Take It on the Run by Kay Harris

Author:Kay Harris [Harris, Kay]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: contemporary, romance, short story
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Published: 2018-07-17T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

I decide my story will go best with breakfast. So Meno and I throw on some clothes and move to the kitchen. He makes pancakes while I sip on coffee and Kevin pouts.

“Why did you name your dog Kevin?”

“It’s the name of the lead singer of my favorite band.”

I decide not to ask. I decide to try to figure it out on my own, or maybe I’ll get Google to help me later.

Meno flips another pancake onto the stack, then brings the plate over to the table. “No more stalling, gorgeous Grace.”

“I thought you said I could tell you when I was ready.”

“That was before you made me your rebound. Now you have to spill.”

I am startled by his admission. I hadn’t thought of it that way in the twenty minutes since it had actually happened. But of course Meno is right. That’s what this is. That’s what it was from the moment I booked that flight to Rio.

My cheeks burn. “I’m sorry.”

Meno takes a sip of his coffee and sets the cup down noisily. “Don’t be. I’m not.” He serves up the pancakes and sets a plate in front of me. “But I do want to know what’s happened.”

“Well, you know Eric was older than me, right?”

He nods.

“Twenty years,” I tell him.

He smiles. “I’ve been there.”

I remember that Vanessa was around ten years older than him. “Yeah, but you picked her.”

“You didn’t pick Eric?”

I shake my head. “My parents did.”

“Oh.”

“See. I…um…I grew up with a silver spoon in my mouth. But my parents didn’t plan to support me all my life. They wanted me to ‘marry well.’ From the time I was a little girl, my parents talked to me about it.”

“Like Victorian England or some shit?”

I laugh. “Yeah. Kind of. I guess.”

“So, you and your sister were supposed to marry rich?”

“Not just rich—well. They had to have money and prestige. And it was just me. My sister was smart. She was supposed to make something of herself.”

Meno shakes his head as if to clear it. “You grew up like this?”

“Yeah. I know it’s a little odd.”

“A little? Grace, it’s practically unheard of. This the twenty-first century!”

I smile. I like that he’s incensed. I don’t know what it gets me. But I like it nonetheless.

“Well, that’s how it was. And I went along with it.”

“Sure you did. We only know what we’re raised with, right?”

I nod. Somehow, his defense makes me feel better.

“Anyway, in a lot of ways, I was rebellious as a teenager. In fact, I got kicked out of several boarding schools, and my parents eventually had to resort to sending me to public school, which is how I met Candace. But even though I did my share of drinking and cussing, I kept my legs closed. It was like I’d completely internalized the idea that my parents were in charge of my love life, and by default, my virginity.”

He’s about to take a bite of pancake, and his mouth drops open. I take a few bites of my own breakfast to give me time to work up my courage.

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