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"You're trying to derail me," I said, trying to paint on some mascara so I looked like I’d maybe tried this morning.
"Right. I'm a dropout. You should stop hanging out with me. I'm a bad influence."
"You aren't a bad influence. I'm just weak," I said, finally turning back to him.
"Not weak enough," he sighed. I walked over to the bed and crawled over him. He immediately grabbed my hips and pressed our bodies together. He kissed me softly, a total contrast from the way his hands pressed into my skin.
"You can stay here if you want. I'll be back in the afternoon. Eat whatever you want, just tell me if anything runs out." He brushed a loose lock of hair out of my face.
"I love you," he said.
"I love you, too," I whispered back. Two weeks ago I wouldn't have dreamed of repeating those words to him. Things had changed since he had come back home from the combine, but me loving him hadn't really changed since the past year.
When he dumped me, I’d felt like it had completely turned in on itself and become hate, but I had been wrong about that. When I saw him again, everything that I had fallen for in the first place slid right back into place.
The more I thought about it, the more I didn't think I had made it to the point when I stopped loving him, not romantically, not as a friend. I wasn't scared to let him know it anymore. This summer, we had found it again. Us.
"Will you be here when I get back?" I asked.
"I don't think so, but I can come by later." I had given him a key to my place for when he wanted to hang out here when I wasn't home.
"I should go. I'm going to be late."
"I'll be right here when you change your mind at the door and we can finish what we started," he said, smirking. I told him it wouldn't happen, but I didn't want to admit just how shaky my resolve to leave the apartment and go to class actually was.
I finally made it out the door and drove to campus. I texted Tiffany to see whether she was at school yet, and she told me to meet her at the library. She was waiting there with coffee for both of us when I found her.
"Hey, what time did you get here?" I asked. She always looked impeccably put together, something I couldn't say about myself, even though I totally had makeup on today.
"Maybe half an hour ago? I had a book overdue, and I didn't want to get lazy and not return it later." We started heading towards our classes. They were being held in the same building today.
"Half an hour ago, I was contemplating not even showing up."
"Yeah? Why? Are you sick?"
"See, now that would be a perfectly reasonable excuse to cut class. No, I'm not sick. I left Roman at my apartment."
"If you're about to tell me that you were going to cut class to have sex with my brother, stop. I don't want to hear it."
"Okay. I won't," I laughed.
"You were really going to cut class for him?"
"No," I sighed, "I know I can't do that. I'm not that girl. I'd hate myself if I did. Let's just say he can be really persuasive when he wants something." Tiffany made exaggerated fake throw up sounds, making me laugh. It had to be hard having your best friend date your brother. My sex life was his and as my best friend, she got to hear all the lurid details.
"Guess it's safe to say the two of you are doing well?"
"Better than well, Tiff. I never thought I'd be this happy with him again. After last year, I couldn't imagine even facing him. Now, it's like all that happened just to bring us here."
"As a person who's been rooting for you guys from the start, I have to say it's about time."
I sipped my coffee. "It took a little while but in the end, it was worth it."
"It's good that the two of you are stable now, you know, because of the Miami thing." I stopped walking.
"The what?"
Tiff turned and looked at me. "You know, the Miami thing. He got a call the other day...from these..." she trailed off. "Oh my God. He didn't tell you?"
