Page 13 of Pour Timing

“And what's that look like? If I end things?”

“It looks like you’re standing up for yourself and not going to settle.”

I shake my head. I don’t want to hurt Patrick, but even he has to know it hasn’t been good for some time. “We haven't had sex in over five months.”

“What?” My sister turns to me with wide eyes.

“It's actually probably longer than that but..” My words trail off.

“Why not?” she asks quietly.

I shrug. “He's away a lot. We’ve been bickering a lot. I’m not one to push that aside just to get into bed with him.”

“And he’s okay with this? You're hot. How could he be near you and not want to have sex?”

I laugh at her. “Thank you for that. You’re the first person to tell me in quite some time.”

She looks at me with pity in her eyes, and I realize just how ridiculous this whole thing has been. “Oh, Kylie. I had no idea it was this bad.”

“Honestly, I didn’t either until I started saying it out loud.”

We sit quietly while the bar is rowdy and happy around us. “I feel like I just need to say these feelings are not because Matt is back. You know I’ve been feeling this way for some time and considered calling things off before.”

“I do know that. And Kylie, I would never think that.”

“But the town might.”

“Screw the town!” I laugh at her boisterous outburst which turns some heads. “I’m going to tell you something and you can’t get upset.”

I furrow my brows. “Probably can’t get worse than it is.”

“The town doesn’t exactly like Patrick. I mean, they’re nice to him because you’re dating him, but if it wasn’t for you, he wouldn’t be here and they wouldn’t be upset.”

I let out a long slow breath. “I’ve made a big mess.”

“Kylie, you’re my sister and I love you, but there is no mess here. Be the woman I know you to be. Where’s the one who loves abrupt changes? Being stuck isn’t you!”

I twirl my glass on the bar. “I don't know where she is anymore.”

She turns on her stool to face me, placing her hands on my knees. “Well I do. She’s sitting right in front of me. You’re the woman who decided she wanted to learn to play guitar after watchingWalk the Line.”

“I’m not half bad either.”

“You’re the woman who bought tickets to the playoff game for our hometown football team.”

I wave my hand in a dismissive manner. “I love football, that’s not a crazy thing to do.”

“They were playing in Arizona,” she drawls. “You hopped a plane and called me from the game.”

“That's being spontaneous. It’s not uprooting my life and someone else’s.”

She takes my hand and says, “Some things need to be uprooted so new things can bloom.” She turns from me and I follow her gaze to Matt.

My body stiffens. “No. Stop it right now. I cannot end an engagement and jump into a new relationship the same weekend.”

“So you wait a week.”

“Sadie.”

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