“My office space isn’t ready yet, but I’m hoping by the end of the week it will be. Kyle’s probably going to start on it tomorrow. We thought it would be best to get Haley’s space set up first. In another few weeks, she’ll be back at school, but the room downstairs is just going to help so much.”
“Sounds like you still have a lot going on. How’s the rest of the house coming?”
Sydney took a few minutes to talk about all the work that was done on the exterior and why it had to be done first and how they decided the rec room was really the smartest room to start with.
“I guess it makes sense,” Mia said after a moment. “It’s hard to believe so much time and energy goes into keeping a teen happy.”
“Well, in normal circumstances, we probably wouldn’t have had to do it this way. I thought the kitchen was going to be the first room we did. Still, once Kyle and I talked about it, we decided giving Haley a space would mean I’d get to start working sooner rather than later.”
“So…Kyle,” Mia began with a hint of amusement. “You’ve mentioned him quite a few times. Who is he? What’s he like?”
Groaning, Sydney walked down the hall to the guest room and shut the door to make sure no one would hear her.
“Do you remember me talking about Kyle Jones when we first met?”
“Oh, my God! That’s the Kyle who’s working on your house? Ugh…please tell me he’s grown up since then or that his life has been a miserable pit of hell since he was stupid enough to let you go.”
It was hard not to chuckle. “It didn’t seem like it at first, and then I sort of had a meltdown on him and things got a little better. And his life doesn’t seem the least bit hellish.”
“Well that’s disappointing.”
Sydney made a noncommittal sound.
“Did he get fat? Lose his hair?”
“Sadly, no.” Otherwise I wouldn’t have been kissing him senseless fifteen minutes ago.
“Still, I hope you’re being super demanding and making him work extra hard.”
Sydney loved how her friend was still outraged for her. “He’s actually been very nice. Sweet. And he’s great with Haley.”
“Oh? Oh, really,” Mia all but sang. “Do tell! Is he great with you too?” Sydney waited too long to respond and Mia jumped all over it. “He was pretty hot if I remember correctly. Is he still? Are you flirting with him? Is he flirting with you? Oh, my gosh…have you kissed him? Or slept with him?” she asked excitedly.
“Okay, reel it in before someone has to turn the hose on you,” Sydney said dryly. She thought about denying that anything happened, but…she really needed to talk to someone about it because she was still mildly freaking out. “I’m going to tell you something, but…”
“Oh, my God! You did! You slept with him!” Mia cried before laughing giddily.
“No! No, I did not!” she corrected. “We…we kissed. Just once…like today…but…”
“Seriously? That’s great!”
“Why?” she demanded, her annoyance obvious. “Two minutes ago, you were encouraging me to make him miserable!” She groaned. “You know I already have issues with him from the way our relationship ended, and I’ve already had multiple meltdowns in front of him, so…”
“And yet he still kissed you! Why aren’t you happier about this?”
“Well…”
“Was it bad? Is he a bad kisser? Not like you remembered at all?”
“What?! No! He’s actually a really, really good kisser. But…”
“Bad breath? Ugh…that is the worst. Remember the football player I dated in college—Brett? He kissed like a dream but his breath just always stank!”
“His breath was fine—a little minty actually—but…”
“Was he handsy? Like did he try to cop a feel too soon?”
“I didn’t mind the hands,” she admitted. “But am I crazy for even considering…”
“Whatever it is you’re about to say, no,” Mia interrupted.
“You don’t even know what I was going to say!”
“I know!”
“But…”
“No buts, Syd. If you want to have a fling, then do it! If you want to tell him thanks but no thanks, then do it! Although, if I get to have a say, I’d vote for a fling.”
“Why?”
“Because your life is crazy right now and it’s been a stressful couple of months, to say the least. Go and get you some! Sex is a great stress reliever and you totally deserve some of that. Plus, you already know the sex will be good. You used to talk about it a lot and compare every guy you dated to him. Most women wish they had some sort of guarantee before jumping into bed with someone. You’ve got one. And it’s not like you’re looking for something serious right now, are you?”
“Honestly? I’m not sure.”
Mia didn’t respond.
“What? Is that wrong? See? That’s why I don’t know if I’m crazy!”
“Okay, okay, okay…so…wait, are you serious about him already?”
Was she?
“I don’t know if I’d say serious, but…I have to admit I’m more attracted to him than I thought I’d be after all this time.”
“Why?”
“Why?” she mimicked. “Seriously? Um…maybe because he’s really good-looking, and he’s got an amazing body, and his hair is almost stupidly long, and yet I can’t help but want to run my fingers through it and…you know…tug.”
With a low laugh, Mia replied, “That wasn’t quite what I meant.”
“Oh.”
“What I meant was why you didn’t think you’d be attracted to him.”
She sighed. “Well…history. When I first saw him standing out in the yard, it was like I was immediately back in school and…everything came flooding back to me.”
“Yeah, I can see where that would be weird.”
“Then he called me Pixie and…I swear it was like pushing the launch button. I totally went off on him over it.”
“Okay, you really need to get over that. Pixie wasn’t a bad nickname. You could have been called worse.”
“Worse? Why? What else could they have called me?” she cried, indignant.
“First of all, relax,” Mia said wearily. “I didn’t mean you deserved another nickname, I just meant that people have been called worse by an ex. Personally, I always thought it was a cute name. Pixie. Some would see it as an endearment.”
“Oh yeah? Well some people weren’t getting called it by complete strangers.” With a snort of disgust, she went on, “You know, I always knew I never should have been in that damn play. That’s not who I am. I don’t like having all the attention on me. I prefer to be behind the scenes.”
“And that’s why you needed to do it. You needed to break out of your comfort zone for a little while and know that you could do it!”
“Great,” she deadpanned. “Great lesson. See how well it worked out? Ten years later and it feels like I still have PTSD from it.”