Chapter 14 #3
Aspen Davis, his girlfriend, was with him.
She was beautiful, with dark skin and hip-length locs that framed her heart-shaped face.
She had one of those sweet faces and also had an amazing sense of fashion I could only hope found me in the next life.
Her wrap dress hugged her shapely curves, and, even with her stiletto heels, she didn’t quite reach my brother’s height.
He had his arm around her, but he dropped it upon studying Wells, Bru, and me.
Thatcher’s head cocked. “What’s going on?”
My brother’s look was curious between his friends. He kept looking back and forth between Bru and Wells, but it was Wells who stepped forward. Wells pushed a hand through his hair. “Bru and I were just teaching Squeak how to dance.”
Squeak.
And just like that we were back. I was the kid sister who annoyed him. I was the pipsqueak he hated.
I was the girl who ruined his life.
Casually, Wells leaned back against the wall. He tucked his hands under his arms. “You know our parents made us take all those etiquette classes.” He lifted a shoulder. “I was just helping out I guess.”
Nothing about what he said was false, but it just shot reality into what I was to him. I just caught him in a brief moment of kindness. He’d been happy I helped him out with his math and made me an omelet and taught me how to dance. Nothing had changed. He didn’t like me and never would.
“Yeah,” Bru said, and I didn’t know why that hurt more.
Maybe because Bru didn’t hate me. But he didn’t like me either.
He liked Wells, and that was why whatever weird tension had just happened between the three of us.
Bru braced his arms. “Bow and I were watching a show, and she mentioned not being able to dance.”
“So you two were teaching her.” Thatcher directed a finger between both of his friends.
He looked hilarious standing next to Aspen, considering his mighty size.
He was built like our dad, which basically meant he was the size of a small truck.
Thatcher fastened his attention to me. He had two earrings in his ears, and they dangled when he eyed me. “That true?”
I nodded. My brother smiled.
“Well, that’s good,” Thatcher said, mostly to Wells. My brother actually grinned at Wells. “Really good. Nice.”
“Yeah, I told you things were different,” Wells continued. He was such a good liar, and I almost believed him.
For a second there, things did feel different. It wasn’t just that he didn’t hate me though. It felt like something else, something more.
You’re dumb.
I was surprised to see Aspen. I thought she was on tour.
I smiled when she waved at me, then hugged her. I missed her. She was so sweet and made my brother happy. I was also a huge hugger, and she laughed when I got her in a big, tight one.
“I missed you too,” she said. She was such an awesome match for my brother and balanced him so well. Thatcher could be insane, and Aspen was so level-headed.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, and returned her to my brother who quickly put his arm back around her. It was so weird to see my brother in love. He’d definitely been a huge ladies’ man in high school.
“Snowflake took a break from the tour to visit me,” he said.
I didn’t know what it was with my brother and his friends.
They seemed to always give their girlfriends nicknames.
I didn’t know why Thatcher called Aspen “snowflake,” but the term of endearment never failed to bring the joy out on her pretty face.
He brought her close. “I guess she missed my ass.”
“Hardly,” she said, teasing when she jabbed him. She looped her thin arms around his large waist. “Your brother basically begged me.”
“Yeah, I did. Because I missed your ass and this ass.” He caught her butt in his hand which made my face hot and his friends roll their eyes. Wells actually groaned. He mentioned something about not wanting to see all that, and Thatcher flipped him off.
“Fuck you,” Thatcher said, then picked Aspen up by, well, her ass. She squealed and he smacked it. My brother grinned. “Anyway, if you need us, Imma be letting Aspen know exactly how much I missed her in my room.”
“Thatcher, come on!” Aspen kicked, but she definitely giggled. Wells groaned again, and Bru laughed.
“Yeah, I’m not staying here tonight,” Wells said after Thatcher and his girlfriend disappeared down the hallway. Aspen continued to giggle the entire way. Wells cringed. “Fucker and I share a wall, and I’m not trying to hear that shit all night.”
Wells grabbed his hoodie off the chair he’d been sitting on this evening. Apparently our tutoring session was over, and he wasn’t even staying to eat the celebratory omelet he made.
Wells tugged his hoodie down over his shirt, then pushed up the sleeves. “I’ll probably couch-surf with a friend tonight.”
He didn’t say it, but that friend would probably be one of his casual hookups. He most likely would be bedding with a girl or guy tonight, sans couch. His evening might even include both knowing him.
I didn’t know what impulse made me move my feet, but a burst of panic hit my chest thinking he’d hook up with someone tonight. I followed him to the door.
“You can stay at my place.” The words tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop them. Before I realized how weird and stupid they were.
Wells turned around. He’d been at the door and had a joint pressed between his lips. His eyes narrowed. “What was that?”
I supposed I had spoken kind of fast. I mean, I panicked.
Why had I panicked?
I didn’t know, but with those words out there, I had to follow them up. My shoulders rose, my body suddenly feeling small. I messed with my hands. “I said you can stay at my place.”
Wells’s blinks were rapid before his head shot back. “What are you talking about? And where would I even stay?”
The where was easy. I may have had a one-bedroom dorm, but I had a futon. My heart raced. “It’s just you said you needed a place to stay and I have that futon and everything so…”
It was dumb. So dumb, and I wished I hadn’t said anything.
Immediately, I thought to backpedal, but when I opened my mouth, Bru stepped forward.
“I think it’s a good idea,” he said, surprising me. He shrugged. “It makes sense, and anyway, if Wells doesn’t take the offer, I will. Thatcher and I share a wall too.”
“Nah, I’m taking the offer.” Wells flicked his joint to the other side of his mouth. He stepped right up to Bru. Wells’s eyes narrowed. “If you’re gonna come too, you can put your ass on the floor and sleep there.”
Bru’s expression cooled. “Fine.”
“Fine,” Wells said.
I glanced between the two of them and that lion comparison came to me again. They were like two peacocks showing off their feathers, but that didn’t make sense. No, it wouldn’t make sense.
At least when it came to me.