Kaitlyn was going to kill me if I held out any longer on her. She had been asking me every day since I last saw her if I went to see Luke, and I’d been keeping her at bay with vague answers. The thing is, I still wasn’t quite sure where I stood with him. We had a great time at his place, but talking to him on the phone felt a little forced. We had good conversations and I got to know him a little better but he seemed standoffish.

Maybe he was feeling the pressure from the fight he has coming up. He didn’t seem like the type to let that stuff bother him but I don’t know him all that well yet.

Either way, it was a bad time to be sent to Ohio. I finally meet a guy who I can’t get off my mind and I get sent a thousand miles away to handle my boss’s meeting.

Now that I’m on my way home, and stuck on a layover in Chicago of all places, I should probably give her a call.

I listened as Kaitlyn’s service played one of those shitty ring back tones. I tried to tell her that everybody else stopped using those things around 2010, but she loved it. As the song played on, I had a guilty hope that it would go to voicemail.

“Hey!” she answered, excitedly. “How are things in Omaha?”

“Ohio,” I corrected. “And I’m not there anymore. I’m stuck in Chicago waiting for my next flight because my cheap ass boss wouldn’t spring for a direct.”

“Oh, do you want me to pick you up at the airport?”

“No, that’s okay, I’m not getting in until late so I’ll just grab a taxi.”

“Okay,” she said. “So… is there anything else you want to talk to me about?”

“Fine, I give up,” I said. “I went to see him.”

“I knew you would! So give me the details.”

“Well, first of all that gym is crazy. It’s huge and the guys there are all in shape and making money. I felt like I got punched in the face with all the testosterone in the air. You would love it.”

“It sounds like my kind of place,” she said. “Then what happened.”

“…”

“Bria, what happened?”

“He took me out to this nice restaurant downtown. The drinks were really good. We should go there when I get back.”

“What!” she exclaimed. “You went on a date with Luke Greer?”

I couldn’t help but smile at her shrieking.

“You went on a date with Luke Greer and you try to gloss over it by telling me about some stupid fucking restaurant you went to?!”

“Calm down, it started out as a way to thank him for saving me from that creep…”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” she interrupted. “Started out? As in, you started out at the restaurant and then you let him fuck you in his car?”

“No,” I hesitated. “We made it back to his house first.”

I thought she was going to completely lose her mind.

“What?! Okay, wait, tell me… No way! I can’t believe…”

“Kaitlyn slow down. One question at a time.” She was a whirling dervish spinning out of control.

“Oh my God, okay, okay, I’m calm,” she said.

“He’s actually a lot of fun to be around. I thought he was gonna be a real prick, and he does have those tendencies sometimes, but overall… I think I like him.”

“How big was it?” she asked.

“How big was wh- … wait, I tell you to slow down and ask me one question at a time and the first one you come at me with is ‘how big is his dick?’”

“C’mon, don’t go back to being ‘stick-in-the-mud Bria,’ you were doing so good for a minute,” she whined.

“Wow, well, first of all I’m not being a stick-in-the-mud. I just so happen to be sitting in an airport terminal full of people so excuse me if I don’t want to get in a loud conversation about how big he is. And second… it’s none of your business.”

“Oh, you better believe it’s my business,” she countered. “I’ll let you off the hook because you’re in a crowded place -not that anyone would care- but you can count on giving me all the details as soon as you get home because you’re my best friend, understood?”

She was on a mission.

“Yeah, I guess,” I said.

“And I’m gonna want to know a lot more than that, too. What was his house like? When can I meet him? Does he have any cute friends?”

“Okay, Kaitlyn, I said okay. I’ll tell you whatever you want to know when I get back. Just take it easy on me. I’m a little overwhelmed with all this myself.”

“I know, I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s exciting that’s all. I won’t say another word about it until you’re ready.”

I knew that was a lie but it was good enough for the time being.

“Oh, by the way,” she continued. “Guess who showed up at the bar looking for you last night?”

“Who,” I asked, suspiciously.

“Your asshole of an ex-boyfriend, that’s who.”

“Ugh, I don’t even care anymore.”

“Good, because I told him to fuck off.”

“What was he doing?” I asked.

“He kept bothering me, asking what you were up to… He asked if you were okay… He was relentless!”

“Oh God, you didn’t tell him anything, did you?”

“Of course I didn’t tell him! I said you were doing great and he needed to leave you alone.”

“Thank you.” I breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

“Well, don’t thank me yet… He didn’t believe me. Word must have gotten back to him about the other night, because he kept asking if anything bad had happened and he just wouldn’t let it go!”

“Oh God…” I whispered, shaking my head. The last thing I needed was Kevin finding out about the assholes in the alley… Or Luke… We were done, and he had no business being nosy.

“And then guess what he did?” Kaitlyn said, breaking my train of thought.

“Do I even want to know?” I asked.

“It doesn’t matter because you don’t care about him anymore, but he spent the rest of the night getting drunk and chatting up that mega-slut who works at the Starbucks down the street.”

“Kaitlyn! You shouldn’t talk about people like that, even if it’s true.”

“It is true,” she continued. “He even left with her, so if you ever think about taking him back just remember who he’s been with and what he probably has now.”

“Alright, I get it. Don’t be gross.”

“Just sayin’.”

I fumbled to find the charger for my phone

“I get it. But hey, my plane’s gonna board pretty soon so I have to go.”

“Okay beautiful, have a safe flight and make sure to text me when you get it. Don’t forget this time either. You almost gave me a heart attack last week,” she said.

“I will, bye.”

I ended the call and stared out at the tarmac. The wind picked up and blew a shipping container on to its side. I said a silent prayer asking that our flight not get delayed. I needed to get home. I need to go see Luke.