Page 17 of Actions and Reactions
And I think she’s the only person who can truly understand what I lost when the accident happened.
“Yes, he chartered a jet and sent me the details to fly with him.” I turn and lean back on the counter, take one more fortifying sip, and then tell her the rest. “We both apologized, which was tough, and then we played Gin, and then we got here and our parents were trying to stage an intervention or who the fuck knows what, so Vinny exploded on them, and then we went to the neighbor’s dock...” Another big breath, another sip of coffee... “And then we... hooked up.”
“Shut up,” she shouts, her jaw basically on the floor.
“I know,” I mumble.
“No, seriously?” she demands and walks closer.
“I swear.”
“And then what happened?” she asks, leaning her hip against the counter too and crossing her arms.
“We came back here, and?—”
“But we didn’t see you,” she interrupts.
“We climbed into his bedroom through the window.”
“Why?” Her face scrunches up in confusion.
“Because it was ... evident.” I leave it at that, and it takes her a few minutes but she gets it. And immediately grimaces.
“Ew.”
“Yeah, well, then?—”
“Did you talk?”
“No,” I snap, exasperated that she basically won’t let me finish a sentence, but then again, that’s older sisters for you ... “We hooked up some more,” I mumble and look away.
“Silas,” she sighs.
“Please don’t say anything, okay? I have no idea what any of this means.”
She scoffs and closes the space between us again to hug me tight.
“Of course I’m not going to say anything. I always have your back.”
“Thank you,” I whisper, and hug her back.
“Thank you for trusting me,” she says softly, and it dawns on me.
I didn’t only tell her I hooked up with Vinny, I just... came out of the closet?
5
Ivan
“So why aren’tMichael and Eli here?” I finally break and ask Lex as he floats next to me.
We’re lying on top of pizza-shaped floats that are tied to the dock, but we have about ten feet of space between us and the gazebo where all the adults are.
I’m still not really talking to any of them, though everyone was cordial enough this morning when they came out to find me here, and Lex has given me silence and space while staying close, which is exactly what I needed.
Now I need to think about something other than . . . last night.
I barely slept, so I’ve thought of little else. Having Silas in a bed next to me wasn’t something I wanted to miss. Sure, we had countless sleepovers growing up, but this wasdefinitely not the same. He looked adorable, with his mouth slightly open and his breaths coming out even and soft.
