His Best Friend's Sister

I had also quite literally just gotten out of another relationship. A serious one that led me to the altar before it went bottoms up. I had to keep that in mind, and that as strong as my feelings were getting about Tyler, that my emotions were also running high and I was still hurt by everything that happened. I wasn’t entirely sure I was really ready for another relationship, and yet there I was, going through all the hallmarks of starting one. It wasn’t just sex; it was all the little relationship type things I was doing, and all the sweet little ways he took care of me, too.

Nick’s latest call went to voicemail, and thankfully he didn’t immediately ring again as he had been getting into the practice of doing. I was going to have to eventually pick up one of those calls, apologize for avoiding the others, and get on with telling him what was happening. But before that happened, I needed to talk to Tyler and figure out exactly what that was. It was a lot to ponder, and I decided that getting a fresh perspective on it all would likely be helpful.

Besides, Melissa had been covering for me, and I owed her at least the courtesy of keeping her up to date on where I was and what I was deciding to do. A little bit of girl time would come in handy, plus it would get me out of Tyler’s house, and I had a feeling that if I broke the bubble and actually went somewhere besides the distance between his bed and the bath or the couch, I might get a better angle on what was going on and my perspective of it.

Putting on actual clothes, I checked my makeup in the mirror and headed for the door. Tyler had left early that day, and I didn’t have a key, but he had told me where the spare was. Rather than leave it to chance, I left the door unlocked as I went out to find the spare, and when I did, I tried it in the door once to make sure. When I was positive it worked, I grabbed my keys, shut and locked the door, and got in the car, bound for Melissa’s.

Melissa met me at the door with a glass of wine and a bowl of popcorn. I had to laugh as I gave her a hug.

“Isn’t it a little early for wine?” I asked.

“Three p.m. is the new nine p.m.,” she said, ushering me inside.

Walking into her room, I crashed into her little love seat and curled my legs under me. She sat down beside me, digging her hand into the popcorn and turning to face me, an excited look on her face.

“So,” Melissa said, extending the “o” sound for several extra letters.

“So?” I asked, taking a big gulp of the wine.

“Come on, girl. I need deets.”

“What kind of deets?” I asked.

She cocked her head to one side and raised an eyebrow.

“You know exactly what kind of deets, Becca Watson,” she said.

I sighed. “I know,” I said. “At least pause the movie.”

She reached up with the remote and hit the Pause button without even taking her eyes off me. I laughed.

“Paused,” she said, deadpan. “Spill it.”

“First, more wine.” I shook my half-empty glass at her. She made a face at me and topped me off, and I took another big gulp before sighing and delving in.

“So, we’ve been sleeping together the entire week,” I began.

There came a squeal of such epic proportions from my best friend that I was sure the wine glasses were about to shatter.

“How. Was. It?” she said, enunciation each word.

“It’s been amazing,” I started, eliciting another squeal of glee. I proceeded to give her all sorts of sordid details that I felt ashamed I was saying out loud to another human before getting to how I felt about the whole thing. That part involved considerably less squealing and considerably more popcorn eating. The more emotion I admitted to, the more kernels went to their doom.

“Well,” Melissa said after a short pause and another refill of our wine. “I think one thing you need to do, and this is just your best friend talking here, is you need to make sure you’ve forgotten your ex. Because I am worried that you would be more open to the idea of being with Tyler if you weren’t so afraid that your happiness with him is a reaction to that relationship ending.”

“I have,” I said, perhaps too emphatically. “I mean, I’m not hung up on him at all. The only thing that crossed my mind is that I might be falling too fast because I was so heartbroken, but it’s not like I’m sleeping with Tyler for revenge or anything. I don’t know if Tyler and I had hooked up a year from now if I would feel any different. I’m just…”