Page 42 of When We Were Younger

"And now that we're all together, let's catch up. It's been too long since we've seen you, Dottie girl," Dad says with a groan as he pushes himself out of his chair. He wraps an arm around her shoulder and leads her through the back door into the kitchen, Mom following behind them. With Dorothea and our parents out of sight, Delilah and Ivy turn their attentions to me.

"You dirty, dirty pervert," Ivy says, accentuating each word with a smack to my chest. "Were you ravishing that girl under the light of the full moon like some rabid caveman?"

"Ew, Vee, stop. Don't talk about my baby brother ravishing anyone," Delilah scrunches her nose up in disgust and I roll my eyes.

"I'm twenty-eight, Delilah. I'm not your baby brother."

"I changed your diapers. You're always going to be my baby brother."

"And Ivy, there was no ravishing," I lie. There was ravishing, alright, but if I'm being honest? Dorothea was the one ravishing me. A tingle works its way up my spine as I remember the way she took control, fucking my face and taking her pleasure from me.

"Oh my god, Lilah, look, your baby brother is having sex flashbacks," Ivy coos, placing one hand on her chest and the other on my cheek. I swat her away as Delilah turns and gags.

"Will you two stop? Jesus, it's bad enough you all had to stand here waiting like a bunch of creeps, you don't have to verbally torture me while you're at it. I slept on the ground last night and my back hurts. I just wanted to eat donuts with Dorothea, and you ruined it."

"I didn't ruin anything!" Ivy says.

"Neither did I!" Delilah pipes up. "Mom is the one who called me and wouldn't leave me alone until I got your dog and came over. You're welcome, by the way. Daisy May is fed, walked, and pooped. You'll be getting my bill."

I roll my eyes at them, but I have to give in. If nothing else, I'm thankful that I don't have to take Daisy May for a walk this morning. Delilah and Ivy did me a solid, there.

"C'mon, you two mischief-makers. We have a guest, I bet Mom has already started on her famous ham and cheese crêpes." I throw and arm over each of their shoulders and the three of us and Daisy May head into the house. Sure enough, Mom is spooning batter on to a flat pan while Dads sit next to Dorothea at the table,pouring more coffee into her mug and gesticulating wildly. My girl listens intently to whatever story he's telling, her chin in her palm and a gorgeous smile plastered on her face.

Later,when we're both stuffed with a thousand and a half of Mom's crêpes and all the coffee and sweet tea we could drink, Dorothea agrees to walk with me and Daisy May back to my apartment. I'll get my truck later; right now I just want to soak up as much time as this woman is willing to give me.

Hand in hand, we stroll down my parent's street and into town. It's still stupid early, so there aren't many people out on the streets. Just a few joggers and some Bitties who I catch throwing dirty looks our way. If Dorothea notices, she doesn't say anything. I watch her as we walk, and it's fascinating, the way she seems to take in everything at once. She takes pictures with her phone of the most random things. Single flowers, falling leaves. Back at my parent's house, I caught her taking a video of Delilah pouring creamer into Ivy's coffee cup. I want to ask her why she documents anything, but I’m afraid her answer will devastate me.

I know she's leaving. I know that. But if I ask her why she takes pictures and shesays it's so she has something to remember this all by, I don't think my heart can take it.

"Hey," I say as she snaps a photo of a chalk drawing on the sidewalk right outside of my apartment. "Let's take a picture together."

"You want to take a selfie with me?" she asks, lifting one brow at me.

"Sure. The last pictures we have together are those stiff-as-a-board prom pictures. I want a picture of us now." I lean down and put my chin on her shoulder, and she turns her phone to the front-facing camera.

"Say cheese!" she says, and I do, grinning like a fool as she clicks away. I press a kiss to her cheek and linger for a moment, inhaling the scent of her skin. When we break apart, I ask her to send them to me.

"You gonna set one of these as your lock screen?" she teases as she taps away. My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I pull it out, immediately saving the picture with the kiss as my background.

"Of course," I say, showing her my screen. "I want to remember how fucking hot you look in my hoodie every time I look at my phone."

She sticks out her tongue and strikes a pose, and I hook my arm around her waist and pull her into a hug.

"Hey Stephen?"

"Hey Dorothea."

"Truth or dare?" she asks, pulling away and looking up to me. Daisy May humphs and lays down at our feet.

"Truth," I answer, and her eyelids fall into inquisitive slits.

"Last night, when you said it had been a while for you… how long are we talking?"

I suck a breath in between my teeth, debating how honest I want to be here. But I know exactly what she's asking, so I'm going to go for the full truth.

"Uhh… how long ago was prom night?" I ask, blushing.

"You haven't… with anyone… since-"

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