“I didn’t do anything,” she says. “I don’t even use it that much, but I tried this morning when I was cleaning up, and nothing happened.”
“Maybe it’s the circuit. I’ll flip the breaker.”
“I’m sorry, I should have tried that,” she says. “I didn’t even think of it.”
I shrug. “It’s no big deal.”
“Hey, have you talked to Kylie?” she says.
I freeze. Selene’s voice has a conspiratorial undertone, like she has a secret she wants to dangle in front of me. I retreat behind my wall, forcing my expression to stay casual. “Yeah, I guess. Why?”
“Really? Well maybe you got more out of her than I did,” Selene says. “Did she tell you she broke up with Derek?”
I hope that’s all the news Selene thinks there is. “Yeah, she told me.”
“Did she tell you why?” Selene asks, like she already knows the answer, but wants to find out if I know.
“I don’t know, she just said it wasn’t working,” I say.
Selene shakes her head. “I’m pretty sure she left him for someone else.”
I look down at the counter. It is so hard to keep everything from showing on my face. “What makes you say that?”
She looks up at the ceiling, like she’s thinking it through. “Mostly just a feeling. I talked to her earlier in the week, and she sounded different.”
“Different, how?”
“Well, for one thing, I’m pretty sure I called her right after sex. I could hear it in her voice.”
I search my memory, but I don’t remember Kylie getting a call from Selene, particularly not right after we had sex. Although we’ve probably had more sex in the last week than I did in the entirety of my last relationship, so practically anytime day or night could arguably be “right after sex.”
I shrug again, making a noncommittal noise, and pretend to be busy searching through the tools.
“Oh my god,” Selene says.
My back and shoulders tense, but I keep my eyes on the tools, like I’m bored by Selene’s conversation. “What?”
“You know something.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say.
“Braxton,” she says, her voice stern. “Tell me.”
Shit. Shit. Shit. What do I say? “Tell you what?”
“Tell me what Kylie told you,” she says.
“Well, if Kylie didn’t tell you, maybe she didn’t want you to know.” Fuck. That was the wrong thing to say.
“What the hell does that mean?”
“Nothing, I’m just trying to get you off my back.” I’m panicking. “Yeah, she said she dumped Derek for someone. I think it’s just a fuck fling though. No big deal. That’s probably why she didn’t say anything. She doesn’t want you to think she’s crazy.”
“So why did she tell you?” Selene asks.
“I, uh … I saw her. She sucks at lying to my face, so I called her out.”
Selene drums her fingernails along the counter top. “I guess that makes sense. She is a shitty liar. And I haven’t seen her, so…”
“See? There you go,” I say. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”
“Damn it, I hate it when she keeps things from me,” Selene says. “Oh well. I guess I didn’t tell her about Matthew right away. And after Derek, she deserves to be with someone who can push her buttons.”
That sounds like something I very much want to hear. “What does that mean?”
Selene shrugs her shoulders. “He didn’t really do it for her. She told me a while ago that she hadn’t had a real orgasm in ages.”
I turn back to the sink to hide the wide smile that crosses my face.
“Sucks for her,” I say. I head toward the garage again. “I’m going to go check that breaker.”
The circuit was tripped, so I flip it back. I go to the kitchen and turn on the switch. The disposal rumbles.
“There you go,” I say.
“Thanks, Brax,” Selene says. “Sorry I made you come over for that.”
“It’s fine,” I say. “But I gotta get out of here. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
“Where are you off to?” she asks. “Hot date tonight?”
I just laugh as I walk toward the door. I don’t want to say anything else and dig myself in a deeper hole. Fuck fling? What the hell was I thinking with that one?
“Bye, Selene.”
I shut the door behind me. I’ll have to tell Kylie to go along with it until we have a chance to sit down with Selene and tell her what’s really going on. Man, she’s going to have my ass for this.
I’m not sure if I mean Kylie, or my sister.
How did I ever live without Braxton?
Nothing has been the same since he kissed me in that restaurant booth. He saturates my existence, fills every part of me, body and soul. The days before him fade into gray, into nothing. The days since are bright, vibrant. Alive.
I’m so in love with him. I thought I might be in love a dozen times in the past, but I never was. I never knew what love really felt like until I experienced it with Brax. Now I can’t imagine anything else. I can’t imagine loving anyone else. Ever.