“Yeah, just need to sleep a little better.”
“My friend Brent from college brought some edibles from California, if you want some,” he suggests.
I snap my fingers and point at him.
“That, I will take you up on.”
“Good thing Kemper’s doesn’t drug test,” Aiden says under his breath.
“So true, what a great boss I have,” I reply and he rolls his eyes.
“What’s new with you?” Ben asks Aiden. “How’s Collin’s daughter working out?”
“She’s a hard worker, saved us from a serious disaster with The Rays,” he replies.
“And she’s really pretty,” I chime in and Aiden glares at me.
“No. Collin’s daughter? Really?” Ben replies.
“We’re just co-workers, we haven’t done anything.”
“Yet,” I supply.
Aiden glares at me and tosses the beanbag.
“I’m her boss. She’s Collin’s daughter.”
“Oh, grow the fuck up,” Lincoln says.
Aiden looks shocked as he stares at his younger brother across the yard.
“Excuse me?” Aiden replies.
“You heard me. You haven’t liked a woman in forever. If you like her, who cares about all that bullshit? Be a man,” he says, looking at Aiden for a long time before glancing at me.
I hide behind my margarita glass, willing this evening to be over.
It’s a quick round of goodbyes, before Lincoln is driving us home. It’s quiet for a short time until he breaks the uncomfortable silence.
“You didn’t tell your mom?”
“Which part?” I say dryly.
“Don’t be a brat. You know which part.”
“I don’t want to talk to her about it right now. She’ll want to know how I’m feeling and talk about it until we’re blue in the face. I don’t want to talk about it, I don’t want to think about it. I just want to not feel anything.”
His hands tighten around the wheel, and he doesn’t respond right away.
As we’re pulling up to the apartment building, he finally turns to face me.
“You’re allowed to be upset. You don’t have to act happy all the time. Everyone will still love you and care about you if you aren’t constantly smiling.”
I blink at him and open the door and take the stairs to my apartment.
He’s wrong. No one really wants to deal with my bullshit. People like me because I’m happy. I can take a joke, and I always want to please everyone.
If my smile falls, so does everything around me.
