Friendly Dating 2 - Ethan

Chapter 8 - It's Like Getting Hit in the Head

Eventually, I even stopped showing up at her place when he was there. The idea that all that time, while I was turning away from her and making the mistake of licking my wounds in someone else's arms, he was just using her is making me see red. Not just because I'm mad at myself for thinking that it's okay to just fall into someone else's arms when you cannot be in the arms you want to be in, but because my blindness caused Kira to get hurt without me even realising it. "I'll kick his ass for you."

Kira's bubbly laugh rings out, and she shakes her head, making her ponytail swing cheerfully.

"Don't bother," she shrugs. "I knew after the first day that he was not someone I wanted to be in a relationship with, but I was enjoying the project and wanted to wait until we were done before I broke up with him. I was having too much fun to end it right away since the project involved...."

She is becoming all passionate now, talking about Hercules beetles and gross things like larvae, but I'm not really listening; I just love seeing that look on her face and hearing her babbling about the things in life she enjoys so much. Personally, I'd prefer to talk about stuff like food... I'm hungry, and beetles and bugs are not doing it for me. What the hell kind of biology project was it anyway? I don't remember any of that coming up in the biology class last year.

Still, I could listen to her babble like this forever.

"Never mind," she says, blushing when she realises that I'm grinning at her like an idiot. "My point is, I wasn't devastated when he broke up with me; I was going to end it anyway. So, as you can see, I'm no expert," she is staring down the length of her legs to her shoes, suddenly looking so vulnerable and fragile it is making my heart lurch protectively. 

I'll never let anybody hurt this girl if I can help it!

"Well," I sigh, feeling breathless and a little nervous now. I cannot meet Kira's eyes anymore and turn my head to follow the path of a squirrel scurrying up the tree in front of us instead. "I don't need an expert. I just need a real girl I can trust who'll be honest with me and help me change."

"You are really serious about changing," Kira says, and I'm not sure what she's seeing to make her say that as if she's stating a fact rather than asking a question, but I'm glad because she finally seems to take me seriously.

"Yes." I am serious about changing if it means becoming someone she'll love.

"So, what's in it for me?"

What?! That's a surprise! I was expecting the list of reasons why I'm an idiot, not that question. Does this mean she's actually considering it?

"You mean you won't just do it out of the goodness of your heart?" I cannot think of anything she could possibly gain from this except, well... me, and she clearly doesn't see me as a prize.

"My heart doesn't experience much in the line of goodness when you're around," she tells me, and I already know that there is no need for her to rub it in. "And normally, I love a challenge, but this might be beyond my skills. Why don't you ask Delia?"

What?!

"I don't know, Kicks," I'm frowning at her now because what the hell? "Maybe I'm not desperate enough yet to date my sister."

Laughing, she punches my shoulder and shakes her head. "I mean, ask her for advice, tips, pointers. She's been dating the ideal boyfriend for five months now; she knows things. Or better yet, ask Simon to tutor you."

Wow, that will be even more weird!

"Mentor, not date. He can mentor you without dating you," she clarifies. So, Simon is her idea of the perfect boyfriend? That is who she wants? I like Simon a lot, but...