Adam cursesat someone on the phone loud enough that the guests at the tables closest to us scowl in our direction. An older man with a very unfortunate receding hairline and a beer belly that hangs from beneath his button-up hisses something I don’t catch and throws up his middle finger.
I have to stifle my laugh with my hand when Adam shows him his middle finger in return, and Oakley says something along the lines of, “Yeah, okay, Homer Simpson.”
The breeze from the air-conditioning in the buffet-style restaurant we opted to eat at tonight feels amazing on my bare shoulders. I toy with the dewy glass just recently topped up with water in front of me and smile.
“What’s got you so happy, Gray?” Oakley asks, a look of pure joy in his eyes.
He has to be feeling the same way that I am. Like we’ve found something so rare in this group of people that we can hardly believe it’s real life. How did we get lucky enough to be surrounded by so much love and support? It’s a dream, honestly.
“I’m just glad I came,” I answer honestly. “I’m happy I was even invited in the first place.”
Ava scoffs and reaches across the table to flick me in the upper arm. “Don’t be ridiculous. You’re just as much a part of this family as any of us.”
The term family has my belly filling with warmth. “Please don’t make me cry on vacation. I consider that a sin.”
Oakley leans back in his chair and rests his arm on the back of Ava’s. He tosses me a grin so wide I can’t help but return it with one of my own. There was a time when I didn’t know if I would ever see my brother smile like this again.
“I also consider crying on vacation a sin,” Adam says, joining the conversation again from the seat beside me. His phone is tucked away now, and the frustration that twisted his features just minutes prior is long gone.
“Taking phone calls on vacation is also highly frowned upon,” Ava pokes, her curiosity obvious.
Her interest is not surprising by any means, considering how close the two of them are. There’s probably nobody who knows Adam better than Ava does.
I watch with interest as Adam clicks his tongue in mock annoyance and shoves a hand through his spiked brown hair. “I already turned it off, Mom.”
“Everything is okay, right?” she asks calmly.
Adam nods and flashes her a megawatt smile, one that would have melted my panties on the spot if I were a normal eighteen-year-old not already crushing on someone else.
“Look who decided to join us,” my brother says, looking over my head.
I feel his presence press against my back before I hear a pair of sneakers thumping on the floor. Flicking my eyes across the table at Ava, I see her lips twitch, like she’s trying not to smile as she alternates between looking at me and the giant man coming up to the table.
“Sorry. I passed out and forgot to set an alarm.” Tyler’s voice is gruff, raspy. It brings goosebumps to my skin and collars my throat so that I can’t speak. “Buffet, yeah? I hope you weren’t waiting for me.”
The brave girl from the pool, the one who demanded the attention of the guy she wanted, has retreated far, far back in my body like the traitor she is. I’m left with a cotton-mouthed, leg shaking, nervous little girl instead. It’s embarrassing.
I nearly forgot about the empty chair to my right, so when it pulls out with a loud screeching sound, I jolt in surprise. The tablecloth becomes the most interesting thing in the restaurant when Tyler sits down beside me and pushes himself closer to the table.
“Gracie insisted that it was rude to eat without everyone here,” Ava says slyly, earning herself a glare when I look up from the table.
I feel Tyler’s eyes burning into the side of my face as I try desperately to ignore him. It seems impossible to keep up my act when the breeze from the AC sends a cloud of his cologne straight to me. There’s a snicker from somewhere at the table that I ignore as I shoot out of my seat.
“Everyone’s here now. Let’s eat. I’m starving.” My words are rushed, and I’m clearly out of breath, but I choose to ignore those things and focus on making it to the buffet tables before I implode instead.
There’s no way that I would ever, ever get over that level of embarrassment in this lifetime or the next.