Lunch

I swear, rumors travel at the speed of light. By third period, I noticed I was getting looks. It wasn’t angry looks, thankfully, but I could see the curiosity in everyone’s eyes. It was like everyone was looking at me wondering, ‘What’s so special about that guy?’ By lunch, some of those were downright hostile. The most notable being from my super fan, Zoe.

Kaylee, Liam, and I were having a nice conversation at lunch when she practically dropped her lunch on the table and slammed her open palm to get our attention. “Please tell me the rumor is bullshit.”

“What rumor?” Kaylee asked, recovering from the shock of her friend’s entrance.

“You and him,” Zoe said with a finger extended towards me.

“Oh,” Kaylee said, giving me a quick look. “Yeah. It’s true.”

Zoe hadn’t been expecting that. For a moment, I thought she was going to overload as she processed that. “What the fuck, Kaylee. Have you lost your goddamn mind?” By this time, the other members of the team had started arriving. They watched the exchange with a mixture of curiosity and unease. They wanted to see how it played out, but none wanted to get involved.

I knew Zoe and Kaylee had spats every now and then, but this was the first time I’d seen one actually play out. Usually, they were on the same page about things. When things did flair up between them, their emotions never seemed to go beyond annoyance. This was actual anger, and I wasn’t sure why Zoe was getting so pissed off. I knew she didn’t like me, but going after Kaylee like that wasn’t like her at all.

Kaylee turned slightly to face her friend, face devoid of emotion. “I don’t see how that’s any of your fucking business who I date.”

Zoe reacted to that like she’d been slapped. Her tone cooled instantly as she tried to backpedal away from the argument she’d started. “You know I’m just looking out for you.” She glanced over at me and I could see the anger smoldering in her eyes.

“And your idea of that is to insult me and the person I care about?” Kaylee closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them again, there was a noticeable calm to her. When she spoke, she was addressing everyone at the table, not just Zoe. “Scott is special to me. If you don’t think he is a good match for me or that I should be dating someone else, I respectfully ask you to keep that to yourself.”

“And what about us?” Zoe asked.

The determined expression Kaylee had faltered. My eyes bounced between the fiery redhead and my girlfriend. Her voice softened and I could barely make out what she was saying. “I told you when we started that I was going to get a boyfriend eventually.”

“You also said that getting one wouldn’t change things with us,” Zoe said, standing suddenly.

“It doesn’t!”

“If it was anyone else, I’d believe you,” she said giving me one last glare before storming off. A blanket of silence seemed to smother the table as everyone awkwardly kept to themselves. Kaylee sighed heavily before looking at me. She didn’t need words to convey what she wanted. I nodded and she quickly rushed after the retreating girl, calling her name.

Zoe’s words still echoed in my mind as I watched my girlfriend rush off after her. I knew the two were close, but that suggested they were intimate on a far different level. It was common for women to start relationships with each other. Most were platonic. With there not being enough men for everyone, women often formed permanent companionships with their closest friends called cooperative unions that acted as a marriage union. While there were plenty of legal reasons attached to the union, like being able to file joint taxes and meeting requirements for partner status, it was mostly there to combat loneliness. No one wanted to go through life completely alone, and people wanted others to share life experiences with.

But not all those relationships were nonsexual. Zoe and Kaylee were always close, but it seemed like I’d underestimated just how close they actually were. Things made a lot more sense with this new information. Zoe’s hostility towards me for one thing. Zoe didn’t care about Kaylee sleeping with guys. She certainly had her own fun. I wasn’t a normal guy though. I wanted something intimate with Kaylee, something that Zoe wanted as well. If I was someone like Sean in Kaylee’s life, I’d probably have no issues with her. She must have sensed early on that Kaylee and I had something special and was doing everything she could to prevent her from noticing.

Knowing what I did now, I could understand Zoe a bit better. That still didn’t change the way I felt about her. Years of withstanding her verbal abuse soured a man after a while. At least now I knew why she hated me so much. I was still a bit stunned that Kaylee and her—

My thoughts were interrupted by an elbow to my side. Looking over, I found Liam with a shocked look. “Dude. You and Kaylee? I did not see that coming.”

Embarrassed, I gave him a goofy grin. “It was unexpected for me too.”

“Did you ask her out, or did she?”

I noticed the girls were silently leaning towards me and Liam. When I looked over, they quickly pretended to be fascinated with their lunch. Only Ellie continued to stare expectantly, blatantly eavesdropping and not caring that I knew.

“She did.”

Liam looked surprised. “After that earlier conversation, I did not expect that.” He rubbed his chin, looking thoughtful. “I guess I was wrong.”

“Kaylee really asked you out?” Ellie asked, breaking into the semi-private conversation Liam and I was supposed to be having.

“Yeah,” I confirmed, looking over at her. The others looked like they were giving up trying to hide their interest.

“Tell me, tell me,” Ellie said, practically dancing in her seat. “How did she ask you out?” My mind was instantly pulled back to that night and all the mixed emotions that came with it. The flushed look on her face before she pulled me into the kiss and the way she looked at me were unbelievable highs. Yet the high was made bitter by the memory of her asking me out while another man came inside her.

Scratching my cheek, I did my best to keep my voice normal. “She kissed me and uh… asked if I wanted to date her.”

Ellie chuckled. “‘Kissed,’ huh.” Her eyes had an appraising look. “If you impressed Kaylee… I have to admit that makes me curious.”

Beside her, Abby chuckled. “She does have good taste in guys, but why don’t you pump the brakes there girl. Kaylee is going to go Momma Bear on you if you make moves on her guy without permission.”

Ellie made a pouting face, giving me a longing look. “I knew I should have pushed to fuck you earlier.” She rested her head between her fists, pushing her cheeks up. “She didn’t even show any interest.”

Laughing, Abby was rubbing her friend’s shoulders. “There, there. You still have Conner, right?”

Her eyes never left me. “Yeah…” I could tell she would have jumped me right there if she thought I was up to it. I was under no illusion that she harbored any feelings for me beyond her interest in getting a cock into her. Why me and not say, Liam right next to me, was a mystery. Then again, she was always an odd one. She seemed to have no problem playing around with guys her teammates would consider beneath them.