Page 18 of Losing Ansley

“Fuck off, Lincoln. Sorry, your fuck buddy is leaving.” I snap, his head turns toward me, his eyes flashing in anger.

“Don’t do that! Don’t belittle what was happening between us.” He responds. I shake my head and stare out the passenger window again.

“What was happening? You were fucking your best friend’s little sister. It was great. I’ll give you that. But you still can’t kiss me, and you still don’t have the balls to tell your best friend.” I want to scream. I want to scream until my voice is hoarse.

“Ansley…” He trails off, and I shake my head.

“Forget it, Lincoln. I found a good job, and I’m excited about it. We’ll keep in touch just like we did when you were in college.” Lincoln grimaces at my comment. Good. We didn’t keep in touch when he was in college. After my sixteenth birthday, he stopped calling me, so I stopped calling him. I’ll probably see him for the holidays.

And I have to be okay with that. We drive in silence the rest of the way. Atlanta traffic is crazy, even mid-day on a Sunday, causing the drive to be longer than Lincoln predicted. When we arrive at the apartment complex, Dylan is already waiting for us.

I jump out of the UHaul, and Dylan comes over, wrapping his arms around me and twirling me around. I laugh and return his embrace. I don’t start my new job until Tuesday, so I have the rest of today and tomorrow to settle in. I glance around the area and smile.

“It’s nice, Dylan.” He smirks and nods.

“See! I told you.” He exclaims. I had no idea what I was expecting. I give him another hug.

“Thank you,” I whisper. He kisses me on the side of my head.

“I’m here. I promise.” He tells me. My apartment complex is about ten minutes away from him, so that I can have my space. I’m thankful he understands I need that, and he helped me get in here, so I didn’t have to give up my Corvette. Lincoln comes around the front of the truck.

“Hey, man!” Dylan greets him, and they do that hand clasp one-armed hug guys do, and I shake my head.

“Hey!” Lincoln greets him back. These two couldn’t be more different. Lincoln is sophisticated and put together. Dylan is goofy and goes out of his way to make everyone around him laugh. But they’re best friends, and I’ve seen them drop everything for one another at any moment.

“How was the drive? Did you two drive each other crazy?” Dylan glances back and forth between us, and I roll my eyes. Dylan only ever sees us arguing and jumping down each other’s throats.

“You could say that,” I say as I share a brief look with Lincoln. His hazel eyes heat for a moment before he turns it off, and I bite my lip. Dylan hands me the key to my apartment, and excitement churns in the pit of my stomach.

I hate what led me here, but I’m excited to see where this goes. We walk to my apartment, and Lincoln looks around the area to ensure it’s safe. I open the door, and my mouth drops open.

It’s gorgeous, and Dylan has already brought some furniture that he had for me. I didn’t know he would move it all in, though. I turn to him in shock.

“You did this?” I ask, and he cocks his head at me in confusion.

“Yeah! Who else did you think would do it?” He questions. I share a look with Lincoln, and then I throw myself into Dylan’s arms.

“Thanks, Dylan. This was very sweet.” He holds me tight for a few seconds before releasing me. I glance around the room.

“You can move things if you don’t like how it’s set up. But I figured all your furniture should be pointing at your TV.” My eyebrows furrow and I snort at hisFriendsreference, but then I notice the TV above the fireplace. My mouth pops open in surprise.

“Did you buy that for me?” He nods, and I hug him again. “Thank you!” I squeal, and he chuckles. I don’t watch TV a lot. I read more, but without Liv or Caroline here or Lincoln, I’m sure boredom will set in, and I’ll watch more than I usually do.

“I installed all the streaming channels, too, so you can binge to your heart’s delight.” He announces. I laugh and clap my hands.

“This is great!” I exclaim and turn toward Lincoln, noticing the fake smile on his face. He wants to be happy for me, but I can tell this is hard on him. Is it weird that I’ve always been closer to him than my brother?

This move may allow me and Dylan to become closer. We’re not working on the same show together, but we’ll be nearby, so maybe that will help. After I tour the rest of the apartment, we head to the UHaul. Lincoln and Dylan take my car off the trailer and begin unloading the truck.

“Ansley, where is all your stuff? I could have sworn you had more.” He asks, and I arch an eyebrow at him. Understanding dawns on him, and he shakes his head as he begins to help Lincoln unload items. I haven’t told Lincoln I talked to Dylan, so I avoid his eyes, unsure if he will question that interaction.

After we unload everything, we walk to a close pizzeria and share a pizza and some beer. I’m more of a wine girl, but drinking beer with the guys has always been fun.

The first time I had a beer was with these two. I was fifteen, and they had just turned twenty-one. They let me have one beer with them to celebrate their twenty-first birthday. I felt like such a grown-up. That was the night I realized I had a crush on Lincoln.

Ansley: Fifteen

Lincoln: Twenty-One

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