn’t notice that I’d left your party, but I apologize for doing so. Then having him take off early, too…”
I waved her off. “Please don’t feel bad. I promise you didn’t miss anything, and neither did he.”
Relief washed over her face. “Thank you.”
Clearly she didn’t want to talk about what had caused her to leave and I didn’t want to bring up a sore subject especially since she and Brian seemed to be good now.
“So, what else do you want to do for your spa day?”
I’d been contemplating something for a while. “A haircut. It’s been long—” I motioned to the small of my back. “—Forever. Time for a change.”
“Long layers would look good on you. Any reason for it?”
I shrugged. “Guess it’s time.”
“Everything okay?”
“Things are kind of in a weird place. Lots of decisions to make, but I’ll fill you and Brian in about the family stuff later. Thanks for this, by the way. I enjoy spending time with you, and I’m glad things are going well with you and my brother.”
“Me, too. How are things with Colby? I heard he took you to Vegas for the weekend?”
I’d confided my feelings to her months ago during Josh and Haylee’s wedding weekend. “You know the part where a crush inevitably comes tumbling down into reality?”
She nodded.
“That kind of happened. If I tell you how, do you promise not to say anything to my brother? If that puts you in too difficult a position, then I’d understand.”
She contemplated. “I’d never reveal any details. Instead I’d tell him to speak with you and I’d hope he’d rather have you confide in me than no one at all.”
“That’s fair. Okay, so I put it out there. The short version is I bet him into kissing me in Vegas. And I feel a little disloyal saying this out loud, but it was awful.”
She had been sipping on her water and nearly spit it out with my admission. “Seriously?”
“Shocking, right?”
“Was it awful in the sense there was no spark, or was he plain bad at it?”
“The latter. At least, I think so.” I let out a resounding sigh. “The bizarre thing is it’s kind of a relief. If the kiss had been amazing, I might have become even more infatuated, thinking the man didn’t have a flaw in the world. But instead, it makes me feel more like we’re on equal footing, if that makes sense.”
She leaned back in her chair, looking thoughtful. “It does. Basically, you’ve traded a crush in for the real thing.”
I grinned. “I guess so. It was like a switch was thrown. Suddenly I’m not quite as anxious when it comes to him.”
She returned my grin. “That’s the very best place to be in, Kenzie. You aren’t a little girl with an infatuation anymore. You’re a woman with an attraction to a man who happens to be imperfect, just like the rest of us.”
“Yeah, it’s ironic that now that I know he’s terrible at something, I kind of like him more.”
* * *
After our spa afternoon,Sasha and I met Brian for dinner at a restaurant nearby. He had already arrived and, while standing to give me a hug, immediately noticed what was different.
“Your new haircut looks nice. Makes you look older, though.” This last sentence was said with a slight frown.
I laughed. “That’s kind of the point, but thanks.” The hairdresser had cut my long tresses into a style that was still past my shoulders, but had some shape to it with layers and long bangs. I’d never had hair with style and wondered what Colby’s reaction would be.
