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My cheeks go a bit pink. “I’d more than friendly kiss Jesse. I mean, he drives me nuts, but I can see where he’d be fun to kiss. We like to flirt with each other.”
“And if Aaron wanted to more than friendly kiss you?”
“I—I—”
Mercifully, there’s a knock at my window and it slides open. Trevor climbs in.
“Well, if it isn’t the sexy McKinley girls,” Trev says, all charm.
“Hey,” Sarah says softly. All the emotion she was trying to push down comes flowing out again when she sees Trevor. It took her a little while to let him all the way in, but he’s always been patient with her. He grounds her, and she feels safe with him.
“Babe, what’s wrong?” His face scrunches with concern.
Sarah looks down and Trevor glances at me.Ten years, I mouth.
His brow furrows, but then his eyes widen as realization hits. He slides his shoes off and sits down on the edge of the bed next to her, wrapping his arms around her. “Come here. I’ve got you. Today must be so damn hard for you. I want you to know how much I love you. You are so loved, sweets.”
Damn, he’s good.
She leans against him, not saying a word. She doesn’t need to. His arms are her safe place.
I get it. That’s how I feel about Aaron.
I mean… not the romantic love part of it. But the safety.
I look back at Sarah and Trev, and my heart could burst. I know she’s hurting today, but the way he loves her?
Swoon.
Whoever I end up with, I hope it’s someone who loves me like that.
I watch some of my younger cousins run across my grandparents’ backyard, laughing and squirting each other with squirt guns. I smile, thinking of all the summers I spent as a kid running between all of our backyards doing the same thing. All of our friends are supposed to be here later, but for now, only Trevor is here with the family. Usually, as the night goes on, the party ramps up.
Labor Day isn’t that big of a deal, but my grandparents turned it into a huge end of summer party when I was little, and since then, my whole family comes in from out of town and congregates here for a bonfire and summer fun and shenanigans before school starts again.
Normally, it’s one of my favorite nights of the year. But tonight, I’m worried about Sarah.
She’s always had a hard time dealing with her pain. It’s like it overtakes her and she starts acting out, pushing every button she can. After a phone call from Vanessa freshman year, we all went to a party, and she got drunk for the first time. She was with Trevor, but flirted with other guys. It was bad.
So far tonight, she’s only been snarky and had some attitude. But as I watch her say something sassy to Trevor then storm away, I know something worse is coming.
I watch Sarah head for the house and quietly follow her inside. I find her at the drink cart in Grandpa’s study downstairs.
“Whatcha doing?”
She spins to face me, then gives me her naughtiest smile. “Just having a little fun.”
“Sarah,” I caution.
“What? What’s the big deal? It’s one drink. Not like we haven’t done it at parties. Or in Charleston.”
I inhale deeply. I don’t want to start a fight with her, but I know what she’s doing. “That was different, and you know it. Dad made it clear. Plus, that was a beer, not half a glass of vodka.”
“Rae—”
“Well, well. What do we have here?” Grandpa Pete asks, walking into the room with Grandma Bea.
He walks over and pulls the glass from her hand, smelling it. He shakes his head and slugs back some of it before dumping the rest down the drain.
