“Girls,” Elijah says from the front seat.
“Not just any girl.Thegirl,” Nicholas quickly replies with the surety of a teenager in the throes of first love.
Julien backs out of the driveway and onto the road. “There will be many more of those in your lifetime.”
Elijah flicks his shoulder. “Practice what you preach, baby. We met in seventh grade. One look at those beautiful grays, and I was done for.”
Julien snatches his hand and brings it to his lips, pressing a kiss to the back of Elijah’s hand. “Ditto.”
Nicholas turns to me and makes a gagging motion. “They’re always like that,” he leans in and whispers.
Seeing their affection toward one another makes me profoundly happy. My brother and Elijah fought hard for their love. Almost three decades later, after they first started dating, and they still act like newlyweds.
Returning my attention to Nicholas, I ask, “What’s her name?”
“Savannah,” he sighs, rather than says.
The tires hum against the asphalt as the sun melts into the distance in front of us as we drive. Ry’s house comes into view, and that all too familiar pang of regret makes itself known.
“She’s new at school…”
I recline against the leather seat, my arm resting along the sill of the door as I listen to Nicholas’s animated chatter about the girl who stole his heart with just one smile. I could relate to every word. I fell head over heels for Liz the first time she smiled at me. She was wearing that blue princess dress, a crooked tiara perched on her braided-pigtailed hair. I thought she was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Even at six years old, I was starstruck.
“And then,” Nick says, his voice rising with excitement, “she laughed at my joke. Like really laughed, not the fake kind that sounds like a barking chihuahua.”
His analogy has me chuckling. “A girl who laughs at your jokes is a keeper.”
“And it wasn’t even my best joke,” he replies before continuing, undeterred. “She’s got this cool vibe about her. Laid-back and chill. And she’s really pretty.”
Julien’s eyes grin at me through the rearview mirror. “Grant and Charlotte are dating. We now have two lovestruck kids in our house. It’s torture.”
“It’s gross,” Nicholas informs me. “All they do is suck face—all the time.”
“Just wait,” I tell him. “You’re not going to find it gross with Savannah.”
He folds his lips as he thinks about it, a smirk forming.
“When do we get to meetthe one?” Elijah teases.
Nicholas doesn’t take the bait. Smart kid. “She gave me her number and told me to call her.”
“Have you?” I ask.
He takes out his phone, giving it a serious stare. “Not yet.”
“If you wait too long, she’s going to think you’re not interested.”
Nicholas flops back into his seat. “If I call or text her right away, that screams desperation.”
“Says who?” Julien queries.
“Grant.”
“And how many girls has Grant dated?”
“Charlotte…ah, I see your point.” And apparently his excuse to text Savannah. His fingers immediately start flying over the screen of his phone.
With Nicholas distracted, I glance out my window and watch how the burnt umber of the setting sun stretches across the low rolling hills, turning the dry grass into a sea of flickering amber. The land in this part of the county has remained surprisingly untouched by the encroachment of suburbia. No master-planned housing developments or strip malls. I wonder how many acres Liz and Ry’s house sits on because, from what I could see, there was nothing within eyesight of their property other than forests and fields.
