Page 64 of Summer Reading

I felt my face get warm. I had no idea how far things might have gone if Tyler hadn’t appeared.

“Um, no,” I said. “I mean I guess I appreciate that you were looking out for me.”

“Yeah?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I said. I was surprised by how much I meant it. “I’ve never had anyone do that before.”

“Well, it was your first date,” he said. He sounded as prim and disapproving as a spinster. “No need to rush things.”

I thought about the pull I felt for Ben every time he was near. It didn’t feel rushed so much as it felt right, but I couldn’t explain that to a fourteen-year-old. He’d discover it for himself soon enough. Hopefully not on my watch.

“You’re very wise, Tyler Gale,” I said.

“Are you mocking me?” he asked.

It was there in his eyes, the ones exactly like my own. How guarded he was. How much he didn’t want to be hurt by me.

“No,” I said.

I got up from my seat and crossed the kitchen to stand beside him. Then I hugged him. It was disconcerting to have my head barely reach his shoulder. He stood frozen for a second and then hugged me back.

“You’re a really good brother,” I said.

I felt his chest swell beneath my cheek.

“You’re an okay sister,” he said.

I stepped back and gaped at him. And here I thought we’d been bonding. “Just okay?”

“Well, you’d be awesome if you’d teach me to drive,” he countered.

“You’re fourteen,” I protested.

“Almost fifteen,” he argued. “And how old were you when you stole that car?”

I gasped. “You know about that?”

“Are you kidding?” He turned and led the way out of the kitchen. I shut off the lights as we went through the house to the stairs. “Everyone knows about that. It was the talk of Oak Bluffs for years.”

“For the record, I was fifteen,” I said.

“So, still underage,” he said.

“I am not teaching you how to drive,” I said. I tried to sound as if this was my final word on the subject.

“I’ll do the dishes for the rest of the month,” he bargained.

“No.”

“I’ll take out the trash.”

“You do that anyway.”

“Fine, I’ll do all the laundry.”

I paused in front of my bedroom door. Now I had him.

“Oh, even my delicate unmentionables that have to be hand washed?”

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