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I tilt my head and cock an eyebrow. “Bad? Try again. It was awful. You guys were awful. I know you don’t love him, but how the hell do you think it felt for me? I expected Miles and especially Joel to go all big-brother on him. But they went way past that into jackass territory.Youwent to jackass territory. I’m sitting there, being super nice to your girlfriend while you were straight up attacking my boyfriend. You’re supposed to be mybest friend, Ace. How the hell do you think that made me feel?”
His face falls, and he grabs my hand. “I’m sorry, Rae.”
“I sure hope so, because he doesn’t want to be around you guys at all anymore. I hate feeling like I have to choose between people I care about.”
“I’ll talk to him. Make it right.Wewill. I swear. Invite him to sit with us at lunch tomorrow, and we’ll sort it. Okay?”
“Thank you.”
“Anything for the girl I’m gonna marry one day. I have to keep you happy after all,” he says with a laugh.
“You promised to be the nicest boy ever to me, so I think that’s probably a good idea.”
“Plus, if I don’t, you’ll use that pout on me, and I cannot take that, so I’d better keep it in line,” he teases.
And it’s moments like this where I feel thepotentialAaron and I have. This conversation feels less like best friend banter and more like flirting. But it’s not like we’re in love with each other or trying to be together. I think our friends need to chill and go back to shipping fictional characters instead of us.
“Now,” Aaron says, poking my knee. “What do you say we go give the guys a little hell to make sure they’re nice and sorry?”
I lift an eyebrow and grin conspiratorially. “What did you have in mind?”
“Remember,” Aaron whispers, “wait up here. And try not to be too wowed by my acting skills.” I stifle a laugh and give him a little push toward Joel’s basement stairs. Time for some payback.
Aaron winks at me and heads down the stairs. I quietly sit at the top and listen.
“Hey, what’s going on?” Miles asks, as Aaron gets to the bottom of the stairs.
“It’s Rae.” His voice is quiet and pained.
“What do you mean?” Joel asks, concerned.
“What happened last night, with Davey.”
“She’s upset, I know. She came to see me, too,” Miles says, only seeming vaguely concerned.
“Upset?” Aaron’s voice is full of emotion. “She wasn’t just upset. She was crying hysterically. Screaming at me. She wouldn’t even let me comfort her. I—”
Damn, he’s good.
“I know we were jerks to him last night,” Joel says.
“We should apologize,” Miles agrees. “I mean, I don’t think all of what we said was even wrong, but…”
“Listen,” Aaron says, his voice full of vulnerability that I’m not sure is him acting. “He might not be who I’d choose for her, but she cares about him, and he has been good to her.” He sighs dramatically. Definitely back to acting now. “We need to apologize to him. And fix things with her. But… I don’t even know where she is. I’m actually getting a little worried.”
“Why?” Miles asks.
“She left. I went to check on her and her car was gone. Sarah checked and said she wasn’t at their grandparents’ house or with Davey. We don’t know where she is.”
“Aren’t the roads getting bad?” Joel yells.
I stifle a laugh and rise from the top stair, quietly walking into Joel’s kitchen and plopping down on a bar stool.
On cue, I hear thundering footsteps as they run up the stairs.
“Whatcha doing?” I call as Miles and Joel skid to a stop in front of me.
Their eyes widen. Then they both groan. I smirk. Aaron swaggers over and tosses his arm over my shoulders.
