Page 53 of Between Us

“I want to be there for him though,” I argue, lip trembling. I can hear the petulance in my voice, I just can’t help it.

“But maybe what Grady needs is for you to let him be there for you.”

It’s not fair, I want to whine, however a part of me knows she’s right. Grady’s always been my protector, and I think a part of him feels like he failed me, even though it was so far out of his orbit while we were in secondary school. He couldn’t have ever known how bad it was because I didn’t want him to.

“He’s such a fucking martyr,” I mutter and bat at my tears.

She laughs, not denying it. “Give him a call. I think it’ll make you feel better.” I cross my arms and nod, still feeling a bit childish but holding firm with all my stubborn strength. “Then call your friends. They’d want to know about the gas station. And you can save the big kiss news for when you need an out from the conversation.”

Now it’s my turn to tilt my head and assess her for a long moment. “That’s actually the best advice you’ve ever given me.”

“Glad to know you’re finally getting your money’s worth,” she retorts. With a warm smile, she redirects the conversation to something a bit lighter before our session ends. “What are your plans for the rest of the week?”

“Ugh,” I dramatically spat. “I’m babysitting the Paulson boys this weekend.”

“Oh, good luck with that one.” Her voice is teasing but I know she means it. The Paulson boys always have something up their sleeves. I’m their favorite babysitter, and they’ve made it known to every single person who’s been hired. Part of that is only because I can keep up with the little shits… which also means they see it as a challenge to get one past me.

Not this time.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Blake

“Hey,kid,”mybrother’sdeep, familiar voice greets me on the third ring.

I startle at the sound of his voice and almost drop my phone, having already prepared to talk to his voicemail. “Hi, how are you?” I quickly ask, almost worried he’ll hang up if there’s too much of a lull.

“Oh, you know,” he answers nonchalantly.

No, Grady! I don’t know!I want to scream.

Instead, I offer an easy, “Sure.”

“What about you? How’s everything?”

“Things are good… different, you know, big changes this year.” I cringe at my rambling as I pick at the baja blanket lying across my lap.

“Oh yeah, I’m sure it’s been hard since your friends left. How are Margo and Meera doing?”

“They’re good,” I amend. I fill him in on their lives, giving more details than he probably cares to have on my two best friends. But he’s patient and quiet as I talk for close to ten minutes.

“I’m glad they’re adjusting to college. It can be weird, for sure.” I hear traffic in the background, so I assume he’s sitting out on the balcony. He lives with his on-again-off-again girlfriend, now soon-to-be mother of his child, Arielle. And he won’t talk about why, but he never includes her in conversations or Facetimed unless it has to do with the baby they’re expecting.

“Yeah… Yeah, me too…” We’re quiet for close to two minutes before he clears his throat. Not wanting him to hang up, I blurt out, “I actually called you for a reason.”

“Oh? Okay. What’s going on, Blake?”

“I’m kind of seeing someone… I think?”

He lets out a quiet chuckle. “Youthink? And who? It better not be Cody again.”

Cody’s the guy on his baseball team I used tohang outwithsometimes.

“No,” I scrunch my nose. Overall, Cody’s fine. He’s nice enough. But now that I know Adrian? He doesn’t even compare to the six-foot-four Greek God of a man that is Adrian. Any guy I’ve been with up until this point looks like Plankton in comparison.

“Good. He was an idiot.”

“He was,” I agree, “but he was nice.”

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