Page 114 of Not Made to Last

I was guarded then—still protecting my space. My heart. I was fooling myself, clearly.

The swing set groans under my weight, and I hold on to the chains as I slowly push off the ground. For minutes, I listen to the world sleep. Until I hear footsteps approaching from behind me. I turn swiftly, ready for an attack. But it’s only Dominic… wrapped in a blanket… “You know I can see you from my bedroom,” he says. “You good, man?”

I don’t ask what he’s doing out here. Or why he opted for a blanket instead of clothes, because I’m almost certain the only thing he has on underneath is boxer shorts. Instead, I stare ahead and tell him the truth. “Couldn’t sleep, and I didn’t want to wake Liv, so I went for a run.” I shrug. “Now I’m here.”

I expect him to leave, but instead, he sits on a bench beside the swings. Then he lets out a yawn, pulling the blanket tighter around him, andthis.This is what I didn’t want. To feel like a burden.

“You can stay for as long as you need,” he says, and here comes the pity. “Don’t feel like you have to leave.”

I focus on the ground. “Thanks,” I tell him, my voice low. It’s not that I don’t appreciate what he’s saying; I do. I just… I don’t know how I feel. “How did you know?” I ask.

“Know what?”

“That it had nothing to do with going back home and everything to do with?—”

“Olivia?”

I nod, staring ahead.

He clears his throat, and it forces me to give him all my attention. “You know, I won’t say I know what you’ve been through, becausefuck that. But… Iunderstandwhat it’s like to need Ollie. After our parents died, she was the one who kept itall together. Keptustogether. She was barely sixteen and acting like a grown-ass adult, working three jobs to make ends meet, and doing it all for us…” He pauses a breath. “This one time, Max asked me if he could call her mom, and I didn’t know what to say.”

I stay quiet, listening to every word.

“It’s pretty messed up. Max will never get to call anyonemom. Liv’s mom is an asshole, but she still exists, and she had my mom—her grandma. But Max… all he’ll ever have is a big brother and sister.”

“Yeah, but he’s got some pretty great ones,” I say. “That’s a whole lot more than many kids have.”

Dom doesn’t respond right away, and so I look over at him. He’s smiling from ear to ear. “You just called megreat.”

“No,” I deny the truth. “What I meant was as a brother, you’re great… I guess.”

“You called megreat.”

“Liv thinks the world of you, so that has to mean something, right?”

Dom laughs. “Not really. She thinks highly of you, and you’re a dick.”

I chuckle, shaking my head as I push off the ground.

“Yo, did you see Luka Doncic play today?”

“Dude, that guy is next fucking level.”

“Right? I never really enjoyed watching the Mavs until him.”

“I’ve got a signed rookie card of his.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

I nod. “My dad does business with Mark Cuban, so he got it for me.”

“Honestly, genuinely, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart, Garrett,shut the fuck up.”

I bust out a laugh, and holy shit… I’d not only forgotten what my laughter sounds like, but I’d forgotten how itfeels.

Weightless.

Free.

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