Page 107 of Before We're More Than Friends
“I think the girls just pulled up,” Oliver said, getting upfrom his seat. A minute later, he came back, Arielle and Raina trailing behind him. Neither twin looked happy.
Raina’s eyes met mine, and my stomach rolled over. She gave me a small smile, and I gave her one back.
“Okay, now that everyone is here,” Oliver said, “we can finally get?—”
“S’mores!” Hayden sprinted to the table where the s’mores ingredients were and grabbed a few marshmallows and a stick.
“Sheesh.” Oliver shook his head. “You act like you haven’t had s’mores in forever.”
“We haven’t had a bonfire all month,” Hayden said, already sitting back down at the firepit with his marshmallows on a stick. “The last time was in the middle of January.”
“Wow, less than a month and a half, you must’ve been suffering for so long,” Caleb said. “I’m proud of you for keeping yourself together through these difficult times.”
Hayden rolled his eyes.
The rest of us roasted our marshmallows, and I sat closer to the fire to warm mine up. Raina sat beside me, her presence causing my heart to tumble in my chest. “You’re here,” she said softly, her voice like music in my ear.
Stop thinking that way.
I tried for a smile. “I heard Hayden really likes the s’mores.”
“Really? Where did you get that from?”
“I can hear you!” Hayden, who was already putting together his first s’more, yelled.
“I don’t say things out loud if I don’t want people to hear them!” Raina shouted back. She faced me again. “He takes everything so personally.”
“Hey, musicians are like that,” I said, wishing I could come up with better banter. I wanted to have some fun before everything fell apart.
A moment later, Arielle pointed to my stick. “Dallas, your marshmallows are burning!”
“What?” I looked to see my marshmallows on fire, burned to a crisp, and I beamed. “Perfect.”
“Perfect?” She stuck her tongue out. “You’ll be eating coal!”
Raina rolled her eyes. “You know burned marshmallows taste the best.” Her marshmallows caught on fire, and she grinned. “Dallas knows what he’s doing. For once.”
My skin warmed, and not from the fire. “Sometimes I’m able to do things right.”
Arielle and Hayden, who already chowed down his first s’more, exchanged an eye roll, and I laughed before putting my sticky marshmallows on a cracker. The downside of burning your marshmallows was that it was a royal pain to get them onto the crackers, and your hands were left as a sticky mess afterward.
Taking the first bite sent me into a high. I inhaled the s’more in about four seconds. “Oh my gosh,” I said as I wiped my mouth with a napkin. “I think I’ve converted to S’moreism.”
Raina smiled. “Guess I can’t blame Hayden for liking s’mores so much. One time he ate so many that he threw up in the bushes.”
“That’s not true!” Hayden shouted from the table, where he was preparing marshmallows for his next s’more.
“Yeah, it’s not,” Caleb said. “It was more than one time.”
“Uh, can we not talk about this?” Sienna asked as she got up from roasting her marshmallows.
“End of this conversation.” Oliver finished roasting his marshmallows. “No one’s getting sick this time.”
“Bet,” Caleb challenged, eating the marshmallows off his stick. Um, was that sanitary? Then again, all of our marshmallows had come from the sticks.
“You lost last time.”
“Losses don’t discourage me!” Caleb pumped his prosthetic fist in the air. “I’m made of steel!”
