lock and key (matthew gray gubler fanfiction)

chapter thirteen

whoa! a double feature!

warnings: none!
word count: 4.5k

KENDALL

"guess what!"

tess is already shouting when she walks into my house, nova jolting at the loud noise and running off. she grabs onto my arms with a bruising grip and drags me towards the living room.

"what?" i finally get to respond but only after she has shoved me onto the couch.

tess absolutely beams at me, putting her hands in her lap and turning to face me. "you like tall men, right?"

"well, i'm 5"1' so yeah, i guess i like tall men."

"great! you watch basketball, right?"

"absolutely not."

"great!" she responds like she's on autopilot, not even hearing my answer. "i was styling this basketball player last night who said he has a friend who is exactly your type. tall, blonde, blue eyes, athletic—"

"do you know what my type is?" i cut her off sarcastically and she pays no mind to it.

"his name is devin and he's super cute. i got his number for you! you should definitely reach out!"

"um," she shoves her phone in my hand, showing me a picture of a basic looking basketball player in a tee shirt and shorts. no crazy socks, no patterned sweaters, no vintage glasses, no messy curls. "i really appreciate it," i hand her phone back, "but i'm gonna politely decline."

tess' face falls and her jaw drops. "what? why not?"

the doorbell rings and i watch mandy walk in with two bottles of some sort of drink that will probably ruin me tonight. i think for a second that i'll have to ask matthew for permission to drink and then remember that we have no rules. i can do whatever i want. i scrunch up my nose at the thought of not having rules.

"kendall turned down devin," tess instantly outs me, snatching a bottle of sangria out of mandy's hand.

"oh, no! why not? he's cute," mandy pouts, handing me the other bottle. she pulls a third bottle out of her purse.

i hesitantly twist the top off the bottle and set it down. i take one experimental sip. "i'm not," i pause for a moment, "not really looking for anything."

"you should though," mandy says. "you've been single for, what, three years? you deserve a good partner."

"well," i take another long sip. maybe if i get drunk, it will be easier to talk about, "what if i've already found a good partner?"

the two of them are clueless at first. their eyebrows are furrowed as they process the sentence i've said. but they realize at about the same time and tess nearly chokes on her drink. "what? do you have a boyfriend?"

"no," i answer far too quickly and with a slight eye roll. "he's not my boyfriend."

"but you want him to be," mandy fills in the obvious. "tell us about him! name, occupation, age, sense of style, everything. come on. spill everything."