Page 15 of Our Forever Starts Tonight

“I feel like I need to tell someone.”

“Tell someone what?” In our excitement, we hadn’t heard the door open, but my dad came striding around the corner in his suit with a loosened tie. “Tell me.”

“Hey Dad,” I said.

My dad wrapped an arm around Taylor’s shoulders. “I love it when I have both my boys. No football, no law practice, just like back in the day.”

“Dad, you’ll never guess who Tristan has a crush on?” Taylor sang the last few words like a middle-schooler mocking his friend. “You remember Aria from before we moved?”

“Wow,” my dad replied. “You were crushed when we moved away from her. I didn’t realize she went to your school.”

“She just transferred,” I replied, then glared at Taylor. “Good to know you can keep secrets.”

Taylor waved his hand at me. “Whatever. It’s Dad.”

“So today’s the first day you’ve seen her in, what, eight years?” my dad asked. “You developed those feelings pretty quick.”

“Well, adolescent attraction to beauty, father,” Taylor replied.

“It’s not just that,” I snapped. “When we realized who we were, we clicked instantly. It was like no time had passed at all. She’s still just as smart and outgoing,andshe’s super ambitious. She’s joining the debate team, volunteered to be our homeroom rep, and she works at a homeless shelter. She wants to get her degree in social work.”

Taylor and my dad looked at each other with matching looks of amusement, then Taylor quietly muttered, “Uh oh.”

“Uh oh what?” I said.

A whistle came out of Taylor’s lips as he puckered them. “Nothing. I legit thought this was just a physical attraction, but you learned all that about her in one day? You got it bad.”

“Did you ask her out?” my dad asked. “I mean, is it a mutual thing? We’re too cool for you to come off desperate.”

“Ha ha,” I said flatly to the man who had gotten both his current and ex-wife by wearing them down over time. “I did ask her out, but she was busy after school. She asked if we could do it sometime this weekend instead, but I have my party, so I invited her there instead.”

Taylor clapped his hands and then pumped his fist in victory. “Hell yeah. Activate embarrassing brother mode.”

“No, you can’t. I’m trying to be impressive right now. At least wait a few weeks or something,” I begged. “Dad.”

My dad laughed. “Don’t drag me into this. This is between you and your brother, just like this party.” Then he looked at Taylor. “Which I surely hope is going to be a responsible, but fun time.”

Puffing out his chest, Taylor smiled. “Of course. Me, Mol, and her younger sister Sherelle are chaperoning, so we’ll keep things on the up and up. I capped his invitees and I’ll be frisking kids at the door. Don’t worry, pop. It’s gonna be fine.”

“Better be.” He loosened his tie and twisted his head to the right. “Alright, let me go kiss my wife. I missed her today.”

“Gross,” Taylor and I said in unison, but my dad just wandered off without responding.

Taylor walked back over and dropped himself down onto the couch. “Hey, look,” I started. “You aren’t going to be lame this weekend, right? That’s why I asked to have it at your place instead of here.”

He tapped my leg. “Come on. I’m just putting on a show for our old man. I remember what it was like to be your age. I’m not gonna let you be stupid, but I’m gonna let you have your fun, don’t worry. You’re 18 now, an adult, and you had better act like one.” He poked a finger into my cheek. “I’m letting you use my house that I worked my ass off to buy, so you had better not trash it. Molly stressed me out enough with renovations as it is, let alone cleaning up behind a bunch of children.”

Molly was Taylor’s live-in girlfriend, and in my opinion, way out of his league. She could be a bit neurotic though. Knowing she’d be at the party made me a touch nervous. “Nothing like that is going to happen. It’s just kids from my grade, and not even half of them at that. We’re just gonna hang out and have a good time. That’s it. I promise I’ll treat your home with respect.”

“Sounding like a boring old man already,” Taylor replied, shaking his head, and I punched him in the arm for it.

Dinner was a comfortably quiet affair. When Taylor wasn’t over to visit, we rarely even ate together. Andrea and my dad normally sat at the table while I typically collected my plate and retreated to my bedroom. Not being Andrea’s number one fan, I tried to spend as little time with her as possible, but Taylor always felt like a glue for us. A forceful adhesive, sure, but an adhesive nonetheless. He started a few conversations about how things were going for Andrea at the boutique she owned and designed expensive wedding dresses for, and how my dad’s job was going now that he was a general manager at his office job, but after a few back and forth comments, all the conversations died. Still, it got us through a meal as a ‘family’ which is probably all Andrea and my dad wanted to begin with.

After we were done eating, I said goodbye to Taylor. I got flack for running him off until I told him I made plans to call Aria, then he was all too happy to send me off. I cleaned up my place at the table and then made my way up into my bedroom. I pulled out the little bit of homework I’d gathered from the day and went and sat down at my desk. It was a little before seven, so I kept myself busy with work until seven on the nose.

Then waited until seven-oh-two to make the call, to not seem too hasty.

“Hello?” Aria greeted.

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