Chapter Five

Later that night, long after Madison had left, and Kevin and his mother had enjoyed a leisurely dinner, Kevin lay in his bed, a book in his hands and a reading light on. His mother had already gone to bed. He knew she was asleep by this time. His eyes focused on the page, but his mind refused to allow him to concentrate.

Sighing, he marked his page and threw back the covers. The clock on the nightstand read 11:30. Christy had said she’d call him. He got out of bed and walked over to where his keyboard was set up in the corner. He flipped the on switch and pressed a few keys. Playing his keyboard helped him to keep his mind off Christy and Kyle.

Suddenly the phone let out a loud shrilly ring, making him jump. He lunged for it before his mom woke up, banging his knee on the edge of the bed.

“Oooh, owww!” he muttered. “Hello?”

“Kevin? Are you all right?” came Christy’s worried response.

“Yeah, ow, I’m fine. Just beating myself up, that’s all.”

“Oh, hopefully not on my account.”

“No.”

Silence.

“Is Kyle there?” Kevin finally asked.

“No, he went home a few hours ago.”

“So why didn’t you call sooner?”

Christy sighed. “I wasn’t sure I wanted to.”

Kevin rubbed his knee and sat down on the bed. “Are you scared of me?”

“Honestly?”

“Of course.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Kevin, let’s not talk about that, all right? I know the subject on your mind is really Kyle. Would you like to elaborate on that?”

“I don’t like him.”

“Why not? He’s a great guy, smart, funny, he’s good with Chad...”

“But is he good with you? I mean, does he treat you right? Because what I’ve seen so far, well, he seems to be lacking in the manners department.”

“Maybe he didn’t have your parents to raise him. Maybe he came from a family that wasn’t as great as yours.”

“So you make excuses for him? Christy, I’ve been with him a total of ten minutes, and I can see that he’s a jerk.”

“Kevin! My God, what are you saying? He’s my fiance. He’s going to be my husband!”

“When?”

“Pardon me?”

“I haven’t heard you mention a date, when?”

Christy cleared her throat and Kevin could hear her shifting around on her end of the line. “We haven’t set a date yet.”

“Ah.”

“What was that?” she asked him, her voice rising. “That ‘ah’?”

“Nothing.”

“Look, Kevin, I know you don’t like him. For whatever reason, I respect that, because we’re friends. But my private life has nothing to do with you-”

“Do you love him?” Kevin interrupted.

“What?!”

“Do you love him?” he repeated.

“I, I, uh, I...”

“That’s all I needed to know.”

“Kevin!” Christy cried. “God, you can be so, so, stubborn! And pigheaded and just plain...you!”

Kevin laughed out loud as she ranted at him over the phone. Soon he heard Christy laughing with him.

“Truce?” he asked her.

“Truce.” She sighed and her voice got soft and sexy. “Kevin, you have no idea how much I’ve missed you all these years.”

Kevin surpressed a shiver as she said those words. “I’ve missed you too.”

“Would you like to come over for a little while?”

“Are you sure?”

“Chad’s sleeping. I want to talk to you face to face.”

“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

“Come in,” she said, stepping aside so Kevin could enter the house. She closed the door and then ushered him to the couch. She tried to stop her heart from pounding so hard as he brushed past her. The musky scent of his cologne invaded her senses. He sat down and she couldn’t help but think how extremely sexy he looked. Dressed in baggy jeans and a short sleeved blue shirt, he could have passed for a model. And then she remembered. He had been a model for a while.

Suddenly it hit her that there was a famous singer in her living room, sitting on her couch, looking at her expectantly, and she was nervous.

“Are you okay?” Kevin asked.

“Yeah, sure, I’m fine.”

She sat down next to him.

“Have you been back to the camp?” she asked him, trying to start a conversation.

“Not recently. It’s been a long time. The memories...I guess I’m afraid to go back there.”

“Because of your dad?”

He nodded.

“Would you like to visit it tomorrow? With Chad and me? I promise, no Kyle,” she added quickly. “I’ve been wanting to show Chad where I grew up, but I didn’t want to go alone.”

“Tomorrow? All right. What time?”

“How about we try lunch again? I can pack us a basket, we can picnic.”

“All right.”

Christy smiled at him and he smiled back, causing her heart to flutter. She had never felt like this before. She didn’t want to think about what it might mean.

Kevin, on the other hand, was mentally screaming at himself not to pull her into his arms and kiss her.