Emma's POV
"That was a really dumb move you pulled yesterday." I said to Casey, as she dropped into the seat next to me, late as usual.
"I admit." She concurred.
"Kevin and I talked about it yesterday, and he said he was half scared you were gonna bring the wrong person." I laughed at the memory of it.
"I was extra careful." Casey bragged, "plus your friend said she was gonna be bothering you with video calls. All I had to do was look for a new girl, holding her phone up in a certain way, I even got screenshots" She laughed.
"Really?!" I asked, shocked. I haven't talked to Lily since then. She said she was gonna call me, but I guess the time difference and her schedule was messing her up. "I really be making the worst choices in picking friends." I murmured to myself.
"That means I'm staying?" She asked, excited.
"Just don't pull stupid shit on me like that, ever, again." I warned.
"It's the last of the last." Casey said solemnly, offering me her pinky.
We crossed our fingers and that was the end of it.
Yesterday with Kevin was, well, the best I've had in a minute.
Kevin got time off from work and got to spend the whole day with me.
I, we, made sure we didn't go too far. I wasn't even exactly feeling him that way yet.
The few times his hand got wandering and slipped to my waist, it made me jerk so awkwardly, he took his hand back.
We talked about life in general, carefully meandering through topics that could get us both upset.
"So, how was it?" Casey asked me.
"What do you wanna know?" I replied, failing to hide my excitement.
"Nothing, actually." She replied, naughtily, "it's all over your face."
"Come on!" I yelled. "It's nothing you're thinking, really."
"I don't want the deets anymore, Emma." She laughed.
"Whatever." I shrugged her off. "Are y'all that close?" I asked him.
"Not really." She replied. "He was house hunting, took a break at a restaurant I happened to work in."
"And who conscripted who?" I asked her.
"Well, that's your perspective, one you're entitled to." She tarried, "we just got talking, really, Emma. The boy was fucked, badly beaten too."
"What do you mean 'badly beaten'?" I asked her, remembering the marks I think I saw on his body at Casey's house.
"Said he was beaten by your other guy." Casey said casually. "The one with affiliations to Coven Familia or something like that." Casey talked on and on like she couldn't see my heart was breaking. "Yeah, something like that. He's healed so well. Said he was gonna get the tats when he was back in shape, and I've gotta say he's a fast healer, and he has such a fine body. He's such a sweet man, said his sister got into Harvard, he's the new money in his family, his mom's on vacation, and he'd be working hybrid, and earning so much he paid two years rent on my apartment." Casey rapped on and on and on, providing answers I never knew I needed.
I tried to hide the tears in my eyes.
"What's up?" She asked, as she looked at my face for the first time. "I hope I didn't say something I'm not supposed to?" Her wide eyes half hidden by her tousled ginger hair were glaring at me.
"No, no you didn't." I replied, feeling her face.
"That's cute." She said, "Makes me wanna consider being gay."
"I'd be jealous then." I said, my mouth was in a disconnect from my brain, "Just make space for me. I'm bad at making friends and I hope you're here to stay."
"Come baby, you know I am. I'm a pretty good sticker bug, it's what my sister calls herself when I'm home." She smiled and half hugged me.
"Thank you." I was near tears, and for some reason, I felt the need to talk, to discuss it with Kevin.
I took my phone out and texted him, a text I'm sure he wasn't expecting cause I told him I didn't want all that just yet.
"Let's talk." I said and put my phone back in.
My attention was divided throughout the class, and I struggled to even stay till the end of it.
Casey and I grabbed a milkshake after which we went our separate ways.
"Stuck at work." Kevin texted back with a sad emojis, "can do a phone call instead?" He asked.
"Don't bother." It'd have been way cooler physically. Couldn't even think of how I was gonna introduce the topic on a phone conversation.
"I'll be at yours by 9." He texted and went offline.
I smiled within myself. But I also had a feeling so deep within me.
I hope he wasn't gonna tire out and one day decide I wasn't worth his attention anymore.
I didn't want to, but I was beginning to get just a tad bit dependent on him.
I was literally replacing Chase with him in my head, and while I understood that it wasn't such a smart thing to do, I couldn't help it. Kevin was not a stranger.
"Hey." His voice said over the phone. "Thought you weren't gonna pick it up at some point, I almost gave up."
"Why didn't you?" I asked, "You said you were gonna drop by later. Wasn't expecting your call anymore."
"Could wait." He explained. "Is it such a bad thing?" I asked.
"Yes." I smiled as I said it.
"What's up, Em?!" He cut to the chase and I remembered that he was still at work.
"I think I'd be more comfortable discussing this in person. I might stir you up." I explained.
"Doesn't matter. I'm gonna hear it either way." He dismissed my reason. "Or is this an excuse to see me again?" He asked me.
"You wish." I replied to him. "I'm just more comfortable that way."
"Alright. What type of wine do you drink?" He asked.
"Whichever doesn't make me too drunk to realize a man is trying to seduce me." I literally said the first thing that came to my head.
"That's witty." I heard his deep masculine laugh over the phone, "I'll make sure to give that exact description." He joked.
"I'll see you later, Kevin." I said and ended the call to give him space and time.