Once we were done eating and waiting for the check, the inevitable came up—Chad Brent.
“So,” Ted said carefully, trying to breach the subject, “I heard about what went on between you and Chad. It’s not a big deal for me, but it felt wrong not to tell you that I heard about what happened.”
My face burned red. This was the last thing I wanted Ted to know about. But I knew if they were really close, he would find out anyway.
“Oh, God,” I groaned. “What did he tell you?”
Ted looked embarrassed too. The poor guy continued to find himself in uncomfortable situations between Chad and me.
“He said that you guys hooked up, but it wasn’t anything. He said that he thinks you’re cool, but being stepsiblings has made him feel creepy and weird, and that it was fine if I went out with you. In fact, before we even met, he encouraged me to ask you out.”
“Really?”
Ted nodded. “Yeah. Chad hooks up with different girls all the time. He said that he’s having a hard time looking you in the eye because of everything happening with your families, but he’s hoping that things will go back to normal.”
“I hope so too,” I said. “That would be terrible if we had to see each other a few times a year and we still felt this awkward.”
“I think that will pass, eventually,” Ted said. “I wouldn’t worry about Chad. He has a short memory for these types of things. Besides, you could take his weirdness as a compliment.”
“How so?”
“If he didn’t care about you at all, he just wouldn’t give a shit. He must think you’re pretty cool if he’s embarrassed. That’s good, isn’t it?”
I bit my lip. If anything, this revelation only made things more complicated. I was attracted to Chad, but he was completely off limits. Not only would it be completely unprofessional to go there again, but it would also practically be incest. We would be stepsiblings in just a few short months. I understood that technically, we weren’t related, but it was still super weird and forbidden to even think of him that way.
The thing that drove me crazy was that I craved Chad’s touch when there was a perfectly good man sitting across the table from me. Ted was really cute and fun to talk to. The longer we sat together, the more attractive I found him. But, he was also Chad’s best friend. If I spent more time with Ted, I would probably see Chad more often. The only way to avoid the situation altogether would be to swear off men and move somewhere far away.
But I knew I could never do that. I wasn’t going to let some guy run me out of town. I was here first, after all.
My chest fluttered when Ted took the bill and left a sizable tip. He wasn’t brandishing his money in some sort of grand gesture, but quietly so I wouldn’t even think of it. He was a good guy, and it would be silly for me not to see where things went with him.
“Can I call you sometime?” he asked before we parted ways. “I had a lot of fun today.”
I nodded. “I had a good time too. Thanks for lunch.”
“No problem. I guess I’ll see you around,” he said, inching slightly closer.
I leaned in to give him a hug goodbye and felt his lips quickly kiss my cheek. As we began to part, we faced each other, just inches of space between us.
Without thinking, I kissed him on the lips. At first, it was meant to be a quick peck on the mouth, but then I didn’t want to stop. He wrapped his arms around me as my lips parted slightly.
He was a good kisser, but it felt different from when I kissed Chad. With Chad, there was nothing but white-hot lust for each other. With Ted, it was sweet, and I wanted to savor the moment. I didn’t want to go all the way with him at once. The anticipation would be just as good.
We only parted because I think we both remembered we were making out in a public place in the middle of the afternoon. But, as we said our final goodbyes and walked away, I could see the smile on his face. There was definitely a spark there. I hoped it would be bright enough to outshine the spark I felt with Chad.
Chapter Seven
Chad
After a long shift, I went over to Ted’s apartment because he said he wanted to hang out. I told him that I was tired and didn’t feel like it, but he said he had just ordered pizza, so I couldn’t refuse. I raced over and walked in just as the delivery guy was walking out.
“I thought you said you were going home first,” Ted said, noting my work attire.
“I changed my mind,” I mumbled through the melty cheese of the supreme pizza. “What’s on tonight?”
“Blackhawks game,” he said, “but that’s not why I wanted you to come over.”
I set the slice back in the box. “Are you bribing me with pizza for
some reason? I don’t know how I feel about that.”
“It’s not a bribe.” He laughed. “I just wanted to ask you about something.”
“Shoot.”
“I went out with Whitney a couple of days ago.”
I swallowed my bite and clenched my teeth.
“Oh?” I said nonchalantly, as if there was nothing about this news that I would find interesting.
“I just wanted to make sure that was okay with you.”
“I’m the one who set the two of you up in the first place. Didn’t I encourage you to ask her out?”
“Yeah, but I just wanted to make sure it wasn’t a problem with you since you guys have hooked up.”
“That was over a month ago. I’m not interested in her. I promise.”
He gave a sigh of relief before going on with his story. I half-listened while flipping through television channels.
“I took her to a restaurant for lunch and I found out that we have a lot of similar interests. You’re actually pretty lucky that she’s going to be your stepsister because she’s really cool. I suppose things could be a lot worse for you.”
I snorted. At that point, I would have preferred to have a weird stepsibling that I never wanted to spend time with over one I wanted to spend time in bed with. One day, we’d be at our parents’ wedding anniversary celebration when we’re in our fifties, and all I’d be able to think about is that time we got it on—twice—at a house party.
“And then at the end of our date,” Ted continued, “we kissed. It was a pretty good kiss, too, not just a quick peck on the lips. I wouldn’t call it a make out, but it was pretty close.”
“You sound like a middle school child,” I said rudely.
“I kind of feel like one.” He grinned. “I really like her.”
“I’m glad,” I said dryly and returned my focus to the television.
I know I should have been happy for my best friend, but I wasn’t. I knew that I was being a dick about this, especially since I’d set them up in the first place.