She headed across the small patch of lawn between my patio and hers. After I made sure she got in, I went back to the kitchen to continue cleaning up. That’s when I spotted her smoked paprika on the counter. Without thinking, I grabbed it and hurried out again.
Ten seconds later, I knocked on her sliding door. I could see her checking her phone in the kitchen, and she looked up in surprise before coming over to open it.
“What’s up?”
“You forgot this.” I handed over the spice.
“Oh—thanks.” She shook it and laughed. “Now I’ll always think of you when I use it.”
“Good.” We stood there for a moment, then I leaned in and kissed her softly. “Night.”
“Night.” She looked up at me, her expression a little bewildered, as if the gesture had taken her by surprise.
It had taken me by surprise too, and I quickly turned and walked toward my place.
Before I got there, she called out. “Hey, Dex?”
“Yeah?” I turned around, terrified she was going to ask me if I wanted to come in and knowing I’d say yes.
She was leaning out her doorway, a playful grin on her face. “I had fun tonight.”
“Me too.” And then I relaxed, because I knew what was coming.
“But I don’t love you.”
I grinned back. “I don’t love you either.”
Then she disappeared, and I could breathe again.
“So? Did you apologize?” Justin asked, climbing onto the stationary bike next to the treadmill as I approached my third mile.
“I did.”
“And?” he said, starting to pedal.
“And it was fine.”
“Fine?”
I shrugged. “I brought her a Frosty. She forgave me.”
“And that’s the end of the story?”
Increasing my speed slightly, I didn’t say anything.
“Because that doesn’t seem like the end of the story.”
“There may have been an additional chapter,” I admitted. “What do you call those things at the end of a book?”
“An epilogue?”
“Yeah. There may have been an epilogue.”
Justin laughed. “What happened during the epilogue?”
I wiped sweat off my face with the bottom of my T-shirt. “Pretty much everything.”
“Everything?”
“Yeah.”
“Because I’m imagining a lot of things.”
I nodded. “They probably all happened.”
“Well, fuck.”
“We did.”
He laughed. “So did you change your mind about her?”
I crossed the three mile threshold and slowed my speed to a walk. “What do you mean?”
“You said you weren’t interested in dating her because she was too young.”
“She’s still too young, and no—I didn’t change my mind. I’m not interested in dating her.” I wasn’t, was I? How come the answer felt a little muddy in my brain? Was it the blowjob?
“Oh.” Justin was quiet for a minute. “And she’s cool with that?”
“Totally. She’s not interested in dating me either. In fact, she made it very clear she is only interested in me on a physical level.”
“Seriously? So is this like an ongoing thing?”
I gave him the side eye. “Mind your own fucking business.”
“I can’t. This girl has you messed up. I want to meet her.”
“No fucking way.” I stopped the treadmill and jumped off. “Were you even listening to me? We’re not a thing, Justin. I’m not introducing her to my family. That would give her the wrong idea—and you guys too.”
“But you already know some of her family, right? Your friend turned out to be her cousin?”
“That happened by accident. It was a coincidence.” But I frowned, thinking about Chip and wondering how he’d feel about me messing around with Winnie.
“Still coming over Monday for a cookout?” Justin asked.
“Yeah,” I said distractedly. “We’ll be there.”
“Feel free to bring a friend.”
I rolled my eyes and headed for the door. “Fuck off.”
“What? I said friend, not date! I just want to see this girl.”
“No.” If my sister and Justin saw how young she was, I’d never hear the end of it. I did not need to bring her around my family.
Better to keep her separate from the things that mattered.
Saturday morning, as I pulled up in Naomi’s driveway, Hallie came racing out to meet me.