I walked along the alley and as I rounded the corner to my house, I saw him waiting for me on the porch. My biggest problem and biggest relief wrapped up and delivered directly to my front door.

Kael.

He seemed distracted by something, sitting there with AirPods in and a faraway look in his eyes. He was so in his own world, he almost didn’t see me approach.

“Did you come for a refund?” I asked, trying to keep it light. I wasn’t at all bothered that he was there. I wasn’t nervous. No, I wasn’t. Nope. Not at all. I was cool. I hadn’t let him get to me, not the way he thought he did. Not me.

“No refund,” he said, shaking his head. “I think we should finish our conversation.”

“Oh? And which conversation is that?” I was playing it coy and he knew it. Cat and mouse.

“About last night.” He waved a hand between us.

“We definitely finished that conversation. Drama-free friends, remember?”

“But did we finish it?” He paused, then said quietly, “It felt like you wanted something more.”

“What?” I laughed at that. “We’re not dating. We don’t even have each other’s phone numbers,” I said through a forced, fake laugh, reminding myself and him.

Kael pulled his phone out and mine started to vibrate in my pocket. The familiar 706 area code appeared with a number I didn’t recognize.

“I got yours from your boss.” He smiled. “I think she has a sweet spot for me.”

I was shocked that Mali would do such a thing. “Mali doesn’t have a sweet spot for anyone! And that’s illegal.”

“Technically, yes.”

“Well, anyway, illegal or not, we’re definitely not dating, that was my point.” I backpedaled, sort of wishing I had let it go and moved on.

“Agreed. But what do people who are dating actually do? I mean, besides sex, obviously.”

I shrugged. “They run errands together. They pick each other up from doctor’s appointments and airports. They grocery-shop. And do things to make each other’s lives easier,” I explained, acknowledging to myself that we were already slipping into these domesticated routines.

Kael held an orange in his hand. It was a big orange, but small in his hand, with the little Sunkist sticker still on it. He was massaging it gently with his thumb, but hadn’t broken into the peel yet.

“Have you never dated anyone?” I was curious.

“Yeah, I’ve dated. It was enough to last me a lifetime.”

“Oh, that much?” I asked, trying not to sound as alarmed as that news made me feel.

He responded quickly. “The Army and dating don’t go well together.”

“So you’re telling me you never considered getting married? Everyone else does it.”