Page 126 of Damaged Boys Don't Fall For Bubbly Girls
He inclines his head. “It’s my pleasure.”
“So tell me about your life, Lexi,” Ava says. “What are the kids into these days?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. Lots of stuff.”
“My mom tells me you kids are killing it at rehearsals. She swears the ballet will be a major hit. She can’t stop raving about you, Lexi. I can’t wait to see you guys perform.”
“Thanks. I’ve been staying after practice to work on my weak areas. I think I’m improving.”
“That’s great! But you’ll be amazing no matter what. Try not to put so much pressure on yourself. You should enjoy every second of it and have fun. Because when you get to my age?” She points at herself. “You unfortunately won’t have a lot of time for hobbies.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever stop dancing. I’ll be dancing on the boat as we sail to the whales,” I find myself saying.
Brock said that to me. At the thought of him, every single cell in my body fills with warmth, and a feeling of calmness and protection I only feel when I’m around him engulfs me. Even though I’m supposed to be focusing on myself, I can’t forget how much positivity and support he brought into my life.
“I bet you’ll even dance in the ocean with the whales and all other sea life,” Ava says with a smile. “You’ll bring sunshine to all the creatures, just like you do to humans.”
“You think way too highly of me, Ava,” I tell her as I take another bite of my cupcake.
“That’s because you’re so awesome. And you’re my little sister now. Of course you’ll always be awesome in my book.”
“Thanks. You’ll always be awesome in my book, too. You’ll always be my favorite sister-in-law.”
“Thanks, kiddo.”
After we’re done with our treats, we head to the game room for some arcade games. Ava has been playing these kinds of games all her life, but she knows how much I love a goodchallenge. So we spend the next few hours trying to beat each other, as well as playing some co-op games, too. When we’re neck in neck in a racing game, Ava suddenly releases a surprised squeak, which causes her car to veer off the track and crash, just inches away from the finish line. My blue car finishes in first place.
“Woohoo!” When I glance at Ava to see what distracted her, I notice that she is in Aidan’s arms and they are currently making out like they haven’t seen each other in months.
I smile as I watch them. I was a huge fan of Ava the moment I met her, but she and Aidan were mortal enemies. It’s so weird how much they’ve gone through to get to where they are right now. How did they fall in love? They freakin’ hated each other’s guts. Now, even a tornado wouldn’t be able to pull them apart.
When they finally release each other, Aidan hurries over to me and throws me into his arms. “Lexi! There’s my baby sister.”
“There’s my big brother.”
We catch up and then Aidan plays with us. The two of them even team up in a 1vs2 battle, and guess who wins? Yes, I am the queen of arcade games.
Then we eat a delicious meal prepared by their gourmet chef, and then settle down in the entertainment room for a good romance movie. Ava and I are in tears by the end of it because it’s such a sweet and heartfelt movie. I swear I see tears in Aidan’s eyes, too.
We stay up way too late talking about everything. I’m glad my brother and Ava don’t pry too much into my life, at least not about my love life. The truth is, I have been thinking about Brock here and there, but I’m enjoying myself so much that it’s easy to push him away and focus on having a good time.
Once I get comfy in my queen-sized bed, thoughts of Brock consume me. Seeing Aidan and Ava and how much love they have for each other inspires me to want to do the same foranother person. I want to spend my life making someone happy, as well as allowing him to make me happy, too. Because a relationship is all about giving and receiving. My heart tries to convince me that the person I want to do that for is Brock, but I have to really think things through and determine if I can do that for him without jeopardizing my own happiness. I know I still have enough time to figure it out. Like my mom said, there’s no rush. If Brock and I are meant to be, then we will find a way to make it work. For now, I’m just happy to spend time with my amazing brother and his awesome wife.
***
Ava shoos Aidan away on Sunday afternoon because she wants to have “girl time” at the pool. He’s more than happy to let us share our special time together and decides to hang out with his best buddy, Tye.
After Ava and I change into our swimsuits, we spend a few hours in the pool. Her staff makes sure to keep the water at a perfect temperature. It feels so good to let loose and just swim. Whenever I’m in the water, especially at the deep end of a pool, I always imagine what it will be like when I’m swimming with marine mammals and fish. As a kid, I used to pretend that I was actually swimming with them. I would have full conversations with them in my mind and learn all about their amazing lives and very existence.
When Ava and I grow exhausted, we wrap towels around ourselves and sit on the edge of the pool, our toes touching the surface of the water. I lean my head on her shoulder. “Thanks so much for spending the weekend with me. I really needed this break.”
“Of course.” She lowers her head on mine. “I just hope you feel better about whatever you were worried about.”
“A little,” I admit. “Though he’s still constantly on my mind.”
“He? Ooh, I suspected this was about a guy. No surprise, huh? Boys. I swear they were created to drive us insane.”
That makes me laugh. I know she’s bursting to ask for details, but she’s so cool for not doing so. But I do feel comfortable opening up to her. “It’s Brock,” I admit.
