We grabbed our suitcases and went through to arrivals to get a ride. I had my phone out, ready to get a cab.
"Whoa, what are you doing?" Roman asked me.
"We're not walking, are we?"
"No need," he said, pointing. I followed his finger, smiling when I saw Tiffany.
"I didn't know you called her," I said.
"She volunteered," he said. "This way we wouldn't have an excuse not to go see her."
Tiff had graduated and started a master’s program since we had been gone. She still lived with their dad. He wasn't in a hurry to see her leave, and she could save up for her own place that way. He had started seeing someone in the past year, too, which had shocked everyone because of how long he had stayed single after his wife, Tiff and Roman’s mom, passed. I hadn't had a chance to meet her yet, but maybe this would be the trip that I did.
I hugged Tiff first. We talked almost every day. Texts, phone calls – we were long distance, but she had made a few trips down to Miami since we'd been apart. She hugged Roman and walked us to the car. I sat in the back and Roman in the passenger side. I was still sort of tired, oddly, despite being knocked out for most of the plane ride here.
I watched the city pass outside the window. Things never seemed to change that much every time we would come back, which I secretly liked. It was like it was making sure it didn't leave us behind, become completely different and leave us floundering trying to adjust.
Tiffany was asking Roman how the flight was. "Let's just say first class was a good call," he said, looking back at me and smirking.
"You got us those seats so I wouldn't fall asleep? It's a seven-hour flight, what did you want me to do?"
"She passed out as soon as we were in the air. And didn't wake up till we had landed," he told her. I rolled my eyes.
"Next time you come down, get one of those seats," I said to Tiffany.
"Are you guys going to pay for it?" she teased.
Roman had offered, many times when Tiffany had been making trips to Miami to cover the cost of her ticket. She would never take it. At least she would stay at our house, though. House, not apartment. We moved out right when Roman's lease on the apartment was up to a place on the water. It was this big, a little too big for us, place with a pool and a yard. If you rolled out of bed at night and fell out, you'd end up in the ocean, that was how close to the water we were.
"Of course," Roman said.
"Can I bring a guest?"
"Dad doesn't count as a guest," he told her.
"I wasn't talking about dad," she said. I sat up in my seat behind them.
"What? Who is it?"
"Do you remember Casey?" she asked, glancing at me through the rear-view. I did remember Casey. Last time we had talked, the two of them had been on three dates.
"What's going on with you and Casey?"
"Who's Casey?" Roman asked, barely following along.
"Her boyfriend," I teased. She smirked happily to herself. I had never met this guy, but we had talked about him. She had even shown me pictures of him. He was cute.
"You're lucky we have two spare bedrooms," Roman said. I laughed. I wanted to see that. Roman mad-dogging Casey across the dinner table then giving him the spare room downstairs and Tiffany the one upstairs.
"Oh please, Roman," she laughed. "I'm twenty-three, not thirteen."
"Not under my roof. I love you, Tiff. It's the guy I have a problem with."
"You haven't even met him yet," she protested. I sat in the back letting them bicker.
"Where are we going?" I asked after a few minutes.
"Hm?" she asked.