“My pleasure.” She might still be in the closet to most people outside her family, but she wasn’t scared to face down some bigots. “So where is this man of yours currently?”
Cameron checked his watch. “He said he’d be at the record store until six, so he’s probably at Archie’s by now.”
“I love their pizza,” Keisha said. “Maybe I’ll join you.”
“You’re welcome to!”
She smiled at this. “You’re sweet, but I have a feeling that Anthony would prefer some alone time with you.”
“What are you up to tonight?” Cameron asked, just as they were passing by Right Round Records.
“I have some shopping to do.” Keisha couldn’t resist any longer. She had to satisfy her curiosity.
After dropping off Cameron, she backtracked and parked in front of the record store. Keisha didn’t look at the window as she got out, figuring that Silvia might be watching her already. Nor did she waste any time when entering the store, hoping to catch her off guard. And judging from the deer-in-headlights expression, that’s exactly what happened.
“Keisha!” Silvia said, going rigid before she managed a smile that wasn’t returned.
“I got your message,” Keisha said when approaching.
“And I got yours.” Silvia placed a tattered heart-shaped box on the counter.
Oh damn. Great opening move. Keisha felt blood rush to her cheeks, but she kept her expression neutral as she eyed the box. “Looks like you stomped on my heart.” For the second time, she added mentally. “Was it too sweet for you?”
“No idea.” Silvia removed the lid, revealing scratch marks and punctures. “The racoons got to it before I did. But I figured it was from you.”
“Flattering.”
“Only because Mindy told me that you bought a box of chocolates like this after you had ice cream together.”
Keisha sighed, much too embarrassed to stick around. She swiped the box off the counter. “I’ve got to stop leaving my heart in places where it doesn’t belong,” she said. “At least I’ve got it back now. See ya.”
“Wait!” Silvia said before she could escape.
“What?”
Silvia hesitated. “How have you been?”
“Huh-uh.” Keisha shook her head. “You talk. I’ll listen. And afterwards, I’ll decide if this is a conversation or not.”
“You’re mad at me,” Silvia said.
Keisha merely raised an eyebrow in response.
“Because I’ve been avoiding you.” Silvia waited for another reaction but didn’t get it. “I’m really sorry.”
Keisha wanted to hold her tongue but couldn’t. “Apologies are meaningless without context.”
“Okay.” Silvia took a deep breath. “You challenge me. And even though I like that, I’m used to keeping a low profile. I don’t do drama. I’m not saying you wanted that either,” she added hurriedly when seeing Keisha’s expression, “but I was scared it would get messy. Because of Omar. You know I wasn’t sure about him. Then it all clicked and I didn’t want anything to get in the way.”
Keisha shrugged. “You kissed a deluded lesbian and didn’t feel a thing. How does that threaten your heterosexual relationship with your straight boyfriend? Because one of his friends saw? Did you think I would take advantage of that, just to break you up? I don’t go where I’m not invited.” The heart-shaped box she held was evidence to the contrary. “At least not usually,” she said between gritted teeth.
“This was a bad idea,” Silvia said, seemingly to herself before looking Keisha in the eye. “I’m sorry. I can’t explain all the reasons why I behaved so stupidly, but my intentions were good. I didn’t want to lead you on when I can’t…” She exhaled. “I just can’t.”
Keisha rolled her eyes. “You’re straight. I’m not going to hold that against you.” She watched as Silvia’s face turned bright red. “You are straight. Aren’t you?”
A group of teenage guys, probably from their school, entered the store while talking loudly, like they were trying to impress each other. Keisha only spared them a moment of her attention before trying to read Silvia’s face again. Which didn’t help, because the brown eyes, button nose, and russet lips stirred up all sorts of feelings.
“Anthrax,” one of the guys shouted before imitating a heavy guitar riff.
“We’ll pick this back up when we have privacy,” Keisha said before wandering over to the nearest row of records. She pretended to browse while collecting her thoughts. They had kissed and Silvia had supposedly felt nothing before deciding that Keisha might endanger her relationship with Omar. The numbers were all there, but they didn’t add up. Unless…
“Hey gorgeous,” one of the guys said to Silvia. “Do you have 2 Live Crew?”
“I think so,” she replied. “Check the hip hop section.”
The guy ignored her advice and approached the counter with his friends in tow. “That’s okay,” he said. “Are you a virgin? What’ll ten bucks get me?”
“You can get the fuck out of here for free!” Keisha said, marching over to them.
“Who are you?” the guy snarled.
“I’m the manager, and I’m about to throw your stupid asses out on the street. Now go!”
The guys glowered at each other before leaving. Keisha locked the door behind them before turning around to make sure that Silvia didn’t mind. They rolled their eyes at each other and laughed, which felt good, but it still wasn’t enough.
“This is the last time I’m going to ask you this,” Keisha said. “I swear. And it’s also the last time that I’ll be willing to talk about it. Okay? I don’t mean that as an ultimatum. I’ve gotta look out for myself, and you’ve done a real number on me.” She shook her head before steeling herself. “When I kissed you, did you feel anything or not?”
Silvia took a deep breath. “I felt way too much. That’s the problem.”
Keisha began closing the distance between them. “Then why—” She slowed and stopped, aware of what she wanted to say. Why can’t we explore this together? Silvia had already answered that question. She loved Omar. The math finally made sense. So she asked a different question instead. “But you would rather be friends?”
Silvia nodded with an apologetic expression.
“Cool,” Keisha said. “I won’t try to change your mind. I’ll respect your relationship with Omar. We don’t even have to talk about what happened between us, unless you want to. But I am curious.”
“I’m bisexual,” Silvia said before looking surprised. “I’ve never actually said that out loud before!”
“I have,” Keisha said, leaning against the counter with a smile. “That’s the first step out of the closet, but it wasn’t the last one. Not for me.”
Silvia looked concerned. “Are you saying that I’m not actually bi?”
“Not at all,” Keisha said. “Bisexual people exist. I’d say most people are somewhere on that spectrum. But for those of us at the far end, it’s a bit like testing the water before you dive right in.”