23.11 Defining the Relationship

Kaiden left Josh’s house and sat in his room while letting the time pass before meeting Kelly. He wanted so badly to ignore everyone’s unsolicited opinions about the nature of their friendship, but there were so many they were hard to ignore. Why did everyone have to been so plumming nosy? Why couldn’t a single, attractive man be friends with a single, attractive woman? Why did there always have to be things going on? Sure, when he first saw her, his heart fluttered, but that didn’t mean he had to go and immediately make her his girlfriend, right? If and when he decided friendship was not enough, then and only then will he have that conversation with her. But, what if Josh were right? Girls were so tricky. What if inviting her to go house hunting on Love Day was weird? What if she had expectations?

Cancelling was probably the best option. He wasn’t in a rush to move out anyway and only wanted to look. They could go some other day that didn’t hold some type of emotional significance. But, she sounded so excited to accompany him. Whether it was the unspoken expectations or shear joy of hanging with a friend that excited her, cancelling at the last minute was a douche bag move. Instead of dialing her number, he sent her a text stating he was on the way.

They planned to meet at one of his top picks in Oasis Springs. Though he didn’t have a preference for where he wanted to end up, Oasis Springs was pretty high on the list if only for the weather alone. The house was the smaller unit of a modern duplex. He fell in love with it from the pictures and wanted to visit to see if it felt like home, not that he had plans on making an offer that day.

Someone’s small child stood on the sidewalk unattended when they arrived. That part of the city was home to many families. He didn’t mind children, of course, but that was something to keep in mind as he weighed pros and cons.

As they walked through the door, Kaiden got a weird feeling–a good one. On one hand, the house felt familiar. He had ogled the pictures many times, so it wasn’t foreign to him. But, on the other hand, it was as if he saw it for the first time, and he was amazed.

“Wow,” Kelly shouted. “This is really nice! It’s so…you.”

He had the same thought when he first saw it online. It was cool that she knew him well enough to make that observation. The house was indeed perfect. It was just enough and had everything a simple man needed–no more, no less.

It reminded him of Josh’s house but less cluttered. One couch, one TV, one bed. On the occasion he had people over, there was even a small bar to serve from and a common area outside with a little pool. This place had everything.

“I really like this,” he said finally. “I could do this.”

“I think you should take it, Kaiden. I can totally see you living here.”

So could he. “Is it weird that I don’t want to see the other places now?”

She chuckled. “Not at all! This place is perfect. Heck, if you don’t take it, maybe I will.”

“Hey now. I didn’t bring you out here to poach my prospects.”

“Ok, ok. I suppose I’ll let you have this one.” She winked at him.

“Why, thank you!” He couldn’t stop grinning. She was such good company. That feeling only brought back all the thoughts from earlier which made him feel weird. “I feel bad for robbing you of a riveting afternoon of house hunting.”

She laughed.

“Do you want to hang out? We can go back to your side of town in case you get tired of me and want to bail.”

“Never! But, yeah, that sounds cool.”

On the way to San Myshuno, they talked about their home life and how smothered they felt. Kelly’s parents seemed keen on setting up and marrying off their daughters as quickly as possible. Mariah didn’t mind so much, but Kelly didn’t understand the rush. Moving out would only partially stop them meddling, but she didn’t have a job yet. Taking her parents money seemed like a recipe for disaster. The details of her story were different, but it was so similar to his own. If they were alike in that way, maybe they’d be alike in other areas too.

“I need to ask you something, but I’m afraid it might sound weird and may open a can of worms.”

“Yeah?”

“Was it weird for me to ask you to look at houses with me?”

Her eyebrows furrowed. “No. Why would it be?”

“Because it’s Love Day?”

“Oh … Ohhhhhh.” She nodded slowly. “Yeah, my sister gave me the same speech. Actually, she heckles me every time I hang out with you.” She rolled her eyes. “And don’t even mention last weekend.”

Kaiden’s stomach tightened. “I’m still so sorry about that.”

“It wasn’t your fault! I was uncomfortable because there was so much aggression going on. I don’t like that kind of energy in my life.”

His stomach only partially relaxed. “Neither do I. So, you’re ok with–“

“I like hanging out with you, Kaiden. As of right now, that is all I want.”

His stomach relaxed completely as all the air released from his lungs. “Cool. Me too.”

“Now it’s my turn to ask something weird.”

He grinned. “What’s up?”

“My parents are making me and my sister go to the mayor’s ball in Brindleton Bay next weekend. They’ll set me up with someone dreadful if I don’t find my own date. Do you think you would want to go to something like that?”

Kaiden knew absolutely nothing about ballroom dancing, but there was no way he could let his friend have a terrible evening if he could help it. “Sure.”

“Really? Can you dance?”

“Not at all.”

She laughed. “That’s ok. I’ll have to teach you. In a week, you should be decent enough.”

“Sounds like fun.”