Page 35 of Between Love and War
“What do you mean, so?”
“It just makes it all the more interesting, don’t you think? If everything is guaranteed, that’s boring as hell.”
“Yeah, but that would be a lot easier. You could easily weed out the terrible guys and lock down on the one you’ll marry,” she says dreamily.
“Ah,” I reply. “Been having a hard time going through your potential husband list?” I ask, hoping I don’t sound like I’m prying into her dating life. Not that I care about that.
She laughs. Loudly. I don’t know why because I’m not even joking. “Yeah, okay.” She looks at me like she’s confused why I’m not laughing back, then she adds, “Right, you’re new here. I, uh… never had a boyfriend. There. You can laugh now.” She’s still chuckling, but her eyes aren’t crinkled.
“I’ll laugh… because that’s a joke, right?” I stare at her in disbelief. She’s not wearing a floral dress today. I discovered that she doesn’t do that when she’s only lounging at home. Her hair is tied to a messy bun, the curls escaping one by one.
“I wish,” she says.
I stop short. “Seriously?” Kate is a few steps ahead of me, but she halts and looks over her shoulder. “Not even one?” I add.
“Nope. Zilch.” She faces me, and chuckles. “Most I got is a peck on the cheek by my fifth-grade classmate in the school play. And only because he thought I was Haley.”
I’m still not answering, so she continues. “It’s always been like that. I’m not double-take pretty like Emily, I don’t have this sunshine personality like Bon, and I’m not effortlessly witty andintimidating like Haley. Most guys would talk to me as a warmup act to get to them, or the girl they actually liked.”
My brows furrow and I shake my head. “I still don’t buy it. You? Single since birth?”
“You don’t have to rub it in, you know.” She rolls her eyes.
I walk a few steps toward her. We’re almost at her house, and I can hear the faint whisper of the neighborhood chatter. “I’m not rubbing it in, I just can’t believe it, that’s all.” Because Kate is… well, she’s pretty. Not in an obvious way like the celebrities plastered on magazines and billboards. It’s more… subtle. When you notice a painting in the corner of a room and wonder how you missed it the first time.
And on top of that, she has this topnotch personality. She can handle banter like a pro. Can bake like a pro. And she’s nice to kidsandanimals. How can a woman like that be single since birth?
“Well, believe it.” She shrugs, like it doesn’t matter.
But something about the way she says it makes me think it does.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Kate
Ugh. Why did I even admit that? Out loud. Voluntarily. With my own mouth. Now he’s going to use it to tease me forever (okay, three months, but still a lot of opportunities).
I’m not bitter about the fact that I’m what people here call NBSB—No Boyfriend Since Birth. I’ve always said it’s because I have values. Standards. A personal code of conduct. I’m not here handing out my heart like free samples at the grocery store. I’m waiting for something that feels… right. Like,click, this-is-it-right.
But if I’m being truly honest? It’s not that I’ve turned people down left and right. It’s that no one ever really asked.
It’s one thing to be NBSB because I’ve raised the bar too high for any mere mortal to reach. It’s another thing entirely when the bar’s just been sitting there… untouched.
And while I can tell myself that I’m just low-maintenance and not really “on the radar,” there’s a small, inconvenient voice in the back of my head whispering,Or maybe you’re just forgettable.
Okay, I don’t really believe that. Not all the time. But every now and then, it creeps in uninvited.
And now, of all people in the world, Michael Lee knows.
“Hey,” I say when we arrive in front of my house. Michael looks at me with eyebrows raised. “Could you, maybe, just keep quiet about it?”
He chuckles slowly. “About what?” he adds with a wink.
“Thanks.”
“Don’t thank me,” he replies. “You just officially owe me now. Again.” He tips an invisible hat, and walks off to his house next door.
I don’t respond to that, but somehow it makes me smile.
