Page 3 of Since Always

"All correct," he adopts a thick British accent, waving his hand in the air like he's royalty.

I roll my eyes. "You hear 'heiress,' you think brainless. Body shots. Ibiza."

"All corre—Ow.” He reaches down to rub his shin.

"She's not wrong," my mom says, turning to thank the server who has brought our drinks.

"Well, I for one am very sorry to hear about how oppressed Cassidy feels," my brother mocks. "I know it's been a hard life for her and all."

"I didn't say that, jackass. I'm obviously not oppressed, and I didn't complain about my life. But I don't like the label. There's a sexist double standard to it."

"See," my mom turns to Owen and waves a hand towards me and Chris. “You can't tell me you haven't missed this while you've been away." She grabs her margarita and raises it. "We need to toast."

We all follow her lead and raise our drinks in the air.

"To Aspen," she says.

We echo her and clink glasses. I haven't glanced across from me at Owen a single time. Judging from what I can tell out of the corner of my eye, he is doing his best to avoid looking at me as well.

Just the mere mention of the time he has been gone is enough to flood me with memories and I wonder if he is remembering too. I can feel my face turning crimson at the thought.

My mom reaches over to grab Owen's hand.

"I'm so happy to finally have all my kids back together."

He gives her a warm, genuine smile and then leans over to kiss her on the cheek.

"I've missed you, Jess."

In reality, my mom is only thirteen years older than Owen. Only fourteen older than Chris, for that matter. But she's known my brother and his lifelong best friend since the day she met my dad, a couple of years after Chris's birth mom passed away. People have always commented how she is more like an older sister to Chris than a stepmother.

"I just can't believe how grown up you all are now. It feels like your dad and I were just sitting here with two teenage boys and a screaming baby. And now look at you. Owen is in his second term in the Senate. Chris is the CEO of Sloane Corp. And even our little Cass is graduating soon. It all just happened so fast."

"You're graduating this year?" Owen asks, finally turning to me. There is an edge to his voice, as though it is a struggle to talk to me.

"Yeah. May."

"You got caught up quickly. You're only, what? A year late?"

"Yeah. I missed a year and a half but did some summer classes and took a few extra credits last semester."

"You should've just taken your time. If I could have stretched Stanford out for ten years, I would have," Chris says.

"Yes, we all know," my mother says.

Owen laughs at this, and it bothers me how quickly he can turn it off and on. For them, he is just the normal old Owen.

"You could've gone to law school with me. By the time I finished school, I'd never been so ready to leave anywhere," he says.

"Ah, that I could have," my brother says, a mock wistfulness to his voice. "Alas, duty called. I had the company to think about."

I roll my eyes. "So selfless. The company you had dreamed of working for since you were, like, seven? Now who are we supposed to feel sorry for?"

He just grins and shrugs.

"Cass is considering getting her MBA," my mom says, ignoring the ribbing we are giving one another, as she always tries to do.

I groan. "I haven't decided that yet. I said it was one possibility, but I don't know yet."

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