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I replied, “Yeah, you are, but somehow you make do with those stubby little legs.”
She gawked like a pouty tween.
Drew snickered. Aithan pressed his lips into a straight line to keep from laughing. He nudged Drew, and the guys joined me.
“We’ll be back late,” I told my mom and ignored the icy look Greer shot me. As I turned to the door, I saw my dad. He had his hand clapped over his mouth and his shoulders shook with silent laughter. “Bye, Dad,” I called sweetly, and he squeezed his eyes shut and nodded.
As soon as we got into Aithan’s SUV, Drew crowed, “Buuurrrn!” and Aithan busted up.
I giggled. “That felt really fucking good.”
“I bet,” Aithan said, wiping tears from his eyes. “The look on her face.”
“Priceless,” Drew said. “Those wordsstung.” He leaned between the front seats from the back and feathered a finger along my jaw. “Goddamn, Brick, you are wicked sexy tonight.” He pressed his lips to my ear. “And I think you feel it.”
Aithan grinned at me as he started the engine. “Is that the dress I found after Lorelei took you shopping?” I nodded and he said, “Pay that woman more.” He put the SUV in gear and accelerated up the driveway.
17
CHILDHOOD DICKS
The waitat Seats would be an hour even with the reservation, so we strolled through Waypoint Park, me in the middle holding hands with my guys. It felt great to be out with them. And I didn’t mind the looks we got. Mostly.
Drew stared out across the bay. “What a friggin’ great place to grow up.”
“Yeah,” Aithan agreed. “I’ve only been up here once or twice. I forgot how beautiful it is.”
I nodded. “I actually love this town, just not a lot of the people I grew up with.”
“I’m the opposite,” Aithan said. “I miss my family, but I don’t miss L.A.”
“Not at all?” I asked.
“Nope.”
Drew shrugged. “Had no friends as a kid, and I didn’t go to school until I was fourteen.”
“Whoa.” I tucked my arm through his. “It must’ve been weird to be thrown into high school so late.”
“Oh, fuckin’ awful. They assumed I was a moron and put me in all the remedial classes. But Blue taught Millie and me a lot of shit. She’d find a library closest to whatever shithole my dad had us living in, check out all kinds of books, and come home with the weirdest selection. The summer before she died, we studied astronomy, traditional Chinese medicine, Shakespeare, Appalachian textile arts, stocks and bonds, and six Jackie Collins’ novels. That’s another reason I know so much random shit.”
Aithan snorted. “Dude, you were destined to become an author.”
Drew nodded. “Right?”
“You didn’t miss anything by not being in school.” I gazed up at the giant acid ball sculpture that loomed over the park. Its reflective paint glowed faintly in the park’s lights, a remnant of Bellingham’s industrial past. “By fourth grade, I knew the other girls would never accept me. My so-called best friend, Hannah, decided it would befunif a group of us weighed ourselves. You know, a bonding activity at her shitty sleepover. All of them were itty-bitty sticks. I was about a foot taller and already getting hips and tits. I weighed a hundred thirty-four pounds. They were all, like, eighty-two or something. So, yeah, they were bonding over not being me. Hannah came to school the next Monday armed with sketches of me standing on a scale eating donuts and crying. It said, ‘How fat is Zelda? 1-3-4!’ Shit, the drawing wasn’t even good.”
“What?” Aithan said, his voice carrying across the water. He stared at me, slack jawed.
“She was yourbestfriend?” Drew sounded as appalled as Aithan looked.
“She was kinda my only friend. So ….” I shrugged.
“I’d’ve been your bestie,” Drew said, “and punched her in her flat chest.”
Aithan laughed, but sobered just as quickly. “I would’ve ignored you or laughed at that picture.”
That was surprising. “You? I don’t believe that.”
