Even if he was smart and fun and hot and sexy and she did like spending time with him as much as the kids did. But she was an adult, and she could make the break easier than they’d be able to.
Was she hurting Leo and Anya by allowing this to go on any longer? Wouldn’t it be better to break it off now instead of heading down to Texas to meet his family? That would only prolong the inevitable and make the kids’ heartbreak even more painful.
She knew what she had to do.
The problem was, she didn’t want to do it.
Not right now.
Which was so selfish of her. What was wrong with her, anyway? She always made the right decisions. She’d always sacrificed what she wanted in favor of what was best for the kids.
She heard a knock on the door. It couldn’t be Grant. “Come in.”
It was her sister.
“So I was thinking,” Anya said, slipping into her room and climbing in bed with her. “Wouldn’t it be easier to do some shopping along the way rather than flying all the way home to unpack and repack? There are stores in Texas, you know. And we’ve already done laundry here. We’ve actually bought more clothes when we went shopping the other day. We’d only need to pick up a few things.”
“I haven’t yet said that we’re going.”
Anya tilted her head up to meet her gaze. “Oh, come on, Kat. You know you want to go. You like Grant. We all do. Let’s go to Texas.”
Her little sister wasn’t so little anymore. Katrina uncrossed her legs and stretched out alongside Anya on the bed, unable to fathom how long her sister’s legs were now. She remembered a time when Anya would huddle with her in the bed, and they would read stories together.
It wouldn’t be long now before Anya would be going off to college. She wouldn’t need Katrina anymore. She wouldn’t be in her life as much.
That’s what growing up was all about.
Maybe she was overthinking this whole thing with Grant. She had to constantly remind herself that the kids weren’t little—or as impressionable anymore.
Maybe she wasn’t worried as much about how the kids would feel after breaking away from Grant as she was herself.
She grabbed a piece of Anya’s hair and gave it a gentle tug. “I’ll … think about it.”
“You keep saying that. But you know you want to go as much as we do.”
She cocked her head to the side. “Really. And what makes you think that?”
“You like Grant.”
This was a topic she didn’t really want to get into with her sister. “Yes. I like Grant. But you do realize there’s a difference between liking someone and having a serious relationship with them.”
Anya rolled her eyes. “I’m not a kid anymore, Kat. Of course I know the difference. And you know I don’t have a boyfriend. Who has time for that nonsense? I’m going to college after next year. I don’t even want to think about the drama of boyfriends. Dating is one thing. Relationships are a whole other package of cookies.”
Out of the mouths of babes. “Indeed they are.”
“Not that you would know since I’ve never seen you bring a guy home before. Until Grant.”
“I didn’t exactly bring him home. He showed up at the apartment.”
Anya shrugged. “Same thing. Why? Don’t you like him … I mean like him, like him? Like in the boyfriend way?”
In some ways, she was having a very adult conversation with her sister. In other ways, she had to remind herself she was still talking to a teenager. “He’s not my boyfriend.”
“Oh, really. And how would you differentiate between some guy you’re hanging out with and having a boyfriend?”
Then again, her sister was very perceptive. Very smart. And sometimes quite irritating. “I’m not defining my relationship with Grant with you. I haven’t even defined it with him.”
Anya picked up her hand and squeezed it. “Maybe you should. Maybe there’s something there between the two of you. You know, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if you fell in love with someone.”
Yes, definitely too deep now. She tapped her finger on her sister’s nose. “And you should let me get back to my book.”
“So … about Texas?”
“I’ll get back to you.”
Anya sighed and climbed off the bed. “Whatever. Let me know when you decide.”
When she looked up to watch Anya leave, she saw Grant leaning against the doorway.
“Talk her into it, will you?” Anya said to Grant. “She’s being stubborn and vague.”
“Good night, Anya,” Grant said.
“Night, Grant.”
Anya left the room, and Grant shut the door. Katrina wondered how much of their conversation he’d heard.
“Second thoughts about Texas?” he asked. “Or is it just you and me?”
Obviously, he’d heard plenty. “I don’t know. She wants me to define our relationship.”
He came over and stretched out on the bed.
“Do you feel the need to define it? Because I don’t.”
She couldn’t help but admire the wide shoulders, the incredible chiseled biceps, or his amazing legs. But she also realized there was a lot more than physical chemistry attracting her to him.