Andy Has Always Been Enough
Andrew
Vinceholdsme.Vincetells me he loves me. Vince kisses me.
I'm still in shock.
The excitement radiating from Gary and Aubrey's faces only amplifies my own.
After Vince composes himself enough to release me, he turns to them, clearly not as amused as I am.He begins to argue with Gary and Aubrey over the interruption.I don't blame himfor being upset right now—it's definitely the worst-timed interruption of my life—but I can't stop laughing.
Eventually, when Vince has said his piece and I've laughed until there are no tears left, we all walk back to camp together. Gary leads the way with Vince, linking arms and teasing him the whole time, while I hang back with Aubrey, who bombards me with rapid-fire questions.
"I told you this just happened," I say, exasperated but smiling.“We weren’t hiding a secret relationship.”
Aubrey looks skeptical.
I sigh. "Can we talk about something elsenow?I actually have a question for you, believe it or not."
"Okay," says, cautiously.
"Why were you shirtless back at camp earlier?"
Aubrey laughs to himself, pulling his shoulders up to his ears. "Oh, that.Eli spilled his drink on me. 'Cause he's a jackass."
"Hethrew his drink on you?"
"No.He pretended he tripped. He was already hoveringway too close to me once I walked away from you. Itwas definitely on purpose."
"Aubrey..." I try, but a laugh escapes. "He has a crush on you. He's hovering, and he fumbledbecauseyou make him nervous."
He groans. "Gary said the same thing, and you're both wrong. I don't want to talk about it."
Is this what I soundedlike to Gary when I talkedabout Vince?
"Alright, fair enough. So, you had rum and coke all over your jacket?"
"Yeah. It was sticky, so I chucked it in the back of my truck. But I found an old wool blanket back there, so..." He shrugs like that explains everything.
I grin, trying not to laugh again. "Right, the wool blanket. I remember. But Aubrey, explainwhy you’re nowwearingEli'sjacket?"
His face turns red as he shoves his hands deeper into the leather jacket's pockets. "Don't get the wrong idea. I didn't haveatop on, and Gary made a big deal about it, so Eli gave me his to shut him up after we were done discussing the incident. That's all."
Aubrey clenches his jaw, clearly flustered, which only makes me laugh again.
"Andrew, stop.You're wrong. He tried toslash my tiresearlier and kill me. You didn't see what he did!"
I shoot him a disbelieving look. "Actually, I did see all of that. You'rebothout of your minds, by the way. And you still can't convince me Eli doesn't care about you."
Aubrey scoffs. "Oh, yeah? You should've heard what Eli told me on my birthday two years ago."
"What, did he pull your pigtails and say you had cooties?" I tease.
He rolls his eyes but keeps going. "He called me the most horrible person he'd ever met and said I shouldn't have been born."
"On your birthday?"
"Yep. And that's just the cherry on top of ruining my whole day. He's made me cry so many times, Andrew. Do you know why?"
