Kyle

Save Me

It was a brilliantly sunny Sunday morning, and I had plans for a perfect lazy day. First on the list, lounge in bed for an hour, maybe two. Then, after some much deserved moaning and groaning, roll out of bed and in to a shower. Dress in some maximo comfy sweats and a soft blue wife-beater. After making faces in the mirror for twenty minutes and then throwing my hair in a pony, trotting downstairs to eat a fattening, but delicious, breakfast. Then, if everything went well, I’d luxuriate in the idiocy of my weakly soaps. Big Brother. Bad Girls Club. Keeping up with the Kardashians. Maybe an episode or two of Jersey Shore. The day was filled with opportunity.

And I almost got to have it all. I got most of it. I managed not to get down to have breakfast till almost noon, and didn’t settle down on the couch till nearly one. That’s when everything changed. It didn’t seem like much at the time, but it was everything. The door bell rang.

My brow furrowed. Why was anyone at my house. Joe and Kay were out of town this weekend, and everyone else was prepping for finals or plays, or both. Throwing my blankets off, I padded over to the door.

Kyle.

Kyle was at my door.

I nearly choked. Pretending to cough, and taking time to scrap up something decent to say, I stalled.

 “Kyle.” His lips twitched at one corner. I grinned in return.

 “Janet.” His voice was smooth and tailored as ever. My stomach clenched. Like always. ‘Come on Jan, play it cool.’ Leaning on the jam of the door I’d practically ripped off the hinges moments before, I arched one un-penciled eyebrow.

 “What brings you to my humble little stoop?”  He smirked, eyes beginning to sparkle with mirth.

 “Many things.”

“Oh?” I crossed my arms, a feeble attempt at keeping my heart beneath my sternum. I wasn’t sure it’d work. “Name one.” Never one to beat around the bush longer than necessary, Kyle was blunt and honest.

 “You.” I jerked back. I could feel my face turning red.

 “What?”

 “You.” I shook my head.

 “My hearing is fine, Kyle. What do y-?” Kyle stepped into my bubble, demanding every bit of attention I could force out of my brain. I strained to keep my eyes on his.

 “You like me.” Brain firing a mile a minute, I tried to throw out a declination to his sudden statement.

 “Ah-! N-!” The solid press of his big, wide man hands fell upon my shoulders.

“Don’t try to deny it, Jane. We both know it’s true.” I couldn’t stop staring. Everything was going to hell. How was I going to fix this? “Do you know why I’m here, Janet Lyn McCoy?” With my breathe stuck in my throat, I couldn’t speak. After my glum negative, he continued. “I’m here to tell you that I won’t be your boy-toy to string on for months and then toss in the trash when I run out of money. I won’t be played by you. So don’t even think about trying to play coy and pretend that isn’t your plan.”