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Unacceptable.
Absolutely un-fucking-acceptable.
She cleared her throat. “We should keep going,” she said. “I know you have to take Ms. May to her doctor’s appointment later, and I don’t want to make you late because we were fucking around before we even got to the spot.”
“Right.” He looked away from her and into the trees. There was a look on his face, and she couldn’t tell if it was anger or hurt. She figured it was probably both.
They continued the trek in silence, the only thing reminding her that she wasn’t alone was the heavy sound of his footsteps behind her. When they reached the end of the wooden path, they got an unobstructed view of their destination.
In an effort to convince him to join her, she’d spent days hyping up her super-secret, super-special spot. She’d teased him about how she was relatively new to Greenbelt but still had the inside scoop on a place he knew nothing about. Once he’d finally agreed, she’d realized that she had built a lot of expectations for a spot that, in reality, wasn’t very exciting.
It was beautiful, to be sure. A large clearing with lush, well-maintained grass. A small creek ran through the center. The water was barely ankle deep, but it ran swiftly, rushing down its path until it disappeared into the woods behind the clearing. Rocks of varying sizes rested on either side of the creek; some were stones small enough to skip along the water, while others were boulders big enough for multiple people to sit on.
There was no one else in the space, only the bubbling sound of rushing water, the wind rustling the tree leaves, and the two of them, somehow more silent than the nature around them.
“How in the hell did you find this?” Walker asked.
“Some of my friends brought me here last week. Apparently this is where all the kids used to come and get freaky. They call it ‘Cunny Creek’.”
His face twisted like he’d smelled something nasty. “I’ve never been here.…”
“I figured.”
He turned his eyes on her and she realized her words may have come off wrong. “I mean… not like that… you told me that you weren’t very… outgoing when you were in high school… so I just figured…”
“I know, Aja, don’t worry,” he snorted. “I sure as hell wasn’t spendin’ any time at Cunny Creek when I lived here. It’s nice though.…”
“Isn’t it?” She walked in a slow circle, slowly breathing in her surroundings. “I found it really peaceful. I thought you might like it.”
He smiled softly at her, the awkwardness from before seemingly forgotten. “You’re right. I do like it. Thank you for bringing me here.”
“I can’t give you the full Cunny Creek experience, but I can show you the most comfortable rock in existence.”
She took his hand in hers, working hard to ignore how good and natural and right it felt to touch him so casually as she led him to the largest rock in the clearing. It wasn’t high off the ground, so neither of them had to strain to get on top. It was rounded on the sides but flatter on top, providing a stable base to sit on. The rock had been big enough for her, Miri, Jade, and Olivia together. She and Walker didn’t, technically, have to sit so close, but they did anyway. It seemed like whenever there was even the slightest opportunity for them to be close, they took it. Even when it would have made more sense and been wiser to keep their distance.
Walker let his legs hang over the side of the boulder, sitting closer to the edge. Aja crossed her legs underneath her, providing a bit of cushion and hoping that her thighs, shins, and ass wouldn’t protest too much later because of her time on uncomfortable makeshift furniture.
“You said your friends brought you out here?” She was surprised when he broke their comfortable silence.
“Yeah.” It was still odd to have the girls referred to as friends, but she supposed it was true. “They’ve decided that me not really knowing anything about what they call ‘the real Greenbelt’ is unacceptable, so they’ve started taking me to all their favorite haunts.”
“That’s really cool of them.”
“They’re… amazing. I’ve never known anyone like them.”
“Hmm.” Walker’s fingers tapped against his knee. “You didn’t have any close friends in DC?”
“No, not really.” She couldn’t look at him as she spoke, turning to peer into the woods beyond instead. “I mean, I had people, ones who had kind of been my friends in the past, but it was always… I don’t know. It never felt like this. I always had to pretend like I was OK with them, or it felt like I had to. It was like… if I didn’t play my anxiety off like it wasn’t a big deal, none of them would want to be bothered with me. With these girls, it’s different. They accept me, they care how I’m doing, they check in when a situation might be high stress and don’t make me feel like I’m a burden. It’s… it’s really amazing.”
When she found the courage to look at him, he had a faraway look in his eyes. “It is,” he agreed. “I came from this place where everybody either ignored me or treated me like shit. When I got out of here, I thought everybody was always goin’ to treat me like that. I didn’t know if I’d ever have real friendships. I didn’t know if I was capable of it. But when I met my best friend, Corey, in college, shit just clicked into place. Now we have the rest of the group, and it ain’t the biggest or most exciting bunch of people but they…”
“They saved your life,” she finished softly.
“Yeah, they saved my life.”
It made sense, why he was so adamant to get the hell out of Greenbelt. He hated this place. His memories may have been deeply unpleasant, but that wasn’t the only thing driving his desire to leave. He had something to go back to. Maybe not another woman or romantic partner, but the pull of real, genuine friendship could be as strong as the pull of any lover.
It was a feeling she hadn’t known before but understood now. What drove him back to the comfort of his support group was the same thing that made her want to keep her feet planted in Greenbelt.
