Heading out of the gym together, Eli walked toward his girl and his friends.
“Did I see that right?” Aria asked. “You and Way
ne actually left the building without either of you screaming, fighting, or bleeding.”
“I’m a grown up now. Us men, we only deal in contracts and deals,” Eli said, slapping her on the ass.
“We’re going to head over to the lake,” Chris said.
Eli slammed his lips down on Aria’s, and moaned as she melted against him. “What do you do to me?” she asked.
“The same as what you do to me.”
“Can you believe high school is over?”
“I can believe it.”
“There were a few moments I thought it was never going to end.” He tossed his bag into the trunk of the car, and opened her door.
“Everything is going be different now,” she said.
“It’ll be different, but it’ll still be us like it always has been. You shouldn’t worry so much. I got through my final year of school. It pissed Redgrave off.”
Aria laughed. “He wanted you to disappoint him so he could send your ass packing.”
“Once you’ve got me, there’s no way you’re getting rid of me.”
For the last time at the high school, he climbed behind the wheel of his car, and drove out of the grounds. He headed to the lake where their friends were already waiting. Mary and Branson were able to graduate along with them. Their grades hadn’t suffered too much, and their parents had taken turns to look after baby Elizabeth.
“Chris said you guys would be forever, making out and even having s. e. x,” Mary said. She held Elizabeth against her chest, smiling at them.
“Nah, we’ll save the dirty times for when we’re alone,” Eli said.
Chris sat down on the large blanket. “So, I’m curious, when you two want to do the dirty, do you spell out what you want to do because that can be awkward seeing as Branson can’t spell.”
“Screw you, Chris,” Branson said, covering his mouth, and staring at Elizabeth.
“I doubt she’ll remember a few cuss words,” Rachel said.
“So? I don’t want her to get used to them,” Mary said. “My parents did the same for me, and I turned out okay.”
“A pregnant teenager, who is now married,” Eli said. “You turned out perfectly.”
Mary glared at him. “I graduated, didn’t I?”
“That’s because we rock. Mary turned out okay. She has us as friends, and we’re like her extended family,” Aria said.
Eli pulled Aria between his thighs and pressed his face against her neck. “We are family.”
“Hey, what did no-dick want?” Chris asked.
“Chris!” Mary snapped at him.
“Sorry, sorry.”
“Wayne wanted to end on friendly terms. It seems his dad’s company nearly going bust showed him the error of his ways,” Eli said.
In the past few months Harvey Dean’s company had been declared bankrupt, causing thousands of people to lose their jobs. Bad management, weak contracts, and deals that never materialized were the cause. Connected to that business was also Wayne’s father’s. The way Eli saw it, it was just a bunch of bad karma.