Page 51 of Home Is Where You Are

“You did what?” she shrieked, as she clapped her hands and bounced on the bed.

I relayed everything that had happened last night and asked her what I should do.

“You should see where it goes. You love him, Ainsleigh. It’s written all over your face.”

I do love him. Could Aspen be right? Should I see where it could go with Gentry? Could I forge my own path here after all?

“I told him we could only be friends,” I told her as I worried my hands together, not sure if I regretted those words or not.

“I think that’s a mistake. While I understand your hesitation, when I see him look at you, I can tell how much he loves you still.” She waited a beat before she finally asked the question that plagued her. “Do you think Dylan would ever feel the same way about me?” Aspen whispered as she fidgeted with her hands.

I turned and looked at her, but she wouldn’t meet my eyes. She picked at her fingernails, her telltale sign she was nervous.

“Before I answer that, does it really matter? Crap, that didn’t come out right. What I mean is how do you feel about him?”

It would break Dylan’s heart if she didn’t have feelings for him or if she only saw him as a friend. Which was why I was sworn to secrecy after he’d accidentally told me how he felt about her.

“I never thought he’d feel that way about me. I’ve always kept him in the friend zone because I didn’t want to get hurt, ya know?”

“What does that mean?”

“I’ve loved him since our freshman year in high school. I’ve always wanted more from him, but I didn’t want to ruin what we had, especially after we all agreed to move in together.”

Holy crap. I was giddy inside that they felt the same way about each other. No two people deserved happiness more than they did.

“What are you goin’ to do about it? You goin’ to tell him how you feel, or make him sweat?”

“Make him sweat it out a little.” She laughed and stood up from the bed.

“But first, I’m going to put on that bikini that I packed so we can go to the pool.”

She pulled me up from the bed so I’d get ready too.

“You have ten minutes to get ready or I’m pushing you in that pool clothes and all.” She laughed as she left my room to go change.

Hurriedly, I changed into a pink bikini that I’d pulled from my suitcase. I was finishing rubbing in the makeup to cover my tattoo just as she rushed back into my room.

“What if I wasn’t dressed?” I joked as I picked up a pair of sunglasses off the bookshelf beside my desk.

“Your ten minutes were up. I didn’t care if you were dressed or not. Now, come on, bestie, so we can go make our men sweat.”

“He’s not my man. We were supposed to be working on Operation Divert Gentry. What happened to that?”

“You went and kissed him. That’s what. Plus, he’s totally smitten for you after all these years. Why not see where it could go?” she asked as she pulled me down the stairs behind her.

History. That was what kept me from wanting to see where this went.

The harm was breaking his heart along with mine.

I didn’t say those thoughts aloud. If I did, I’d have to explain everything, and I wasn’t ready to go there yet. Even after all these years, my throat felt like it was closing when I went to explain everything. So, I did the only thing I knew how. I bottled up the pain and buried it deep down, only letting it out on the day of her death.

I was scared. Plain and simple.

Gentry caused emotions I didn’t want to face to come back to the forefront of my mind.

Plus, if we didn’t work out this time, I would hate myself even more than I already did for breaking his heart a second time.

We made it to the bottom of the stairs just in time to see my brothers, Gentry, and Dylan go out of the back doors that led to the deck.