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She fell quiet for a few minutes, leaning against my arm with her head on my shoulder.
“You remember that time you boys finally let me up into the tree house? When I found your stash of nudie magazines?” She blushed, saying the last part.
I chuckled, “Yeah.”
“The first time I saw Aubrey I thought she looked like one of those girls. I thought she was going to be a complete spoiled brat from California, or she was going to be dumb as rocks… you know, your usual type,” she teased, breaking a smile. “She wasn’t though. I liked her immediately. She was so sweet and down to earth. I’ve known you my entire life, I’ve never seen you look at anyone the way you look at her, Dylan.”
I peered over at her for the first time, taking in everything she was saying.
“Your face lights up like in one of those movies you always make fun of. I like seeing you with someone who actually likes you too. Those other girls, they’re just using you. You’re as much of a game to them as they are to you. You do know that, right?” she questioned, her tone laced with determination.
I slightly nodded, my face suddenly serious.
“It’s okay to get to know someone before you sleep with them, Dylan.”
“What the fuck do you know about sleeping with someone, Half-Pint?” I roared, jerking back surprised.
“Nope. Not a chance. You do not get to flip this around on me. I know who you are. I know who all of you are. Let’s not pretend, okay? Not now. Out of all the boys, you have always been the one to hide yourself from me. I haven’t let it bother me. Do you know why? ‘Cause you love me. You love me enough to respect me.”
I pulled my hair away from my face, holding it back on the nook of my neck in a frustrated gesture.
“You respect her, too.”
We locked eyes.
“You respect her enough to not kiss her. To not touch her… to not do any of the things that make up who you think you are, Dylan McGraw. You may be crass and blunt, not caring about hurting other people’s feelings, but you’re still a good guy. We all know that, especially me.”
“How did you—”
“She told me.”
“What?” I narrowed my eyes at her with an intense stare. “She told you what?”
“She told me what I already knew. What I’ve always known. You do have a heart, but I’ll still pretend like you don’t already know that.”
I shook my head, letting a heavy breath escape. Finally admitting out loud and to myself, “I don’t want to hurt her. She’s been hurt enough but I also can’t stay away from her, Half-Pint. So I guess I’ll take her anyway I can.”
She stood up, hovering above me.
“Why don’t you let Aubrey decide that?” She reached for me.
“What if you’re wrong, Half-Pint? What if you’re wrong about me?”
She squatted in front of me, placing her hands on the sides of my face and spoke with conviction,
“I’m not.”
AUBREY
“I’m sorry, honey, I got stuck in a meeting. I know I was supposed to call you hours ago. How are you? How’s everything?” my Aunt Celeste asked when I answered her call.
“No worries. I’m fine. How are you?” I asked, trying to divert her attention away from my lie.
“Girl, don’t even try to pull that one on me. I know you better than that. What’s wrong? What happened? Who do I need to come beat up? Is it your mom? Honey, you know—”
“It’s not my mom,” I interrupted.
Getting off the couch, I muted the TV and began to pace the living room. I knew this was going to be a long conversation.
