Katya POV
I slowly lifted his arm from over me, his breath hitched causing me to hold his hand in mid air before he turned to breathing normally again. I sighed, dropping his arm down on top of him. I slowly picked up the covers and slid out of his bed. I stared down at Ryan sleeping peacefully. I looked down at myself to notice i was completely naked- great. I had no idea where my clothes were also.
I've been seeing/sleeping with Ryan for two weeks. I also hadn't seen Brian in two weeks. The last time i saw him was when we had that sleepover. In fact, i don't think i've even spoken to him. I'd spoken to Jo though so i knew he was okay and all.
I eventually realised that i could not find my clothes but luckily I found my underwear... hmm, very lucky. I slid them on and carried on looking around for some clothes. At this point, i didn't even care if they were my clothes.
"Are you going?" I heard a groggy voice say. I jumped slightly.
"What?" I say, "Oh... no... I was just-"
"Leaving?" He chuckled sleepily as he lifted himself up onto his elbows. "You can wear some of my clothes if you can't find yours. I can't say i know where they are either."
I smile. "Thanks. I'm not leaving in a bad way. I have some errands to do." This wasn't exactly a lie- meeting someone can kinda be called an errand. "I didn't want to wake you. You looked calm." I add.
"It's fine." He says reassuringly.
I grab a shirt and pants and put them on. "Last night was... well, great." I sit on the edge of the bed. "It really was." I bite my lip. I bend down to kiss him. He leans up slightly, grabbing the back of my head. The kiss becomes rough and would've turned into something more if i hadn't pulled away. "I have to go." I say, out of breath.
"I'll call you, yeah?"
I nod. "See you later Ryan." I walk out of his room and down the stairs to the front door. This casual dating thing was easier than i thought. I was expecting it to be awkward and weird but it's just cute dinners and amazing sex without having the daunting 'relationship' title over it.
I looked at my phone. It was actually quite late into the day; 1pm. My lunch date with Jo was at 1:30 so i had to rush to the small cafe near her house. Brian's neighbourhood was at least, maybe more than, a half hour away.
I was excited to see Jo. I was excited to give her life updates and hear hers. These lunch dates were a common thing, every other Saturday we'd see each other and eat a fancy lunch. Brian and Chris had come to a few of them but they just weren't the same. It was better with Jo and her Uncle Brian. We could talk about anything and everything without fail.
"I'm sorry i'm late." I huff as i sit down across from Jo.
"Is that a new shirt?" She greets me.
"What?" I look down to see i'm wearing Ryan's shirt. "Oh.. uh... yeah." I lie straight through my teeth. "So, how you doing?" I ask, taking a sip of the drink she had already ordered for me before i got here.
"Good. I got 79/84 on a maths paper the other day so i'm still gassed about that. Plus, dad bought me a really cute ring just because." She stuck her hand out, showing me the crown ring that sat on her forefinger.
"Well done on the maths paper and that's a really pretty ring. Which dad gave it to you?" I nonchalantly take a sip of my drink again.
"Chris. He bought it from Connecticut." She starts to play with it. "How come you haven't come over in so long?" She bites her lip. "We miss you." She slightly emphasised on the 'we', making me feel very nervous.
"I've been busy." I say.
"Doing what?"
"Well, i've actually been dating someone." I reveal, leaning forward slightly. "His names Ryan and he's really hot."
"You've what?" She says, shocked. "But i thought you..." She stopped herself from talking.
"You thought i what?" I press.
"Nothing. It's fine."
"Tell me." I scoot closer to the table, closer to her. "Please."
She sighs. "I just... It... ugh." Her face falls uno her hands. "I'm in the middle. I'm so in the middle." She sobbed. Was she crying?
"Hey," i hushed, standing up from my chair and moving to stand with her. I run my hand down her hair. "Do you want to go to my car?" I look around noticing people staring. I didn't really mind but i didn't want her to feel embarrassed.
She nodded, lifting her head up and sniffing slightly. I throw $20 onto the table and lead Jo to my car parked, luckily, right outside the cafe.
We sit inside. "Can you tell my what's wrong, sweetie?" I cringed at my words but i wanted to be comforting.
"Don't call me sweetie." She wipes her nose. "Everything's wrong, Uncle Brian. Everything." She falls back into the chair. "No offence it's all your fault."
"Me?!" I gasp, "What did i do?!" I turn to look at her properly.
"You... you're you! You're fucking Brian McCook and no one will beat you! No one has been able to beat you in 15 years!"
"I'm going to ignore the fact you swore and wonder what you mean by 'beat'. Beat me in what? A race?" She was seriously confusing me right now.
"Ugh!" She groans, smacking the dash board in front of her.
"Hey! Not the car!"
"Brian!" She groans again. "I'm stuck in the middle.
"Jo." I breathe. "You really need to fill in the gaps here, okay?"
She nodded. "Brian," She starts, looking me right in the eye, "You're in love with dad."
I felt like time had frozen. I was sitting in place, i couldn't blink, move, talk, breath. Where did she get this from? How did she know? Why did she think she was in the middle?
She carries on speaking. "I've known. Forever. From the moment i met you, i thought 'wow, this best friend love is strong' and then time went by and i watched you stare at him and i watched you glance and smile at him when he wasn't looking. You'd check his necklace. You and him... you'd disappear at parties." Tears started forming in her eyes, "I know. I know everything. It's killing me."
I didn't know what to say. I didn't know how to say it. I was shocked, confused, embarrassed. But i was mostly feeling very guilty. Very guilty.
"Jo-"
"-I didn't want to believe it. I wanted to think you were the bestest of friends. My best friend goals. It's amazing what you have, it really is. But it's more than you call it. And you'd leave at parties and i would think 'where's dad' and then realised you weren't there either. i'd look at the dance floor and see Dad C dancing and being amazing and i'd feel terrible because i knew and i was ruining his life by not telling him. Uncle Brian... i love you, i love Dad B but Dad C and i have a bond. A strong bond. I want you to know, i really want you to understand that he does not deserve this." She wipes her tears. She was devastated and hurt. It was my fault. "His husbands cheating on him, Uncle Brian. I know you think he's the villain in this equation but you really need to think."
It took me a while to think of my words. "Jo." I say. "I'm so sorry. I know it isn't enough and i know i'm ruining everything for you but i really want you to accept my apology."
"You're not ruining anything for me. I just really don't want Dad to get hurt. He's my dad. He will always be my dad. They both will. Just please, don't hurt him. Either of them."
This whole time i played it in my head as though Chris was the bad guy. As though he was the extra guy and he was the one who needed to go from the equation. But maybe in reality it's me. Am i the villain? Am i the plus one? Am i the other guy?
Was i ruining Brian's life?
I look over at Jo. She had dry tears sitting in the corner of her eyes. Her face was puffy and red. "I'm so sorry Jo."
I loved Jo. I loved her so much. And i was ruining her whole family.
