He was good that night. Funny, attentive, asking her questions about school with the kind of interest that seemed genuine because it mostly was. When Foster decided to be charming, he was difficult to pull your attention from. I knew that better than anyone.
At some point, the bar got louder and the group shifted, and I lost them for twenty minutes.
When I found them again, they were near the back, still talking. Penelope was laughing with her whole face at something he’d said, the way she did when something actually got her.
I felt the shift. The specific feeling of watching something happen that you set in motion, and no matter how hard you try to hit the brakes, there’s too much momentum to make it stop.
Aurora appeared at my elbow. “Your brother seems smitten.”
“He’s never smitten.”
Throughout our college years, Foster hadn’t dated anyone seriously. Hookups here and there. A friends-with-benefits situation for a month or two once. That was the extent of it. Foster didn’t like strings, and any girl who tried to tie him up was shown the exit.
“I’m glad I have the hotter twin.” She kissed my cheek, and I let her because it was easier than examining the thing happening in my chest while I watched Foster lean against the wall beside Penelope and say something low enough that only she could hear it.
The bar was emptying out by the time Foster and Penelope came back to our table. Aurora was almost asleep on her stool, and I was being a terrible boyfriend.
“Deck, I’m surprised you’re still here,” my brother said. “We’re heading out.”
“Oh. Together?”
Foster laughed and put his arm around Penelope. My heart pounded as if it wanted to jump out and rip his hand off of her. “Yeah, Trent is our DD, and he’s going to give her a ride.”
“Good, can we go?” Aurora perked up. “Goldilocks has a ride.”
“What about your friends?” I asked Penelope, ignoring Aurora.
“What are you, her father? Relax. I’ve got her.” Foster patted my chest and turned them toward the door.
Foster misread my question as concern when really it was jealousy. I didn’t want the two of them to walk out that door because whatever happened next was going to change everything. I just knew it, though I don’t know how.
“I’ll see you.” Penelope smiled at Aurora and me.
“Yeah, see you.” Panic welled up in my chest.
I can’t do this. I can’t let this happen. Can’t let them leave together.
I stepped forward, my hand reaching for Penelope’s arm, but at the same moment, Aurora groaned, turned in my direction, and threw up all over my shoes.
I watched my brother walk out the door with the woman I’d been secretly in love with for most of my life.
Foster said something, and she laughed, and the door closed behind them. I stood there with Aurora’s mess on my shoes and watched fate turn the tides against me.
Pulling myself from the memory, I step inside to grab a plate of food.
The early evening stretches into nighttime. The music switches to something slower, and Monroe and Hazel show us all a square dance they learned in school. Hayes films it on his phone, and I sit on the back steps, watching my close group of friends. Sure, I have my mom, but this is the closest I’ve come to feeling like I have a real family.
I get up to use the bathroom, and on my way through the house, the doorbell rings. Everyone is outside, so I walk over and open it without thinking about who it might be.
Penelope’s still in what she wore to dinner. Her hair is curled the way she does it when she takes her time. “Oh… hey.”
I step out of the doorframe and take in her dress and heels, her makeup, and the fact that she dressed up for the doctor. She put in her best effort, and I want to ask her how it went as a way to punish myself for sticking to my rules.
“There you are.” Leighton comes inside carrying some dishes. “Just in time for s’mores.”
Penelope gives me a small smile and moves past me into the kitchen, leaving me alone in the doorway.
As she should.
