"Where are things between you and Hale?" he asks right on cue.
"We kissed."
"You kissed?" He leans forward to rest his forearms on his thighs.
"Yesterday," I answer quickly. "We had coffee and then when we said goodbye we kissed."
"So you're saying you haven't made it to second base yet?"
"You said no more baseball references and you were allowed one question, not ten."
He tosses me a small smile. "No more baseball references and just one more question for this round."
I sigh, knowing what it's going to be. "You're going to ask me how the kiss was."
He nods silently.
"It was fine."
"Fine," he repeats slowly drawing his top teeth over his bottom lip. "It was a fine kiss."
"It was a fine first kiss," I elaborate even though he didn't ask. "Not all first kisses blow your socks off."
"It depends who the first kiss is with." He cocks his head. Why does he look even more devastatingly alluring tonight?
My phone chimes, the tone loud since the volume is at its highest setting. "I need to look at that. I'm on call at the clinic."
He reaches to pick up the phone from where I left it on the coffee table. His eyes skim the screen before he hands it off to me. Then, in an instant, he's on his feet headed back into the kitchen without a word.
I look down and instead of feeling an ounce of disappointment, I feel relief.
It's a text from Trey.
My ex showed up at the game. We're headed back to her place. She swings both ways (get it?) so you're welcome to join us.
I type out a reply and hit send.
I'll pass. It's been fun, Trey but I think we should just be friends.
I lightly bite the nail of my thumb while I wait for his response. Crew still hasn't come back. I know he saw the text.
My phone chimes again and my gaze drops instantly to the screen.
I could use a good friend in this town. Friends it is.
I smile. Where there was once potential for more between us, now there's the foundation for friendship. I won't mourn that.
"Are you sticking around?" Crew walks across the room toward me. "I might have caught the tail end of Hale's text message."
"You read the entire thing."
"What's the verdict?" He scrubs the back of his neck with his hand.
I rest my phone on the arm of the chair I'm sitting in. "I'm going to hold out for a first kiss that blows me away."
"Does that mean it's over between you two?"
"We agreed to be friends." I don't want it to sound pathetic because it's not. There was a time in the past when I'd take it to heart if a man agreed to be just friends with me as easily as Trey did. Now, I cut my losses as soon as I realize the fit isn't right. "That means you better watch out, or he may inch you out of the position of my best guy friend."