Right Back to You

7. Double Date

Between busy schedules and seven jobs, the famous double date had taken them two weeks to organize.

Not that Kay necessarily minded, since she was doing this to force Angie out of her denial square. As far as she was concerned, she saw Jimmy almost every day, talked to him about cars, school and how they could even start looking for Kyle once the summer came.

It pained her a little to realize how much she liked Jimmy, and that in any other circumstance, she'd probably be head over heals for him. Because he was so kind and calm and smart. And hot, definitely hot, especially when he took engines apart.

After a while, she even started wondering if she would've broken up with Donnie for him, if he could've helped her out of her nightmare of a relationship the way Kyle had. These thoughts were not free of guilt, especially when she realized he would have.

But on the other hand, she missed Kyle's fire, his lack of predictability and the way he managed to face everything with a smile on his face. Maybe even losing her. The thought made her shiver, so she decided not to think about it. After all, he'd promised her forever and that was not going to change. No matter what, her feelings didn't change. She loved Kyle and missed him so much, it sometimes felt like her soul was shattering.

To get out of that destructive mindset, she decided to focus on more pleasant things. Like going on this double date, meeting Tom and pushing him and Angie together with Jimmy's help. So she got dressed up in skinny jeans, an off the shoulder top and high heals and met Angie downstairs so that they'd go together.

"You look very pretty," Angie said once they got in the car and drove off.

"So do you," Kay said automatically even if she didn't seem to have put any effort into it. Though Kay was well aware Angie didn't really have any fancy clothes and they weren't the same size so she could hardly lend her some.

Angie huffed. "Yeah, right." She ran her hand through her black waves, unconsciously trying to make herself more presentable.

"You're beautiful any way."

Angie turned to her surprised, her dark green eyes wide. For a moment, she seemed to consider whether Kay was lying to her, but she probably remembered there was absolutely no reason for that. She relaxed and just smiled.

Kay squinted at her. "Did Tom ever tell you you were beautiful?"

Angie gave a breezy laugh. "He said I wouldn't make a career as model."

Kay almost stomped the breaks. He did not say that to Angie, the asshole.

"But he said I'm beautiful to him," she whispered. "Just the way I am. With all my flaws."

Kay bit on her lower lip, unsure how to take that. She guessed it depended a lot on how he'd said it, the context. She was suddenly tempted to ask if he'd used the word objectively. Before she could decide, they reached the tiny bistro they'd agreed upon for their date. She parked the car and could see Angie was already excited.

She understood why when she noticed someone waiting for them next to the door. Kay did a doubletake. She knew it wasn't Jimmy. She knew it wasn't Kyle either. And yet the guy who was rolling a skateboard under one foot and was obviously Tom somehow reminded Kay of both of them. His hair was jes black, just like Jimmy's, he wore sunglasses, and he seemed to be about the same height since he was taller than her wearing heels. But there was something about him that looked so familiar, as if she'd seen him before somewhere.

Angie bounced right up to him. "Are we late?"

"Nope," he said, picking up his skateboar and leaning towards her. He wrapped and arm around her waist and gave her a kiss on the cheek, but it was soft and lingering, somehow looking more intimate than a kiss on the mouth.