Shady

I put my super fun encounter with Diane into the back of my mind and forgot about it. I figured we wouldn’t be seeing too much of each other, and hoped that Nate wasn't besties with her. I didn’t bring up how awkward I felt at dinner because I didn't want to seem insecure or like I constantly needed attention. Instead I focused pretty much all my energy into my brother's upcoming visits with calls to Breanne (who has known my brother for ever), my parents, and calls and snapchats to my brother. He was still dating that 16 year old girl but we both avoided talking about it.

Katie came over on the weekend and I cooked an elaborate dinner to thank her for being such a good friend. We had tons of wine (like always) and caught up on our crazy busy week.

"So how did you like Kurtis?" Katie asked over dinner.

"He was so sweet. He fit in with everyone right away and was so easy to talk to. Even your brother warmed up to him in the end."

She smiled weakly. "See that’s what I thought too, but we went out for dinner last night and it went great. Then ten o'clock hits and he is outta there. And I mean he muttered some excuse and took off."

I frowned. "What? Why? Where did you go?"

"We went for dinner at Canlis, which was great. You and Nate should go there for a date, it's not that far from here. Anyways, we were just sitting there, hanging out, having some drinks and talking nonstop, but he kept checking his phone. And then at ten he checked it, paid for our bill, and booked it out of there." She shrugged and kept eating. I knew she was secretly feeding Koda under the table but since it was chicken I didn't care.

"That's shady. Have you heard from him since?"

She shook her head. "Nope. I sent him a text asking if everything was okay but haven't heard anything back and that was almost twenty-four hours ago. I mean, I know I met him on tinder so I shouldn't be expecting anything, but I actually like him."

"Hmm, that is weird. And so far he hasn't given you a reason to not like him, so I don't blame you for being into him." I cleared the dishes off the table and topped up our wines.

"Okay, but get this…. Woah, I fed Koda too much chicken." She got distracted for a moment watching him waddle around. "We should take him for a walk."

"Good idea." I tidied up the kitchen and Katie grabbed Koda's leash and our coats. It was still relatively nice out, but with the sun down it was definitely starting to get chillier.

We headed down the sidewalk wanting to stay in the well lit areas because I'm a big chicken and its dark.  Katie continued her story. "My friend from work is on tinder, and apparently she found Kurtis on tinder and he swiped right on her." I gave her a puzzled look. "That means he likes what he's seeing."

"Oh gotcha. Was this recently?"

"Well, she told me about it earlier today, but it happened earlier this week. I know we're not exclusive or anything close to that, but it hurts my feelings that he's still looking for someone else when he clearly has the definition of perfect right in front of him."

We laughed and I was happy that Katie wasn't letting this weigh her down too much. Definitely shady in my books though. "Don’t invest too much time on this if he's being weird like this off the get go. Not exactly the best way to build trust."

"I gotcha." We walked in silence for a while, stopping to let Koda sniff and mark his territory. He barked at random things in the night but in general it was pretty quiet and there wasn't too much traffic.

Suddenly Katie grabbed my hand and squeezed it really hard. "Ouch. Katie!"

"Rheece just drove by." She whispered.

I felt a chill run down my spine. "Where?" I knew his and Jess' condo wasn't anywhere close to here and we weren't exactly by a main road. "Do you still see him? Are you sure it was him?"

"I don't see him anymore. He came up from that way and slowed down." She pointed forwards. "I saw his face when he looked at us."

"I'm thoroughly creeped out." My fingers were still in Katie's grasp and I didn't want her to let go. We decided to turn around and head back home, but we both flinched every time a car drove by us and Koda barked.

We were speed walking by the time we got to my front door and hustled inside. Katie plunked down at the kitchen table and I sat beside her needing a breather.

"Holy shit, that was a little scary. I need to stop watching Criminal Minds by myself, especially when Shemar Moore isn't here to protect me." Katie let out a breath and picked up her abandoned wine class.

"No kidding." I sipped some wine. "Not the same as Shemar, but I'm gonna call Chris."

"Good idea. We can have a sleepover party."

I smiled but my hands shook as I pulled out my phone. I was dialing Chris' number when I froze. "Katie? Someone's knocking on the door."