Love's Dance by Marianna Roberg

Angela had picked her up, and the way Jason had been acting. "He's getting stranger every day, I swear."
    Her friend laughed. "He can't be any stranger than you."
    "And why do you think I'm weird?"
    "Well, you're American. If that isn't reason enough-" Angela ducked a pretend swing of Jaina's arm with a laugh "-you've fallen in love with a gay man, and your family is quite deranged."
    Rolling her eyes, Jaina said, "You haven't even met my sister."
    They walked for a while in silence, looking in windows.
    "I've been thinking about getting an apartment," Jaina said suddenly.
    "Oh?"
    "Now that I'm working here, I don't have to stay with Jase. It's getting uncomfortable. He gets weird when just about anyone visits me."
    Angela nodded. "I can imagine. He seems... overprotective."
    "Especially when Colin drops by," Jaina told her. "I can't even tell you how much he doesn't like Colin."
    "So he went from thinking that Colin was going to jump him, to being afraid that he's going to jump you?" Angela grinned.
    Jaina sighed heavily. "I don't have any idea what his problem is. He's acting so overprotective of me, and Teniel..."
    "What about Teniel?"
    Angela stopped to look in a window. Jaina moved to stand beside her.
    "Jason just watches her like a hawk," she said. "I dunno."
    "Maybe she's pregnant," Angela suggested. "Guys go insane when women are pregnant."
    Jaina considered that. It was long past time that Jason and Teniel have another child, anyway. "That might explain it. But I'm not about to ask. I'm considering apartment hunting, but... I feel kind of reluctant. Like... Like I'm supposed to stay there for a while longer, or something."
    Shrugging, Angela made a face at a price tag on one of the display items. "So go with your gut. It led you to fall in love with a gay man."
    "Thank you for reminding me of that," Jaina said wryly. "I was just on the verge of forgetting that fact."
    "My job to remind. Seriously, stay with your brother as long as you want. I mean, it couldn't get weirder, could it?"
    'Famous last words,' Jaina thought.
     
     

Chapter Eleven
     
     
    The next Sunday, as Jaina was waiting for Colin, she nervously paced the front entry. She'd braided her long hair, one on each side of her head, and dressed in her usual biking outfit, with a light green zippered hoodie over it.
    She didn't know why she was so nervous. She'd gone biking with him many times. What made today different?
    The phone rang. Jaina jumped, then laughed at herself and ducked into the living room to answer it.
    "Hello?"
    "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
    Jerking the phone away from her ear, Jaina blinked. The person on the other end was screaming loud enough that even with the receiver a foot from her ear, she could hear, "I GOT IN! I TURNED IN THE AP! AND then a nice big envelope came for me! Just for me!"
    Recognizing her sister's voice, Jaina put the phone back against her head. "Emily?"
    Her sibling was too busy talking about the envelope to reply. "It's all pretty and white, and I want to name it Whitey. And it shall be Whitey."
    Laughing, Jaina asked, "Where? Where'd you get in?"
    "OXFORD!"
    She almost dropped the phone. "No way!"
    "Way! So way!" Emily was giggling. "I'm going. Screw Dad!"
    Jaina rolled her eyes. "Is he still going on about sending you to State? Or is it somewhere else this time?"
    "No, I got the letter from Stanford. But, dude, it's Oxford. I haven't even called Dad yet. Mom is 'meditating' and Dad is at work, so I called you because I loveded you."
    "That's great, Em. But..." Jaina wasn't entirely sure why she was so eager to end the phone call with her sister. It was great news, but... Colin could be there any moment. Stupid, she knew. "Did you happen to check to see what time it is here? Not that I mind."
    "It's 3 PM here. So it's like 1 in the afternoon there. Why, are you working?"
    "It's 10 AM," Jaina replied.
    "So? You're awake."
    "And no, I'm not working today. It's Sunday."
    "Good point," Emily said mildly.
    Jaina rolled her