Page 40 of After the Storm

“Yeah we have some family out there. I miss my Aunt Vera the most though. She’s my dad’s sister.” I consider leaving the last part out. It seems soon to get into the dad story but then again it’s Roman. So I don’t, even though I know he’ll ask.

“Your dad?” he asks, glancing at me for a moment before averting attention back to the road.

“Yep. My dad.” I nod.

“I didn’t know he was around. You never talk about him,” he explains and really, he didn’t need to. I knew that. I know people assume I don’t know my dad or sometimes they even assume I don’t have one or that he’s dead. Full transparency, it wouldn’t make much difference either way.

“He’s not around. When we lived back in Idaho he was barely around then, really just enough that I knew who he was. I saw him maybe once a year and heard from him on my birthday.” I let out a dry laugh. “Sometimes it was three days after my birthday. All of that to say he didn’t have any reservations about me and mom moving away. He isn’t someone I miss. His family was still good to me though.” The admission feels too real, too much. Like maybe I should have left it at something simple. How do you even make that simple? Surely the first date is too soon for daddy issues.Fuck.

“So then your aunt, she was around a lot?” he asks.

“Yeah. His family was a lot more interested in me than he was. Aunt Vera stayed with me when my mom took her trips. When I was younger it upset me that she was gone so much but now that I’m an adult too I get it. My dad didn’t leave her much choice, she had to do something that paid well enough to take care of us.”

I don’t know what it is about him that convinces me to tell him everything. I don’t hold a single thing back. Maybe it’s because he’s seen me at my worst and didn’t show a single sign of judgment, all he did was help me. Maybe it’s because even before we were friends he asked me a million questions and I’m just used to sharing with him. All I know for sure is there is no one else in the world I’m this comfortable sharing everything with.

“It’s okay to wish you had more time with herandunderstand why you didn’t,” he assures me and the words smack me in the face. I had never thought of it like that. It feels like a band-aid is placed on a wound I didn’t know I had.

The entire drive we make conversation about my life before I moved here. A warmth wraps around my heart getting the chance to talk about my hometown and all the people who I left there. He takes all the information in and asks me questions about everyone.

After about 45 minutes we finally pull up to a beach and I wonder why he drove this far to a beach when we live five minutes from one. As always, he comes around the front of the car and opens my door to let me out. I jump down to the ground and he takes my hand in his. Our fingers interlock and his thumb swipes twice gently across the top of my hand. I don’t question anything, I just let him lead me wherever he wants me. Once again, I’m left feeling like the part of my brain that eats at me all day goes quiet when he’s around. I don’t have to give a second thought to my safety or surroundings because I know he won’t let anything happen. I follow mindlessly beside him as he leads us to the beach.

“Stars are better down here,” he says, looking up at the sky then down at me. “And I thought you might like being out of Doves Harbor for a little while.” There’s an unspoken piece of that, that I might like to be out of there because of Tyler. Neither of us acknowledge it though. It’s true though. I’m happy to be somewhere that I know I don’t have eyes on me.

“Wondered why you drove 45 minutes to a beach when we live right by one,” I say, laughing.

He pulls his hand from mine and pulls a folded blanket from under his arm. He shakes it out and lays it flat on the sand for us to lay on. I crawl down onto the blanket, leaving my sandals in the sand next to it. He lays on the blanket beside me and folds his arms behind his head looking up at the sky. I let myself lie there for a moment just looking at him.

“Not going to see many stars just looking at me,” he says, turning his head to look at me.

“The stars aren’t going anywhere,” I say shrugging him off.

“Neither am I.” I fight back the urge to argue the words and I just inch my way to his side of the blanket and tuck my head into his shoulder, looking up at the sky with him. A strong arm wraps around me and holds me close to him. It’s warm outside because it always is this time of year in Doves Harbor but the breeze coming off the ocean is cool. We lay there in a comfortable silence for a while just pointing out different stars and constellations. I go on and on about the stories behind different constellations and he just listens.

“Favorite song?” he asks, still looking up at the sky. I think for a moment about what song could be considered my favorite. More than that, I think about why he’s always the one who gets to ask the questions.

“You always get to ask the questions.” I huff, flipping on my side to face him. “My turn,” I state, booping his nose. He raises a brow at me.

“Do your worst,” he says with a lazy lift of the shoulder and a cocky smile.

“Biggest fear?” I ask, sitting up to get a better view of his face. He thinks for a moment before speaking.

“Not starting me off easy, I see.” He laughs. “Probably something happening to Ares. Guess it just comes naturally with being an older brother. I can’t think of anything worse than finding out something happened to him.” My heart warms at the thought of him being that protective over my best friend. Knowing that there’s someone out there that cares that much about his safety. The cherry on top is that it’s him, it’s Roman.

“Closer with your mom or dad?” I ask. I have a feeling I know the answer but I don’t assume. I let him answer.

“You’ve met them, you should know I’m closer with mom.” It’s the answer I suspected but confirmation of it still feels like learning him.

“Worst memory?” I ask and immediately his breathing halts like I’ve stunned him. I regret asking as soon as I see his reaction. “You don’t have to answer that. I don’t know why I asked,” I blurt out.

“The night at the fair. I didn’t know if I was going to be able to find you and I didn’t know what condition you’d be in when I did. When I saw you standing by the lake with him I felt sick to my stomach,” he confesses and I have to swallow the lump in my throat. I bite the inside of my cheek begging my body not to cry.

“I’m sorry you got dragged into all of that,” I say and it comes out whinier than I want it to. I drop my head back on his shoulder, hiding my face in the crook of his shoulder.

“Don’t be. My best memories are with you too,” he says, pulling his arm from under me so he can see me.

“You’re just saying that,” I say nudging his arm.

“I’m really not, Auds. You don’t think last night is one of my best memories? You’ve really got no idea how long I’ve been into you, do you?”

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