Page 27 of The Rules of Dating a Younger Man

“I’ll be in touch,” I said before exiting her room.

As I walked down the hall, a new appreciation for life nearly overwhelmed me. Last week I’d been lamenting my wrinkles, and this poor girl just wanted to be able to leave this building and get back to her life. It’s a blessing to be healthy and to get older, I reminded myself—something many of these kids might not get to experience. I would pray every day for Ashlyn’s recovery.

My chest felt heavy as I continued walking. I stopped in my tracks when I spotted Brayden inside one of the rooms. He was talking to a boy and had on a volunteer badge like mine. I guess he and I both had the same idea today. He didn’t seem to have noticed me standing just outside the door, so I listened to what he was saying.

“I got this for you.” Brayden presented the kid with a box.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a bunch of books I took from my old room. I got them the last time I was home visiting my dad in Pennsylvania.”

The boy read the title. “The Chronicles of Narnia?”

“Yup. It’s this really cool adventure series. When I was younger and going through a tough time, I escaped into this world and never looked back.”

“You think I’ll like it?”

“I hope so. They made movies from the books, too.”

“What is it about?”

“Well…” Brayden scratched his chin. “There are these kids. They were evacuated to the countryside of England during World War Two. They find themselves in an imaginary kingdom known as Narnia. There’s this talking lion and an evil witch. You’ll have to read it, but I’ll be curious to know what you think.”

“Thanks!” The kid ran his hand along the books. “I’ll start tonight so I can get them back to you.”

“These books are really special to me. But so are you, so I’m gifting them to you.”

“You don’t want them back?”

“Nah.” Brayden held his hand up. “You keep them. Gift them to a friend when you’re done.” He suddenly turned to find me standing at the doorway. His eyes lit up. “Hey, you.”

“Hi.” I stepped inside. “I guess we both had the same idea.”

“You were hanging out with a friend, too?” Brayden smiled.

“Yup. I just left Ashlyn.”

“Cool.” He turned to the boy. “Have you met Will?”

“I haven’t.” I held my hand up in a wave. “Nice to meet you, Will.”

“You, too.”

“I was just about to get going,” Brayden told me as he stood. “Were you headed out?”

“I was.”

He turned to Will. “I’ll be back soon, okay?”

“Thanks again for the books.”

“Next time I come, we’ll talk about them. I wanna know what you think. You might need to refresh my memory on some stuff.”

He high-fived the boy before heading out with me.

“That was so sweet of you,” I told him.

“I really think he’ll like those books. At least I hope so. He’d told me he likes to read. These kids… They need an escape so freaking badly, you know?”

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