Jimmy drained his bottle and stood. With a pat on Kevin’s shoulder, he said, “She’ll like chocolate, but she’ll value your words more. Don’t bullshit her. Be honest. It might get you further than you think.” He stepped away and then added over his shoulder, “But you didn’t get that from me.”
* * *
Kevin took Jimmy’s advice to heart. He also spent a ton of money on the best chocolate he could find before going to the restaurant Thursday night. He and Kathy had only communicated via text, so he didn’t know how she felt about their meeting. A text didn’t reveal any nuance, and while he usually liked the efficiency of texting, he wished he could’ve spoken to her.
He waited at the hostess stand for Kathy, feeling much like a guy afraid of being stood up by a blind date. Every time the door behind him opened, he turned to look. At seven on the nose, she walked in. Her curls were piled on her head in a messy bun and her face was clear of makeup except for the gloss on her lips, making it clear that she was coming from work and didn’t put in extra effort to look special for him. However, it backfired.
She was beautiful.
“Hi,” he said, suddenly nervous. Normally, he’d greet a date or a friend with a kiss on the cheek, but he feared the act wouldn’t be welcome. “I’m glad you came.”
Her brow crinkled. “I said I would.”
He nodded, feeling more foolish. “Here.” He thrust the box of chocolates at her.
“What’s this for?”
He put his hands up. “I wanted to get you something, but flowers would be dumb. . . .”
She smiled and the nerves in his neck loosened. “Let’s get a table and talk.”
Kathy stepped in front of him and he placed a gentle hand on her lower back as they walked. She stiffened, but didn’t pull away. The hostess seated them at a quiet corner booth. Kathy set the box of chocolates on the table as if to remind him that he needed to explain.
Their waitress came by to set a basket of bread between them along with glasses of water.
Kevin slid his menu to the side for a minute. Might as well get this part over with. “I feel like an ass for what happened between us.”
“And you thought chocolate was going to make up for it?” Her eyes narrowed and her brows furrowed with confusion. Not quite as bad as calling him an idiot, but close.
“No. I’m not that dense. I didn’t want to come empty-handed.” He inhaled deeply and remembered what Jimmy had said. Kevin knew how to be honest, but he spent so much time spinning the truth and couching it in BS that being straightforward was a novelty. “I’ve been thinking about you ever since the engagement party. The first thing I thought of when I saw you was that we had a great time together. Followed quickly by the anger I felt when you cut out without a word.”
When she opened her mouth, he held up a quick hand. “I understand why you did what you did. More or less. Most women would’ve attacked, but that’s not your style.” He took a deep breath. “In the year since the party, I haven’t been able to come up with one thing that was bad with us.”
She nodded. “Things were good. That’s why it was such a shock to find out that you were cheating.” She snapped her jaw shut and closed her eyes for a second. “We don’t need to rehash this. Like I said, life goes on.”
“But I need to explain and give you an apology. You deserve one. First, I didn’t think I was ready for anything serious when we were dating. I think part of me recognized that what we had was getting serious and instead of backing out or talking to you, I self-sabotaged. That night you saw me with Tina, who was an ex. We’d both been drinking and I invited her back to my apartment. It was a shitty move. You didn’t deserve that.”
“No, I didn’t,” she said quietly, her head down.
“But I didn’t sleep with her.”
Kathy’s eyes shot back up. “What?”
“I’m not going to lie, she wanted to, but we didn’t have sex.”
“Oh.”
“But if I’m being totally honest, I can’t say for sure that I didn’t cheat on you some other time. I just don’t remember.” He took another deep breath. “Saying that out loud makes me feel like an even bigger asshole. The thing is, except for when I was at work or with you, I was out partying, always looking for the next good time.”
Her throat worked as she swallowed. “Why are you telling me this now?”
“Because you deserve the truth. And I want to start fresh.” Kevin reached across the table and laid a hand over hers. “I’m really sorry.”
She stared into his eyes for a long moment. He remembered spending hours getting lost in her light brown eyes.
“Okay.”
He knew that was as good as he was going to get for now, and he could live with that. He pulled his hand away and slid a menu toward her. “Did you want to take a look or just order a pizza?”
“Pizza.” She said the word with reverence.
“Pizza always was your weakness.”
“Is that why you chose this place?”
He nodded. “Of course. My apology was sincere, but I’m not above using every possible advantage to earn your forgiveness.”
The corner of her mouth tilted up. “I’m not sure what it says about me that I can be bought with chocolate and pizza.”
He laughed. “It says you have excellent taste—in food and company,” he added, pointing at himself.
“I see your ego is as big as ever.”
“In my world, I’d
