do.”
Xander laughed and missed part of the next bite. Kryssa licked away the soft bits of fruit from his chin and chest. He covered his smile. “You were saying?”
Kryssa sighed. “Fine, you might have a point. It’s been a long time, and I shouldn’t count you out even if I’m right because I might be wrong. So how do we do this then? Where do we start?”
“Well…” Xander paused. Part of him hadn’t expected to win so quickly, and the rest had never expected to have this conversation in the first place so he didn’t have an answer ready. Taking a page from Kryssa’s book, he didn’t let that stop him. “My vote is to kickback for the rest of the day. We walk the trails, swim in the lake, take a siesta, then lounge about and watch Food Network until we recover from all the work. Then tomorrow we hit town for lunch at the diner. We can check out some old classic at the theatre, maybe get some gourmet ice cream, walk through a few quaint shops, use up my expense account, use up your expense account, and then go for drinks and dinner at that four-star restaurant everyone is raving about.”
“Authentic diner lunch, gourmet ice cream, four-star dinner and shopping. Wow, I like it. But that sounds an awful lot like a date.”
Well, it would. It had originally been planned that way, but no reason to go into that and scare her off. “It’s what we would have done anyway. Now it’ll just be the start for moving forward.”
“Moving forward, just friends reaching another level of intimacy in their relationship and opening boundaries?”
“Definitely, just friends getting friendlier, not a rebound romance in sight. There’s nothing to worry about.” Xander could do this. He could separate his desire for more from the reality of what he had. One step at a time, one boundary at a time, they’d become whatever they would become without the need to push.
“All right, sounds like a place to start,” she agreed.
“Great, it’s a not-date.” A place to start, that’s all they needed, and everything would be fine. Xander had this, and he would be there for her. He could do this. He could really do this.
Chapter Five
“Drew, I can’t do this. I mean I know, don’t you think I know? I laid awake all night going over it all. But I can’t do this.” Xander pressed his hand to his forehead as he paced the kitchen.
“Just calm down, Xander, you have this. Don’t mess up the end before you get the chance to begin,” his twin coaxed. “Now just walk me through it quickly. She very clearly said she didn’t want a relationship?”
Xander sighed and looked out of the patio doors. He couldn’t see her in the lake, but the surface rippled with the movement of something more than man-sized beneath the water. “Yes, she said that she’s still in the rebound phase and that she didn’t want to lose me.”
Andrew nodded and crossed his arms, looking pleased on the phone’s small screen. “Good, that’s good. So she hasn’t ruled out a relationship with you in the future. This is just a patience thing, and you’ve already been plenty patient, bro. You’ve just got to follow through. Now was she sitting or standing when you talked?”
Xander shrugged, patched his phone into the wall unit and started to pace again. “We were standing and then sitting.”
Andrew nodded. “Good, good, okay so you said it came up over breakfast. So did she keep eating or push it away?”
Xander paused, and the background behind Drew grew still as well. Then as one they began walking again as Xander sorted out his thoughts. “She ate a little, stopped, and then she wanted me to eat.”
“Nice, that’s good. So did she pause while you ate or did you both keep talking?”
“Well…” Xander thought back to yesterday. “We kept talking, but she fed me.” Xander nearly stumbled when his twin unexpectedly went still.
“She what?”
“Don’t just stop like that. It makes me dizzy at this distance,” Xander
Xander laughed and missed part of the next bite. Kryssa licked away the soft bits of fruit from his chin and chest. He covered his smile. “You were saying?”
Kryssa sighed. “Fine, you might have a point. It’s been a long time, and I shouldn’t count you out even if I’m right because I might be wrong. So how do we do this then? Where do we start?”
“Well…” Xander paused. Part of him hadn’t expected to win so quickly, and the rest had never expected to have this conversation in the first place so he didn’t have an answer ready. Taking a page from Kryssa’s book, he didn’t let that stop him. “My vote is to kickback for the rest of the day. We walk the trails, swim in the lake, take a siesta, then lounge about and watch Food Network until we recover from all the work. Then tomorrow we hit town for lunch at the diner. We can check out some old classic at the theatre, maybe get some gourmet ice cream, walk through a few quaint shops, use up my expense account, use up your expense account, and then go for drinks and dinner at that four-star restaurant everyone is raving about.”
“Authentic diner lunch, gourmet ice cream, four-star dinner and shopping. Wow, I like it. But that sounds an awful lot like a date.”
Well, it would. It had originally been planned that way, but no reason to go into that and scare her off. “It’s what we would have done anyway. Now it’ll just be the start for moving forward.”
“Moving forward, just friends reaching another level of intimacy in their relationship and opening boundaries?”
“Definitely, just friends getting friendlier, not a rebound romance in sight. There’s nothing to worry about.” Xander could do this. He could separate his desire for more from the reality of what he had. One step at a time, one boundary at a time, they’d become whatever they would become without the need to push.
“All right, sounds like a place to start,” she agreed.
“Great, it’s a not-date.” A place to start, that’s all they needed, and everything would be fine. Xander had this, and he would be there for her. He could do this. He could really do this.
Chapter Five
“Drew, I can’t do this. I mean I know, don’t you think I know? I laid awake all night going over it all. But I can’t do this.” Xander pressed his hand to his forehead as he paced the kitchen.
“Just calm down, Xander, you have this. Don’t mess up the end before you get the chance to begin,” his twin coaxed. “Now just walk me through it quickly. She very clearly said she didn’t want a relationship?”
Xander sighed and looked out of the patio doors. He couldn’t see her in the lake, but the surface rippled with the movement of something more than man-sized beneath the water. “Yes, she said that she’s still in the rebound phase and that she didn’t want to lose me.”
Andrew nodded and crossed his arms, looking pleased on the phone’s small screen. “Good, that’s good. So she hasn’t ruled out a relationship with you in the future. This is just a patience thing, and you’ve already been plenty patient, bro. You’ve just got to follow through. Now was she sitting or standing when you talked?”
Xander shrugged, patched his phone into the wall unit and started to pace again. “We were standing and then sitting.”
Andrew nodded. “Good, good, okay so you said it came up over breakfast. So did she keep eating or push it away?”
Xander paused, and the background behind Drew grew still as well. Then as one they began walking again as Xander sorted out his thoughts. “She ate a little, stopped, and then she wanted me to eat.”
“Nice, that’s good. So did she pause while you ate or did you both keep talking?”
“Well…” Xander thought back to yesterday. “We kept talking, but she fed me.” Xander nearly stumbled when his twin unexpectedly went still.
“She what?”
“Don’t just stop like that. It makes me dizzy at this distance,” Xander
Similar Books
