Page 22 of Always Been Yours

Lexi’s laugh reminds me of those rare thunderstormsover the ocean—booming, wicked and slightly rumbly. “Wish I could say I regret it.”

“Ah, but you don’t. Not even for a second,” I say in a sweet voice, folding my hands under my chin.

“I hate when you and Lyp make that G.D. face.”

I tilt my head back, laughing at her exasperation. “It works just as well on you as our brothers.”

“Fuck you guys and your perfect faces.” She gives me an annoyed look, but I know she doesn’t mean it. She would be bored without us tied to her hip constantly.

Lexi only has one brother whose twelve years younger than her. Regardless of how close they are, I know the age gap creates a different type of relationship than my siblings and me.

We sit in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, letting the soft voice of Maggie Rogers flow around us. The irony of the lyrics after the last couple weeks are not lost on me. And from Lexi’s next words, I know it isn’t lost on her either.

“When you’re ready to talk about it, I’m here.” I give her a side-eye look and a quick nod. “I won’t bring it up again. Just… seriously, Viv, just come to me. Don’t hold it in.”

I nod again, looking back out the windshield. “I will. If there is ever something to tell.” Or if I ever figure out my own feelings. “Tell me about your date last night.”

Lexi laughs, shaking her head in amused exasperation.

“It was not good. I don’t want to say terrible because she was nice, but it was… bad.”

“Did she try to order for you? Oh god, did she make you listen to her ex’s voicemails for half of dinner like that one guy?”

She barks out a laugh, and I can’t help but follow suit. “No, it wasn’t that bad. So maybe notterrible.“ I wait patiently for her to go on. Lexi has never had a serious relationship, not unless youcount a few month of exclusively hanging out with one person until it inevitably ends. Either due to her getting bored or annoyed, or them being put off by her independence and aloofness. She’s my favorite person in the world, and almost anyone who knows her would agree. I know she will find someone when the time is right—and by that, I mean when Lexi decides she wants something serious.

“Listen to this shit… She said she got busy at work and asked to move the date back half an hour. That was fine. Until she was still twenty minutes late! I swear, my server was about to kick me out. But she finally showed up. And let me just say, she’sgorgeous.She’s a few inches shorter than me—you know I love that with women—and curvy. She wore this tight little black skirt with a slit on the side.“ She rolls to a stop and grabs my arm for emphasis. “Like drop dead sexy enough that you would let just about anything go, right?”

“Oh-kay… So what went wrong?”

She laughs and I can’t help but follow along without knowing what happened. “She walked in at the same time as this guy, but I didn’t think much about it. There were a few parties who looked like they were still waiting. But—“

“Oh no. Oh god, please tell me she didn’t bring a friend,” I plead to the universe on behalf of my best friend.

“No, she didn’t bring a friend.” I’m about to let out the breath I’m holding in anticipation when she says, “She brought herbrother.”

“Nooo!” I shriek and throw my head back in a cackle. “Who the fuck takes their brother on a date?”

“Apparently Marlene. That’s who.”

“Did you leave? You left… right?”

“Remember when I said she was beautiful? Like, ignore-red-flags-beautiful? She smelled so sweet, likesugar cookies, I could only imagine what her cookie tasted like.”

“Alexandra, tell me right now that you didn’t go home with her and her brother,” I say in my teacher voice.

“Chill out, Miss Davies. Have some faith in me, goddamn.”

“Oh, thank whoever is holy up there.” I put my hands together in a prayer pose. “How long did you stay?”

“Well,” she drags out slowly. “I stayed until the end of dinner. Her brother paid for all of it, which was really nice. Honestly, I stayed because he was way cooler. A much better conversationalist than her with a wicked sense of humor. I wish I had dated him instead.” I roll my hand in the air, in aget on with itmovement. “After he paid, he went to the restroom, and she asked if I wanted to go home with her. I was considering it, you know, wanting another round of dessert.”

“I’m not Asher. Please just get to the fucking point.”

She snickers as she pulls into our shared garage. “She said that her brother could drive us back totheirapartment.“ She puts her car in park and turns toward me. “She, a twenty-nine-year-old woman, lives on her brother’s couch.”

I blink in response, shocked. I last less than five seconds before my head is tipped back and there are tears forming in my eyes.

Lexi is reaching for her bag in the backseat, chuckling at the ridiculousness of her dating life. “I know. I told you it was bad.”

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