Page 62 of Finding Delaware

After a solid minute of deliberation, I pull up Huck’s profile. It’s still public, like when I looked months ago and promised myself I’d never look again. His picture, which used to be of him and his boyfriend, was updated an hour ago to one of him encompassed by his team, holding the championship trophy.

Torturing myself further, I read the comments, hardly recognizing anyone from his life in Cali. He’s a whole stranger to me now. And even though I’m surrounded by my friends, it makes me feel so damn lonely. Because even if they know me better than anyone...nobody knows me like Huck does. Well, did.

I type out a quick comment and post it before I can think better of it.

Congratulations, bro! Amazing game.

I know it’ll come from Salem’s profile, but I don’t care. I want him to know that at least someone from back home is proud of him.

A few seconds later, the notification tab lights up, and my heart pounds when I see that Huck liked the comment and replied.

Thanks!

It suddenly feels hard to breathe.

He responded.Actuallyresponded, which is the most I’ve interacted with him in almost four years. Clicking off his profile before I do something stupid, like send him a message, I update Salem’s status with a shit-eating grin before putting down the phone.

Burps turn me on.

A few minutes later, someone comments on it, and I snort.

Logan: Haha, hilarious, Taylor.

So I log out of her account and into mine, ignoring the hundreds of unread messages and notifications as I go to her profile to reply:

Me: No one wants to hear about your sex life, dude.

Yeah, Logan and Salem starting a relationship was a surprise to everyone else except me. He’s pined after her since summer before senior year of high school, and she finally decided to give him a chance two years ago. According to her, he hasn’t told Huckslee about it. Odd, but not my business. They still talk daily, which makes me glad he has someone in his corner.

Of course, it took almost a year for Logan to warm up to me after everything. But Salem’s always made it clear to every guy she dates that we come as a package deal, and if they don’t like it, then there’s the door. She’s not a cheater. If she’s with someone monogamous, which Logan very much is, we keep our hands off each other. We respect boundaries. She’s themost important person to me besides Christian, and I can’t imagine my life without her.

My phone begins blaring in my hand, alerting me to an incoming call, and I smile when I see who it is.

Speak of the devil.

Or, well,thinkof the devil in this case.

“My bad, I’ll delete it,” I answer with a laugh, thinking Salem’s calling to bitch me out about the social media status.

“Taylor, hey,” she responds, and her serious tone has me stiffening.

“What’s going on?”

She clears her throat. “Logan just got off a FaceTime call with Huckslee.”

My stomach flips in a way that makes me dizzy. Pulling BB onto my lap, I bury my fingers into her soft fur. “Yeah? How’d it go?”

There’s a pause, a low murmur from Logan speaking to her in the background before she breathes into the phone. “Have you heard from your mother recently?”

Now, that question throws me for a loop. “Not in almost a year.” Not since she and Aaron invited me to lunch after not speaking for nearly two years. It was awkward, to say the least, and we did not part on good terms. “Why? What’s up?”

“It’s Aaron.” She swallows audibly over the phone. “He’s sick, Taylor. Huckslee’s coming home.”

Huckslee

Fuck, I hate it here.

Resting my elbows on my knees, my fingers curl into my hair as I lean on a bench outside SLC International Airport. It’s cold as hell, which, of course, is because it’s January in Utah. I didn’t miss this shit. I left mid-sixty temperatures and shorts for lower twenties and ice. Blue skies for gray smog. I really, really hate it here.

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