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Chapter Five
Max
Well, that went well.
I rub my forehead as the cab driver pulls into the parking lot of the restaurant. I thank and pay him, then get out. Walking over to my car, I run over the night in my head. It was a complete disaster, but for some reason I actually want to see her again. I thought the night actually went pretty well—despite the fact that she had no idea about the date in the first place. Her mini-breakdown aside, she actually seemed happy when I left her house.
Or maybe she was just happy that I was actually leaving her alone.
It’s not long before I’m back home, albeit much earlier than I was anticipating. Then again, it was one of Grant’s setups, so how smoothly could the night have really gone?
I park my car in the garage and take the internal entry into the house. Lance comes bounding up to me, almost knocking me over. Chuckling, I crouch down and ruffle his fur, to which he responds by licking my face.
“At least I’m getting some action from you,” I joke, standing up.
I walk over to the back door and open it, watching him race outside. My next stop is the fridge where I grab a beer. Popping open the cap, I take a gulp and slouch onto the sofa, Lance joining me. I laugh as he rolls on his back, not shy in letting me know what he wants. I tickle his stomach and pull out my phone. As I scroll through my contacts, looking for Grant, I’m not sure if I’m pissed or glad for the date he set me up on.
“Dude,” he answers.
I laugh, already knowing from his tone that Kiara has blasted her sister.
“I’m so sorry. I swear I had no idea that she didn’t know. I can promise you Ellie will be paying for that.”
“Chill, it’s okay. She was a nice girl. A little unstable, but I actually had fun once we got past the fact that she had no idea who the fuck I was.” I pause to take another sip of my beer. “So, what’s her story? Her boyfriend was in an accident and is in a coma—I got that much out of her.”
“Three years ago. He’s got no hope of recovering, and Kiara knows that. She’s guilted into sticking with him by his parents, and Ellie is insistent she needs to move on.”
“Fuck,” I mutter. I can’t even imagine how bad that would suck. You can’t make someone move on from that kind of tragedy. They’re either ready or they’re not.
“Yeah. Ellie was apparently trying to give her a little push, but I guess she’s not ready.”
“Her fiancé is in a coma. I don’t blame her for not being ready. Jules left me five years ago, and sometimes I wonder if I’m ready to move on.”
“Yeah, I know, man. I don’t know what the answer is with this one.”
“When Tommy died it took me forever to get past losing him,” I mutter, shaking my head. “Just not being able to talk to him was the hardest. For the first few months I convinced myself he was backpacking around the world. I went as far as setting up an email account and sending myself emails from him from different places.” I sigh, realizing the pain of losing my brother has never really gone. It just gets easier to handle.
“Whatever you need to do to cope, I say,” Grant replies.
“Yep. I’m gonna go, man. I’ll call you later in the week, okay?”
“Sure. And sorry again.”
I laugh. “Don’t mention it. She’s a nice girl.”
Hanging up, I get ready for bed and think about the night. Had it been under different circumstances and had she actually known about the date, t it would’ve been up there as a great night. I sigh, disappointed that the one girl I feel Grant actually got it right with isn’t going to happen.
Hell, the fact that she has a kid doesn’t even bother me. I like kids. I’d probably have a few of my own by now had things worked out with Jules. And from what Grant told me, her daughter is a little charmer.
That’s where I know her from. When I saw her photo on Kiara’s bookshelf, she looked so familiar, but I couldn’t place where I’d seen her. She’s a student at my school.
Maybe I’ll be seeing Kiara much sooner than I thought.
Chapter Six
Kiara
“How was school?” I ask Tilly as she slides into the car. It’s Wednesday afternoon, and after looking for work all day, I’m exhausted and moody, but I still try my best to sound cheery for Tilly.
