It was summer so this was the best time of year to travel in Canada. I had a whole itinerary I planned to follow, and I had no intention of changing it.
I was just a little less excited about it than I had been.
I lay on my back and stared at the roof of my van. I needed to get up and get my day started, but I was comfortable, and Kyle was nestled into my side. I’d get up eventually. I just needed a few more minutes to find the motivation.
Wind blew gently against the side of the van, turning the inside into a little cocoon of warmth and blankets and cat fur. Usually mornings like this were my favorite.
Today my brain wanted to replay every interaction I’d ever had with Aaron like some kind of emotionally damaging highlight reel.
Very rude of it, honestly.
My phone vibrated next to me and I grabbed it.
Cliff.
“Hey, big brother.”
“Hey brat, how’s the adventure?”
“Unpredictable as always,” I answered honestly.
“Yeah I get that.”
He did. His job working search and rescue was nothing like a normal nine to five, so he understood my life a little better than others did. As did Aaron.
My chest tightened a little at the thought. Kyle stretched beside me and I curled my arm around his little belly.
He blinked slowly at me, completely unbothered.
“Did you call just to ask me that?”
Cliff sighed heavily. “I’m working up to my question but since you’re being so blunt, I’ll just ask. What’s the deal with you and Aaron?”
“What makes you think there’s a deal?” I asked picking at the thread on the edge of my quilt.
“He’s been moody since he got back.”
“As if he wasn’t moody before.” My heart was beating faster in my chest but I deflected his question.
“This is different. He’s more… I don’t know… bummed about something. Like he dropped his ice cream cone on the sidewalk. It’s strange.”
A laugh escaped me before I could stop it. The image of Aaron standing there looking pissed off at a fallen waffle cone was painfully easy to picture.
“And when someone acts weird you think of me?”
He laughed. “Well you were just with him so I put one and two together.”
I hadn’t planned on broaching this subject with my brother. We were close, just not in a ‘gossip about our crushes’ kind of way. But since he was asking I didn’t see a reason to keep it to myself. “Look, I like the guy okay. But you guys are friends and coworkers and that puts me off limits for him.”
He was quiet for a moment. “Off limits? Seriously?”
“Yeah, he made it clear. Bro code and all that.” I knew there was more to it than that, but this was the hurdle Aaron had focused on the most.
There was silence on the line long enough that I checked my phone screen to make sure the call hadn’t dropped.
Then Cliff cursed. “Look, you know I’m not a relationship kind of guy.”
Understatement of the century.
