21. A Good Speed

21

A GOOD SPEED

“ W hy is your leg shaking?” Michael asked her on Tuesday when they were in his SUV.

He’d picked her up to take her to dinner and meet his best friend.

There was so much happening at once.

Meeting Owen tonight and then on Sunday he was picking his son up from Electra’s and bringing him right to his parents, then coming to get her and she’d meet his family.

Kelly was fine with that.

In her mind, it was all happening at a good speed and she was happy he’d brought it up to make that move.

But meeting his best friend was something completely different.

Friends were the ones that always knew you the best.

They knew the things your family didn’t always. The stuff that you liked or disliked about a partner.

The intimate things.

Could even be about sex. She knew she talked to some of her friends about that over the years too.

Even coworkers, but in the past year or so she’d been quieter.

First, she had nothing to share.

And now that she had something to share, she didn’t want to.

“I’m meeting your best friend,” she said. “He knows everything there is to know about you.”

“Not everything,” he said. “He didn’t know about you until two nights ago.”

“And you said he was shocked and it wasn’t like you not to share that.”

“He’s been out of town,” he said. “And we don’t talk that much on the phone. Normally it’s text and I tell him things in person. That is the truth.”

“Really?” she asked. “There wasn’t a reason you were hiding it from him?”

“No,” he said, frowning. It was the look on his face that said he was stunned she’d asked him that.

“Okay,” she said. “Just wasn’t sure. It seems like everything is happening at once.”

“Is that a bad thing?” he asked. “You said you’d be ready to meet Ty when I decided. I can push it off.”

“No,” she said, laughing. “I’m ready to meet your parents and Ty. It’s Owen that I’m nervous about.”

“No reason to be,” he said. “He’s harmless.”

“He’s the man that has had your back,” she said. “For everything.”

She remembered that Owen was the one who found out Michael was going to be a father and then went with him to confront Electra.

Those were special bonds that couldn’t be broken.

“So?” he said. “I’m telling you, he’s happy about it. He wants to meet you.”

“To size me up?”

“No,” he said, laughing. “I can’t believe you’re this nervous. I’m sorry. Maybe I should have put this off and had you meet everyone else first.”

“It’s fine. I think it just means more. And the fact you want me to meet everyone right away, I kind of hope it means more for you too.”

“It does,” he said. “I would have thought my actions all along said that.”

“They have,” she said.

“But you need words?” he asked.

“I never want anyone to do or say anything they don’t want to. Don’t think that.”

“I don’t think that,” he said. “I’m just not someone who says the words to just anyone or at any time. Doesn’t mean I don’t feel them.”

“Awww,” she said. “Really?”

“Yeah,” he said. “Do we want to have this conversation in the car now when we are two minutes from the restaurant?”

“We don’t have to,” she said. “But know I feel the same way.”

“I know,” he said.

Her jaw dropped. “You do?”

“You’re not all that hard to get a read on.”

“Gee, thanks for that. Leaving me here wondering all the time.”

“Sorry,” he said. “But now you know.”

“I do,” she said.

He pulled into the parking lot a minute later and they got out.

“He’s here already. He probably has a table waiting for us.”

Michael pulled the door open and held it for her. She always found those little moves so chivalrous. It’s like no one did that much anymore. Or at least the men she dated.

When they got by the hostess’s stand, she saw a guy’s hand go up and Michael nodded to the woman and walked by to greet the man who had stood up in the booth.

“Dude,” Owen said. “Long time no see. And look at you. You’ve got to be Kelly. Now I know why Michael has been quiet.”

She shook hands with the big guy. Not as tall as Michael but just as muscular. Still much taller than her or anyone she’d ever dated before.

“Quiet how?” she asked. “And nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“I can’t say the same,” Owen said. “Which is why he’s been quiet.”

“When have you ever known me to talk about dating or personal things in a text?” he asked. “It’s always in person and we rarely talk on the phone. You’ve been out of town.”

“Good point,” Owen said. “Guess I was just taken back by him having a girlfriend. He told me how you started dating. I’m glad to know you took that step.”

