“Shitty,” Wes finished Chase’s sentence for him. “The word you’re looking for is shitty. His parents don’tknow what they’re missing out on.”
“I can think of a few more to add, but I’ll save face for now,” Chase added. “So where do you come in?” Chase asked Alex, tipping his head in Alex’s direction.
“College, too. We were all friends. The girls, too. They were best friends. Mia actually set me up with Chelsea. And the rest was history.” Alex raised his glass to the rest of the table and we all clinkedbottles of beer, a toast to what we all knew would be a life-long friendship.
“Where’d you go to college?” Alex couldn’t have known the weight of his innocent question. My heart leapt in my chest knowing that Alex had touched up what was perhaps Chase’s rawest nerve.
“University of Florida,” he stated, keeping his voice calm and even.
“No shit. My younger sister goes there,” Alex announced.“What year were you?”
“Actually, I had to leave early. Still have a semester left before I can finish my program.”
Leaning forward on the table, his brow knotted together as if he was trying to see an answer in a crystal ball, Wes asked, “Only a semester left? Why did you stop?”
The second the words fell from his mouth, I could tell he already knew the answer, but there was no taking them back.Wes looked over at me, his face apologizing where words simply wouldn’t fit.
Okay, I was wrong. Bringing up his parents would be picking at Chase’s most significant scab. But with the maturity and composure he’d demonstrated at every curveball thrown his way, he simply said, “They died in a car accident back in January, and since I had to take care of my younger brother, I had to pull out ofthe program.” He shrugged as if it was no big deal.
But to me, it was everything. It made him who he was; it shaped who he would become. And as I sat there watching him talk about his life with calmness and sincerity, I realized I was falling for this beautifully broken man who was sitting right next to me.
“Wes,” Mia called out, but her voice barely had the strength to pull his attention awayfrom Chase. “Wes,” she yelled again, walking down the deck stairs to the table where we were sitting. “Oh, there you are.” She held her phone out in front of her, obviously Face Timing with someone on the other end. “He’s right here, Mom. Hold on.” She held the phone down and mouthed the words, “It’s your mother,” before handing him the phone.
Just as Wes excused himself from the table, Chasedid the same as he pulled his phone from his pocket. Just a few minutes later, he returned to the table, a look of apology written all over his face. Alex had already stepped away to find Chelsea, so it was just the two of us sitting there. “You okay?” I asked, as he lowered himself into the chair.
“Yeah, I just got called into work.”
“Oh, okay.” I tried not to let the dejection settle intomy voice, but it wasn’t going to happen. It wasn’t all too often that I had the weekend off and it was even less often that he had the weekend off. Since Benny already had plans to stay out tonight, I was looking forward to spending the entire night together.
“I hate to ask—”
Shooting him a look of warning about the whole “not being afraid to ask me favors” conversation we’d already had, heheld his hands up in mock defense. “Calm your tits,” he warned. “I already know you’ll give me a ride.” He flashed me a wickedly beautiful smile, and knowing it was the same one he used to rake in the big tips while he was dancing had me laughing in my seat. “I’m on call tonight for Benny. The deal is that he can call me whenever he needs, at whatever time, and I’ll pick him up, no questions asked.And if he’s ever in a situation that he’s not comfortable with he can text me and I call him, pretending to yell, so he can get out of it without looking like a pussy.”
My chest burst with pride. If only more parents had this kind of set up, there would be far fewer horrid memories from the emergency room haunting my dreams. “Okay, so how can I help?”
“After you give me a ride…” He paused, winkingand slapping his hand on my knee. “Can I send Benny your number and let him know he can call you if anything happens?”
I was beyond honored he’d trust me with the task. But I didn’t want to lay it on thick or overwhelm him with my sudden onset of emotions, so instead, I simply said, “Of course. But you’ll owe me.”
“I’ll get you back when I get home,” he joked as he rose from his seat.
WhenI turned to walk in front of him, to walk inside and say goodbye to everyone, he playfully slapped my ass just as Wes had done to Mia earlier. And for me, it was far more intimate than any public display of affection would be.
It was the lighthearted, easygoing playfulness for which I’d longed with Rob, for which I’d all but begged him for. And here it was, right before my eyes with a man I’donly known for the summer, yet somehow, he knew me better than anyone else ever had.
