I chewed his words for a minute before I responded. The dandelion danced as I started to spin it between my fingers.

I answered him honestly. There was no reason to lie or pretend I’m an expert on love and relationships. “I have no idea what love actually is.”

The words hung as a placard on the concrete wall of my mental gallery. As I blew the flower to dust, I closed my eyes and pictured Kael and I in that gallery, standing in the corner, away from all the noise, taking in what the words meant. What love actually is.

Kael and I sat silently on the porch, and I can’t explain how or why, but I knew he was in the same mental space as me, having the exact same thoughts as me. I didn’t even have to open my eyes to know that his eyes weren’t open anymore.

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

I had forgotten to make Elodie a pitcher of sun tea, and I realized there was only an hour or so of daylight left. Jumping up, I told Kael I was heading inside to fix it, and he offered to help, even mentioning his mom’s “special method” for making it. More domestic-couple behavior! Now that we were inside the kitchen, I started to feel a bit more rational. His idea of being drama-free friends made all the sense in the world. I couldn’t keep thinking about it. There was no need to. It was like practice-dating in a way, and Lord knows I could use the practice. This way, my mind and heart wouldn’t end up hurting—drama-free friends with an expiration date. Whatever I was walking into, I would be prepared.

“So, what’s the first step in this friendship?” I asked him, as I began to fill up the jug of water in the sink.

“I think you may be too late to get this done today,” he advised, pointing to the sun setting behind the trees out the window. I dumped the water as Kael pulled out a wooden chair at my kitchen table and sat down.

“Hmm, I think we’re past step one. We’ve done the grocery-shopping bit.”

I nodded, leaning back on my cute farmhouse sink. “And you’ve met my parents. Well, my dad and my brother.”

“And a party. We’ve actually been through quite a bit. In a really short time.”

“Yeah, we have.” I looked away from his dark eyes on me. Turning around, I kept my back to him and busied myself with washing a few dishes. I really, really needed a dishwasher, but that was a luxury way down on the list. I had my eye on one, and considered getting a credit card, but the thought of owing money that I barely had made me more anxious than hand-washing my dishes.