Chapter 31
Andy Has Always Been Enough
Andrew
Vince holds me. Vince tells me he loves me. Vince kisses me.
I'm still in shock.
The excitement radiating from Gary and Aubrey's faces only amplifies my own.
After Vince composes himself enough to release me, he turns to them, clearly not as amused as I am. He begins to argue with Gary and Aubrey over the interruption. I don't blame him for being upset right now—it's definitely the worst-timed interruption of my life—but I can't stop laughing.
Eventually, when Vince has said his piece and I've laughed until there are no tears left, we all walk back to camp together. Gary leads the way with Vince, linking arms and teasing him the whole time, while I hang back with Aubrey, who bombards me with rapid-fire questions.
"I told you this just happened," I say, exasperated but smiling. “We weren’t hiding a secret relationship.”
Aubrey looks skeptical.
I sigh. "Can we talk about something else now? I actually have a question for you, believe it or not."
"Okay," says, cautiously.
"Why were you shirtless back at camp earlier?"
Aubrey laughs to himself, pulling his shoulders up to his ears. "Oh, that. Eli spilled his drink on me. 'Cause he's a jackass."
"He threw his drink on you?"
"No. He pretended he tripped. He was already hovering way too close to me once I walked away from you. It was definitely on purpose."
"Aubrey..." I try, but a laugh escapes. "He has a crush on you. He's hovering, and he fumbled because you make him nervous."
He groans. "Gary said the same thing, and you're both wrong. I don't want to talk about it."
Is this what I sounded like to Gary when I talked about Vince?
"Alright, fair enough. So, you had rum and coke all over your jacket?"
"Yeah. It was sticky, so I chucked it in the back of my truck. But I found an old wool blanket back there, so..." He shrugs like that explains everything.
I grin, trying not to laugh again. "Right, the wool blanket. I remember. But Aubrey, explain why you’re now wearing Eli'sjacket?"
His face turns red as he shoves his hands deeper into the leather jacket's pockets. "Don't get the wrong idea. I didn't have a top on, and Gary made a big deal about it, so Eli gave me his to shut him up after we were done discussing the incident. That's all."
Aubrey clenches his jaw, clearly flustered, which only makes me laugh again.
"Andrew, stop. You're wrong. He tried to slash my tires earlier and kill me. You didn't see what he did!"
I shoot him a disbelieving look. "Actually, I did see all of that. You're both out of your minds, by the way. And you still can't convince me Eli doesn't care about you."
Aubrey scoffs. "Oh, yeah? You should've heard what Eli told me on my birthday two years ago."
"What, did he pull your pigtails and say you had cooties?" I tease.
He rolls his eyes but keeps going. "He called me the most horrible person he'd ever met and said I shouldn't have been born."
"On your birthday?"
"Yep. And that's just the cherry on top of ruining my whole day. He's made me cry so many times, Andrew. Do you know why?"
"Why?"
"Because he fucking hates my guts."
His tone is flat, but I can see how much it hurts him. He looks down at the ground, his earlier enthusiasm draining away. We walk the rest of the way back in silence.
Hindsight's always twenty-twenty. Maybe Aubrey and I are both just figuring things out tonight.
When we get back to camp, Vince grabs my hand and, without a word, drags me away from Aubrey and toward his tent.
"Get in," he says, unzipping the door while glancing over his shoulder at the campsite.
I raise an eyebrow at him, trying not to laugh. "Vince, I know I got caught up in the moment back there and all, but we can't do that here—"
"I'm not trying to fuck you in the middle of the campsite while everyone's eating dinner, Andy. Relax." His voice is deadpan, though a small smile plays at the corners of his lips. "I just want to talk to you somewhere private, without these idiots interrupting every five seconds."
Still laughing, I duck into the tent. "Whatever you say."
Vince follows me in, zipping up the tent behind him. The way he smiles at me, those warm brown eyes locked on mine, makes my chest feel like it might burst. I grin back, unable to help myself.
"You'd totally fuck me in this tent if I asked you to, though," I tease.
He doesn't even blink. His expression remains utterly neutral, which makes it so much funnier.
"Am I wrong?" I burst into laughter, feeling like a giddy idiot. I can't stop smiling, and being with him like this makes everything else, the wind outside, the campsite drama, the cold... completely fade away.
Vince laughs under his breath, shaking his head as he slips off his shoes and joins me inside. "You're unbelievable."
