The Realest Ever - By Keith Thomas Walker Page 0,59
illicit affair.
Donovan stopped dead in his tracks, not sure he heard her right. His dogs were trying to go after a wily squirrel. Donovan yanked the leashes a little harder than he meant to, and Doc and Wyatt came to an immediate halt. They looked back at him with confused expressions.
Donovan’s breathing was ragged. He hoped Kyra would think it was from his run. “You did what?”
Kyra’s heart shot up her throat. Now she really felt like she was telling her boyfriend she cheated on him. Donovan said, You did what? but Kyra heard, YOU DID WHAT?!
“I, uh, you said it was alright if I went out with Roland, right? The UPS guy from school…” Kyra’s eyes were wide. She stopped washing dishes and stood stiffly with her hands submerged in the water.
“Oh, uh, yeah,” Donovan said. His tone softened considerably. “Yeah, I did. You, you didn’t have to ask me, though. You can go out with whoever you want.”
Why did I tell her to go? Donovan’s face was twisted in despair. He gripped his leashes so hard the pink in his fingernails turned white. He was glad she didn’t deliver this news in person. He wouldn’t have been able to hide his reaction.
“Did, did you have a good time?” he asked.
“Um, yeah, I did,” Kyra said. She was near panic, too. They never had a conversation this awkward before.
“Where’d you go?”
“Cattleman’s Steakhouse.” Kyra felt another stab of guilt, like she violated a locale that was special to her and Donovan. But how ridiculous was that? The closest she and Donovan ever came to the restaurant was him saying he wanted to go somewhere fancy.
“I thought you were going to take me there.”
Kyra’s mouth fell open. Oh my God!
“I’m just kidding,” Donovan said. “How was Roland? Did he mind his manners?”
This conversation had Kyra’s head spinning. Was Donovan mad or wasn’t he? She wiped her hands on a towel and took a seat at the kitchen table. “He was really nice.” She cleared her throat. “Except for when he dropped me off. He tried to kiss me.”
Donovan had to take the phone away from his face so she wouldn’t hear him panting and growling. The contents of his stomach flipped. He felt like he might throw up. Of course Roland tried to kiss her! Kyra was beautiful and vivacious. What did he think was going to happen? Again Donovan regretted giving his approval for their date. But who the hell was he to interfere with Kyra’s love life?
“I didn’t let him,” she said.
“Wh, why not?”
“I don’t kiss on the first date.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“You never asked me out on a date,” she hinted.
“True,” Donovan said.
“Are you sure you’re okay talking about this?” Kyra asked.
“Yuh, yeah. Why’d, why do you ask?”
“I know we talk about everything,” she said. “But we never really talked about people we were dating.”
Dating? Was she dating him now? Donovan thought it was one goddamned date!
“You can talk to me about anything,” he said. “So how did this almost-kiss go? Did he come at you with his eyes already closed?” What the hell are you doing? You know you don’t want to know! But Donovan did want to know. He hated what he was hearing, but he needed to know everything. If she didn’t tell him, he’d go crazy imagining all types of erotic scenarios.
“He leaned in with his eyes closed,” Kyra said with a giggle. Maybe she and Donovan could talk about this kind of stuff after all. It would close the book on her fairy tale love affair with him, but having Donovan as her best friend was just as special.
“Did you scream?”
“No, I didn’t scream. I told him to back off.”
“That’s cool. You weren’t mad?”
“No. But I got a little upset when we got out of his car, and he tried to grab my ass.”
Donovan saw fire. Red, hot molten lava. “What, what’d you do?” he managed.
“I pushed him off me. He asked for a hug at first, but his hands started moving. You know how y’all do.”
“Huh huh.” Donovan wasn’t so much chuckling as he was struggling for breath. “So, are you going to see him again?”
“I don’t know. Everything was going good on our date, all the way till the end. He was moving too fast, and I didn’t like that. But if he would slow it down some, he might be a good dude. What do you think?”
I think I lied about being able to handle this conversation. “I think if