Misunderstandings (Woodfalls Girls 2)

“Go Fish,” I teased, laughing outright at his look of dismay.

“Not funny,” he claimed. “If I never play another hand of Go Fish, I’ll die a happy person.”

“Oh, that’s right. You don’t like Go Fish,” I commented in a voice laced with false innocence.

“You’d feel the same way if you were me. I swear Hollie made me play a million hands the week she was recovering from getting her appendix out when she was seven. Mom threw out all the decks of cards after that.”

“I remember you telling me. You always were a great big brother. Travis and Hollie are lucky to have you.”

“They’re good kids. Well, I guess they’re really not kids anymore. Hollie would have my head if she heard me referring to her in that capacity. I haven’t seen a whole lot of them these past six months,” he said, shuffling the cards again.

“You don’t still live at home with them?” I asked, surprised. I just assumed nothing had changed in my absence, which was silly of course. Just because I was no longer there didn’t mean time had stood still.”

“Nah, once Mom married Paul I was no longer needed at home.”

“What? When? Your mom married Paul.” I said the last part as a statement. I’d met Paul only once, since he and Trish had just started seeing each other right before our relationship had gone to crap. He was the new single parent who had moved in next door right after Christmas. Hollie had been ecstatic when she found out he had two kids, including a daughter her age.

“Yeah, right after Christmas last year. Exactly one year after their first date.”

“Oh boy,” I muttered, snickering at how cliché it seemed.

“You never were one to overromanticize things,” Justin commented as a smirk spread across his face.

“I’m not the only one. If memory serves, you mocked such rituals yourself.”

“Can you blame a guy? I’m not against romantic gestures, but if you’re going to do something, do it right. Go big or go home,” he said. “Anyway, once Paul moved in with Brady and Andrea, the house became pretty crowded. Travis took over my basement and I moved out.”

His words faded as I focused on his previous romantic gestures comment. Go big or go home. He had done that once. One grand romantic gesture that had stolen my heart completely and left me breathless. I wondered if that moment crossed his mind as he told the story of Paul and his mother. Only in my loneliest self-pitying moods did I allow myself to ever think about it.

20.

Christmas 2010

“I’m going to miss you,” Melissa cried, wrapping me in a tight hug.

“Mel, it’s only three and a half weeks.” I focused on breathing since she had her arms around my neck like a drowning victim.

“Almost four weeks,” she sniffled.

“Oh my. You are very dramatic today. What’s the real issue? Are you sad you’re leaving Rob for the next few weeks?

“Yes,” she wailed.

At least I had gotten to the root of the problem. “Why didn’t you ask him to go with you?”

“I didn’t want to appear needy and clingy,” she replied, sniffing loudly.

“Honey, I think that ship has sailed,” I told her, pointing to the I Love Rob shrine on the bulletin board above her desk.

“Hey, I like to save everything,” she protested, looking at her board with misty eyes.

“Sweets, you’re a mess. Maybe you should compromise and see if he wants to spend New Year’s with you,” I said cheerfully.

“You’re only so cheerful because you get to spend all four weeks with your boyfriend,” she said wistfully.

“Three and a half weeks,” I corrected, trying not to smile. She was right, though. I was over the moon about spending the next few weeks with Justin without any interference. No studying, no exams, no classes, and no deadlines. My classes over the last few weeks had consumed every waking hour, including the majority of my sleeping hours. Every second was spent preparing for finals. The last exam had ended sixteen hours ago. I celebrated by stumbling across campus in a fog before crashing into my bed for fifteen hours of much-needed sleep. Finally, I no longer resembled a zombie and could be accepted back into humanity. More importantly, I was ready to spend time with Justin. Seeing him for only a handful of hours during the last few weeks had sucked. If I didn’t miss him so much, I might have been concerned at my growing codependency on him. Either way, I was shocked at how well our relationship had been progressing. Since our blowup three weeks ago, we had grown even closer. Now, almost two months into my longest relationship ever, I couldn’t help feeling almost giddy.

“You don’t think it’s too forward?” Melissa asked.