Page 138 of We Shouldn't Be Together
“Look, she doesn’t have to know. If it’s easier.”
“I’m not keeping you a secret.”
“Are you sure?”
“Jamie knows I like you. I went in to bat for you.”
“And what about your other friends? Did you tell any of them about me?”
“They didn’t stick around for very long. Only James stayed for dinner.”
“Maybe it’s for the best?”
“Don’t say that. It’s going to work out.”
“You can’t even tell your best friend about me. What hope do we have?”
“That’s not fair. Jamie is the hardest one to tell. You and she don’t have the best history.”
“So she does hate me?”
“Ugh. My head hurts.”
“We don’t need to talk about this.”
Say something, Kai. Don’t let her end this call. “I found out my grandparents aren’t coming this weekend.”
Smooth.
“Oh, that sucks. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, they just got held up. They’ll be here next weekend.”
“At least that’s something good to look forward to.”
“Tabby, I mean it. I want to see you.”
“Dang it,” she breathes. “It gets me every time my name comes out of your mouth.”
Unable to help it, my cockiness shines through. “Tabby.”
She sighs. “Okay. What do you wanna do tomorrow?”
“Make out with you.”
She laughs. “Wow, that was blunt.”
“It’s the truth.”
“You’re so naughty, Malakai.”
“Whoa,” it breathes out of me.
“What?”
“My name,” I utter. “My full name. It didn’t…”
When I pause, she whispers, “It didn’t, what?”
