Word Count: 661

“You’re rebounding,” his older brother told him that weekend.

They were at a park close to their parents’ house after church but before Sunday brunch (which promised to be a bit tense, what with Paris living there and all), tossing a baseball back and forth like they still did from time to time. Really it was just an excuse to hang out, chat about this or that, and occasionally check out a few pairs of legs that passed them by.

Michael motioned to a set walking down one of the nearby trails. Chris looked over and used the hand not covered by his baseball glove to flash five fingers, then two more—definitely a seven.

“What do you mean, ‘rebounding’?” he asked once the legs were out of sight.

“You just broke up with Paris.”

“We didn’t break up, we’re just-”

“Whatever,” Michael cut him off. He went back to tossing the ball now that there weren’t any visual distractions. “The point is you’re trying to get out there and date other people, but you don’t even really know how to do it anymore because you’re not even over Paris yet, and subconsciously you think sex or dating or starting another relationship might help heal your broken heart.”

“I don’t have a broken heart, and whoever said I wanted to get over Paris?” Chris asked, catching the ball and throwing it back. “We’re still seeing each other. That isn’t what this is about.”

“Then what is it about?”

“I don’t know. Seeing how I feel, testing the waters, checking out some of the other fish in the sea,” he replied, even if he wasn’t sure if that was the correct answer. He paused once he’d said it to actually think about it and frowned at himself in disapproval. “I kind of sound like a sleaze. That’s not what I meant.”

“You better figure it out fast,” Michael warned him.

Chris took a few minutes to think about it again, waiting until the ball had gone back and forth several more times before saying anything else. “I’m trying to be independent,” he announced.

“How does dating other people make you more independent than dating Paris?”

“Because I’m just dating them. We’re not actually in a committed relationship.”

“So this is about commitment,” Michael observed.

“N-No,” Chris argued. “I mean… I just thought Paris and I were getting a little too serious before we were even ready for it, before… before I was ready for it… so it seemed like a good idea to put a little distance between us for a while and see how things work out.”

His older brother didn’t look all that impressed with his response. To be honest, Chris wasn’t all that impressed with it himself, but he felt like enough s**t already without trying to understand his own reasoning.

“Hey, you’re the one who told me to send him to Mom and not to let things keep going if I wasn’t sure about them,” Chris pointed out.

“I did,” Michael agreed.

“And Paris was the one who suggested this… open relationship… thing…”

“Okay…”

“So what’s the problem?” Chris asked.

“There isn’t a problem,” Michael replied. “I just didn’t think you’d rebound so hard so fast.”

“We only made out for a bit,” Chris insisted, “and I’m not going to ask her out again.”

“What are you going to do then?

“I don’t know. I guess be more careful and… maybe put more thought into the people I go on dates with and what we do when we go out.”

Michael sighed. He’d stopped throwing the ball about halfway through their conversation, but lobbed it back over again at Chris’s conclusion.

“Mom’s going to be seriously disappointed when she finds out her little gentleman is just turning out to be a more polite version of me,” he said.

Chris laughed so hard he almost dropped the ball before throwing it back.

“Yeah, well, luckily she still has Peter.”