Page 4 of Dear Brother's Best Friend
Jodie waves her hand at me, and I slip out the sliding glass door. The sun is starting to set low in the sky, sending an array of warm colors bouncing off the ocean.
“There she is!” Hayden shouts from the gate.
I wave my hands frantically at him and shake my head. I walk around the pool towards him as he steps inside, followed by Dylan.
“Jodie is inside resting,” I whisper and point over my shoulder. “I think that you might want to wait a bit before heading inside.”
“Oh no.” Hayden runs his fingers through his hair. “Headache?”
“Big one.”
He nods. “Okay, we can all just hang out here for now. Our dinner reservation isn’t until eight. You can wait to eat until then, right?” He turns to Dylan.
But Dylan's not paying attention to Hayden. His eyes are on me when I look at him. There's an expression on his face like he's seeing something new for the first time. It can't be me. We grew up together.
"Hey, Dylan." I give him a half-wave, knowing full well not to try and go in for a hug.
He's not much of a touchy-feely guy, but in recent years I’ve noticed it’s only with me that he doesn’t touch me. The one person in the world whose touch can set every nerve ending in my body on edge can't stand to get close to me.
“Cassidy, it’s been a long time.” Dylan steps forward and pulls me into his arms like he’s been doing this forever.
I'm so shocked by this new development. I tense up and can barely lift my arms to hug him back before he's pulling away.
“Well, that was just weird looking," Hayden says.
“What was?” both Dylan and I ask at the same time.
Hayden shakes his head like he doesn't know the answer.
“I don’t know? You two are like—” he links his fingers haphazardly together, trying to mimic the awkwardness of the hug.
Dylan and I glance at one another. He’s not wrong. I imagine the uncomfortable smile on his face mimics my own.
“Why not skip the reservation tonight?” Hayden says, moving on past the uneasiness that has settled around us. “Jodie’s not going to be up for going out, and I don't want to leave her alone. We can order some room service and eat out here. What do you guys think?”
“Sounds good to me,” I say.
“Me too,” Dylan adds.
“Great.” Hayden claps his hands together and starts walking towards the bungalow. “I’ll go get the menu.”
Neither of us moves or says anything until Hayden is inside. I'm not sure what is going on that is making everything feel so weird. I mean, I'm always a bit reserved and hyper-aware when Dylan is around me, and he's always so calm and relaxed. Why is he acting so weird?
“Should we go sit down?” He gestures towards the patio table by the pool.
We walk over, and I feel his fingertips brush gently against my lower back like he's guiding me. That is twice now in less than five minutes where he's found a way to touch me after practically a decade of keeping me farther than arm's length.
I take a seat on one side, expecting him to take one on the other, but he doesn't. He sits down in the chair closest to me. I'm not sure what’s going on right now, I feel like I'm in an alternate dimension, and I'm suddenly living the life I wanted where Dylan looks at me as more than just being Hayden's sister.
“Okay, what’s going on with you?” I blurt out.
“What do you mean?”
"I don't know. You're acting weird." I point towards the bungalow. "Even Hayden noticed it."
Dylan tilts his head to the side like he's confused by my reaction to his new weirdly attentive behavior. He opens his mouth to respond, but the sliding glass door opens, and Hayden emerges. I glance back at Dylan, but whatever he was about to say, he seems to decide better of it.
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