“This is a welcome home party for Meg. Didn’t your husband tell you?” Lena teased. She always gave me shit for how much time Kyle and I spent together. She would say we should have been the ones to get married given how in each other’s pocket we were.
“He didn’t mention it,” I grumbled, following my sister to the front door. She didn’t bother ringing the doorbell, instead of walking right in, as we always did at each other’s houses. We were greeted by people I hadn’t been expecting. Mostly our buddies from high school, as well as Jeremy and Rob, both of whom knew Kyle through me.
Lena stopped abruptly, and I almost ran into her back. “What the hell, Lena?”
“I didn’t know he’d be here,” she snarled. She was talking about Jeremy Wyatt, who was currently flirting with Hayley Smith, a girl I had graduated with.
I didn’t bother saying anything to my sister. Her feud with my partner was starting to border on the ludicrous. I elbowed past her and headed to the kitchen, where I found Kyle dumping a bag of chips into a bowl as Skylar pulled dip out of the fridge.
“Hey guys,” I called out, dropping the cases of beer onto the table by the window.
Kyle glanced up. “Hey, my man. Glad to see it didn’t take you three years to get here.”
I slung an arm around Skylar, giving her a hug. “This guy thinks he’s a comedian,” I stated drolly, popping the top off a bottle of beer and handing it to Kyle.
“He should stick to his day job,” Skylar quipped with a smile.
I surreptitiously looked around but didn’t see Meg. I grabbed another beer for myself and listened to Kyle and Skylar squabble back and forth about the high salt content in the chips he had bought. Some things never changed.
“Let the poor guy eat his chips, Sky.”
My head swung in the direction of her voice. Meg stood in the doorway, arms laden with bags and a platter of what looked like her mother’s Snickerdoodles. She briefly glanced my way, flicking a strand of hair out of her eyes before turning her attention to our friends.
“Nice to see you, Galloway,” Kyle said with a grin that stretched his face. He took the food from her hands before lifting her up in a bear hug meant to crush a rib or two.
Skylar was next, squeezing Meg tightly, showing an affection that was reserved for the red-headed woman alone. Then it was my turn.
The awkwardness was palpable. I could feel Kyle and Skylar watching the two of us, ready to intercede if necessary. I gave her a hug that was strained and uncomfortable. I didn’t know where to put my arms. I didn’t know where to lay my hands. It was the worst hug of my life.
Meg pulled away quickly, patting my arm like I was a dog. “Nice to see you,” she muttered.
“You too,” I replied, backing away quickly all the while wishing I could bend her over the kitchen table and stick my tongue down her throat.
There was a thick silence afterward punctuated by Kyle clearing his throat and Skylar picking her nails.
“So—” Meg said at the same time I said “Well—”
We both stopped speaking and smiled stiffly.
“I drove by the mural, it looks awesome,” Skylar finally said.
Meg turned to her, and I was relieved that the attention diverted from our painful interaction.
Kyle grabbed another beer, tossing a new one to me. While Meg and Skylar chatted, he inclined his head towards me and dropped his voice. “That was a lot less dramatic than I expected it to be.”
I guzzled the beer in one lengthy swallow. “I told you, we buried the hatchet.”
Kyle eyeballed me in a way that made me squirm. “Yeah, well, I didn’t really believe you.” He looked at Meg, then at me again. “What’s up with you two? That was weird even by your standards.”
I opened my mouth to give him some crap line when a woman came into the room, eyes red-rimmed and her face blotchy from crying.
“Hi, Josie.” I greeted Kyle’s ex hesitantly. Josie had been Chelsea’s best friend up until a few months ago. She had dated Kyle for years. We had all vacationed together, spent holidays together. But I hadn’t seen her since Chelsea and I split up, and Kyle had broken up with her.
But it was common knowledge she hadn’t taken the breakup well. Josie was a sweet girl if a little clingy. And the truth was Kyle had never loved her the way she loved him. I couldn’t imagine that Kyle had invited her to the BBQ, and from the look on his face, it was obvious he hadn’t.
“Josie, what’s wrong?” he asked with concern. He may not love Josie, but he was a nice guy. He would never tell her to leave, even if her emotional neediness was the very reason he had ended things with her in the first place.