Right in Front of You

34. Progress

Kyle was very proud of Kay. Over the next two months, her progress had been unbelievable. After the Santa Venusia incident, he'd realized two major things. One, Kay was much tougher and more adaptable than he'd ever thought, so he'd pushed her into trying a whole lot of different things.

She'd said she wanted to play the drums again, so he started taking her to band rehearsals. Sonia would then give her a few lessons and let her practice. Kyle had stayed in on a few classes and Kay really had potential.

She'd said she wanted to dance, so two hours a week, he took her to dancing classes with him. She'd been shocked that he took dancing classes, but took it in stride and he finally had a permanent partner. Of course, at the beginning she stumbled a lot, but after a few weeks they actually did something that looked like proper dancing.

They even took a cooking class together. Kay really liked it and was still doing it, but he'd been kicked out after the first class for setting his station on fire. Not that he minded. He hated cooking.

He'd also insisted that Kay learned how to ride a motorcycle. That had been painful to watch. She'd started on the Harley because it wasn't as temperamental as the Ducati, but he still cringed every time she almost drove it into something. Finally, after three excruciating weeks, she got the hang of it.

Target practice, the course and fighting training were going great. And as an added bonus, he hadn't seen her sad in weeks. She was always excited and full of life, laughing every time she fell, every time he cringed at her lousy first attempts. But she had guts and perseverance and he found himself staring at her for hours, which was slightly problematic.

Because the other big thing Kyle had learned after Santa Venusia was that he never wanted to fake-kiss Kay again. Which was the main reason he never brought her back there as much as both her and Chucho asked. But this way, he could dodge going there as well. With Kay there, he had enough adrenaline in his life, and Chucho was appeased enough to continue guarding Max's warehouses.

And he and Kay could continue doing new things together. They were both in a great place right now. Friends and partners, Kay healing nicely, him trying to figure himself out. He didn't need the tension, his crazy imagination taking over and screwing everything up.

Because that kiss had almost driven him crazy. He'd been seconds away from driving to Cecily's place that night and making out with her just to get Kay's taste off his lips. It was beyond stupid because it had been absolutely nothing, but he was also sure that another second of contact would have been all it took for him to lose his mind and destroy their friendship.

Why, he couldn't understand. Because he liked hanging out with Kay, talking to her, the familiarity between them, and everything was great, normal, platonic. Until something like Santa Venusia or the cabin happened and he temporarily lost his mind. His body was stupid as fuck, not to be trusted. And wanted something completely different than his mind.

Fortunately, for the past months, everything had been great, normal. Platonic. At least between them. Joey and Kelly on the other hand... Kyle could almost hear church bells ringing and babies crying. But he didn't mind, because he spent Joey and Kelly's dates with Kay.

Like right now, at the cafe, at the bar, with Joey and Kelly displaying too much PDA somewhere behind them. But he didn't care, he had ice cream.

"You're looking indecently excited about that sundae," Kay said, scooping up a spoonful of cream off her hot chocolate.

"That's because it's delicious and has no coffee in it." He took a mouthful and his tongue almost froze over.

"It's almost Christmas and you're eating ice cream." She shook her head and threw a glance over her shoulder. "How long do you think Jelly needs until they get their fill?"