I lean on my elbow, lounging comfortably as he settles beside me. "You know, I promised Aubrey I wouldn't leave him alone tonight."
"Relax," Vince says, brushing it off. "It's just a few minutes, and Gary's with him."
Lying in a tent with Vince after everything that just happened feels surreal.
"This kind of reminds me of boy scouts," I say, letting my voice drift into the memory.
"Crawling into tents to tell ghost stories, sneaking stolen marshmallows.
.. Kissing a boy in your tent before the troop leader realizes you're not at the bonfire with everyone else.
Then, when he finds out, making you pick up all the trash and haul it to the dumpster a mile away.
Instead, you end up making out behind the dumpster—"
"Damn, Andy," Vince cuts me off, grinning wide. "I don’t know if anyone’s told you, but I think you might be gay."
I laugh, tracing the line of his eyebrow with my fingertip. "Hey," I say softly, pulling my hand back to focus. "Do you know why I used to hate being called Andy so much?"
He tilts his head, waiting for me to continue.
"It's all I ever heard growing up," I start, the memories rushing back like they were just waiting to be spoken aloud. "I was a wild kid. Did whatever I want, didn’t care what anyone thought. My parents were hands-off, they had too many kids to keep track of, so I was always getting into trouble."
I smile faintly, remembering the chaos of it all. "My dad yelling my name, my mom worrying about how upset I make him. Teachers, my troop leader... was always 'Andy this, Andy that.' It felt like my name was a punchline."
Vince chuckles softly. "What were you even getting in trouble for? Skipping class to feed the birds?"
"Something like that," I laugh. "Not finishing my homework. Giving my dinner to my baby brother because he did my chores. Anyway, it got to the point where every time I heard someone yell my name, I'd immediately brace myself. It was a reflex. It stuck with me for a long time."
Vince interrupts, his voice quiet but steady. "I'm a fucking asshole."
I blink, caught off guard. "What? No, you're not—"
"I didn't know." His expression turns serious now, guilt shadowing his features. "I'll call you Andrew from now on. I swear."
I can't help but laugh. "Vince, no. You're joking, right? I don't care anymore. You've completely desensitized me to it. It'd be weird if you changed now."
"But—"
"Nope." I grin, cutting him off. "You're stuck with Andy. It's too late."
He grins back, trying out my full name with exaggerated emphasis. "Andrew—"
I shove his shoulder, laughing. "Stop being weird about it. Just call me Andy."
I fought so hard not to be Andy anymore after I decided to start my life over and move out here, but Andy is the kid Vince pulls back out. He reminds me that Andy is enough. Andy has always been enough.
I tried to bury him, tried to change myself, but... Vince doesn’t let me.
It's so strange to meet someone who naturally pulls at the core of me, who brings me back to myself without even trying. The more time we spend together, the more I become the person I'm meant to be. Vince doesn't know he's doing it, but he gets me to accept myself just by being him.
"You turned that annoying nickname into something really special to me, Vince. You can't take it back."
I kiss my fingertips and press them to his lips.
The look in his eyes completely shifts.
He leans over, his mouth finding mine in a kiss that's both gentle and demanding, a silent promise in the press of his lips.
His hands guide me down onto my back, and one of his thick legs slides between mine, a deliberate pressure that sends a shiver straight through me.
A small, surprised noise escapes my throat as he murmurs against my lips that he loves me, the words vibrating through me, settling deep in my bones.
When his tongue slides against mine, electricity buzzes through every nerve in my body, igniting a fire that spreads through my veins, making my blood run hot.
Then he shifts his hips against my leg, pressing his weight into me, and I sink my fingernails into the fabric covering his thighs, feeling the muscles tense beneath my touch.
I freeze, the sensation overwhelming me, my breath catching in my throat.
"Vince, what... How are you this hard right now?" My voice comes out as a breathless whisper, barely audible over the pounding of my own heart.
I move against him, disbelief flooding me at the intensity of what I'm feeling.
He pulls back, looking down at me with exasperation in his eyes.
"What do you mean, how? You were seconds away from going down on me at the beach.
You dropped an f-bomb about boning me in the tent.
You were talking about making out behind dumpsters, being a bad boy, then you go all sweet on me about your name.
Do you even have a single fucking clue what you do to me? Because I don't think you do."
I laugh against his mouth, cupping the side of his thigh.