“If I didn’t, I don’t think he would have,” she said. “I got tired of waiting.” She was grinning when she said it.

“Good for you,” Owen said. “I like you already even if I hadn’t heard everything I have.”

“Why is that?” she asked.

“It’s the smile on my best friend’s face.”

She turned and saw what Owen was looking at. “He does have a cute smile,” she said, leaning over to kiss him.

“Aren’t you two just so sweet,” Owen said, picking up his beer.

“Cut the sarcasm,” he said.

“I can’t help it. So you’re meeting his parents and Ty this weekend?” Owen asked.

See, best friends knew everything. “I am. Can I confess I was more worried about meeting you than I am meeting them?”

“You should be,” Owen said. “I know all his deep dark secrets.”

She playfully slapped Michael’s arm. “I told you that. He said I was acting crazy worrying about it.”

“I didn’t say crazy and now Owen is going to get me in trouble.”

“I doubt that,” Owen said. “I’m just a troublemaker.”

“I think it’s more like you’re being a good friend,” she said. “There is nothing wrong with having people who support you or are in your corner. Maybe I needed more of that in my life at times.”

Her parents had always been there. Not friends though.

Why else would no one else know about her brief marriage? Or even the fact that she tried out for a reality show? That wasn’t even that long ago.

“You’ve got it now with Michael,” Owen said. “One of the most loyal men I know.”

“Thanks for making me sound like a dog,” he said.

But she already knew he was loyal and caring.

Everything he did for his ex, he said he did it for Ty.

She believed that, but there were times she wondered if he did more than he needed to.

Yes, he wanted his ex happy so that she was in a good situation or mental health around Ty, but when she’d heard what Ty had said while Michael was talking about him having a girlfriend and the questions the four-year-old asked, she knew Michael was pissed.

She was a little upset for him.

Those weren’t things that should be coming out of a child’s mouth.

But she knew it was none of her business to say anything either.

“He’s not a dog,” she said. “Trust me when I say I’ve dated my fair share of what I’d consider a dog.”

“I don’t want to know,” he said.

“I don’t want to tell you,” she said, laughing. “But you know all the important things.”

“I do,” he said. “Enough about busting my ass. I know Owen has questions so he might as well get them off his chest and then we can relax and shoot the shit. Owen is good at that too.”

“Questions?” she asked.

“Yep,” Owen said. “Michael said you like kids. How would you feel about being a stepmother? And would you treat Ty any differently if you had your child with Michael?”

“No,” Michael said. “That’s out of line and you know it.”

Kelly was laughing. “I think he’s busting on you. Right?”

She hoped.

Owen started to laugh and even slapped his knee. “Dude. You’ve never gotten so serious in your life over a question. I asked Kelly to see your reaction. I got the answer I needed.”

She turned and saw Michael roll his eyes. “I should have expected that.”

“Do you want me to answer or not?”

“If you want to,” Owen said. “Unless Michael has a problem with it.”

“I don’t care if he has a problem with it,” she said. “I think it’s a fair question. We are nowhere near marriage or babies. And yes things happen because I believe Michael has some powerful little swimmers, but trust me, they’d have to break through two barriers there.”

“Huh?” Michael asked.

“I’m on the pill. I have been for years for several reasons, but I don’t have unprotected sex either. So we’d have to be unlucky for me to get pregnant.”

“That’s good to know,” Owen said.

“Moving on to your question. Whether the word step or not is in front of the word mother, it makes no difference to me. I know Ty is Michael’s son, but when I love someone, I do it unconditionally. I would no more make decisions with my child, let alone Ty, without talking to Michael first and making sure we agreed on things.”

“Look at that, Michael,” Owen said. “You’re winning tonight and all you need to do is sit there and listen.”

“Keep up the questions,” Kelly said. “I’m game. Michael can observe and maybe this is a good way for us to get things out without it being uncomfortable.”

She lifted her eyebrows at her boyfriend and he just shrugged and ordered a beer when the server came around.

“Okay, next question...”