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The front door opens, and Robin joins us again.

“Sorry,” she says, hurling herself into the chair next to me with a sigh.

“Nothing to be sorry for.” I drag her chair closer to me. My hand finds her waist, and I pull her close enough to me that she falls into my chest, and I wrap both of my arms around her in a bear hug.

“What are you doing?” she chokes out, a chuckle rumbling from her chest.

“You were gone too long. I missed you.”

“I was gone for less than ten minutes.”

“And I missed you.”

“You’re silly,” she says, amused.

“What did your mom want?”

“She wants to come visit soon.”

“That’ll be nice,” I say, happy for her. I know she misses her mom, even though she doesn’t talk about it much.

After we clean up the dinner table, we go outside to sit on the front porch. I love summer nights. There’s something so relaxing about sitting outside in the dark, the warm air brushing my skin and the sound of crickets singing. We each get a massive scoop of vanilla and chocolate ice cream, and Darlene humiliates me by telling Robin embarrassing stories from my childhood. It’s worth it though, because she’s wheezing with laughter next to me, her eyes sparkling with amusement, and it’s my favorite thing to see.

When the laughter dies down, I’m overcome with a sudden wave of exhaustion. I pull a yawning Robin sideways into my lap and wrap my arms around her. She leans into me, her head resting on my chest, and we all sit in silence, simply enjoying the quiet night around us. Darlene keeps glancing over at us with a satisfied smile on her face.

I’m getting too comfortable out here, and my eyes are starting to feel heavy. “You ready to leave soon, Robs?” I glance down at her.

“Mm-hmm,” she murmurs, another yawn escaping her mouth.

We manage to peel ourselves up, and I bring the ice cream bowls inside before saying goodbye to my aunt. We thank her for the dinner, and we each receive a long and tight hug.

At the car, I open the door for Robin, and I give my great-aunt one last wave as she stands on the porch watching us leave.

It’s a short drive back to Robin’s, but she still manages to fall asleep in the car next to me. When I turn off the engine outside of her house, I almost don’t want to wake her. She looks so cute with her head resting on the window, her mouth slightly open. I unbuckle my seatbelt and scooch over to her.

“Hey,” I say gently, stroking her soft hair. “We’re back home.”

She slowly opens her eyes and blinks a few times. “God, I’m so tired.”

“We can go straight to bed,” I say, unbuckling her seatbelt.

After we stumble into the house, she barely manages to stay awake to brush her teeth. Once we fall into her bed together, she curls into me like she does every night, one leg draped over my thigh and one arm across my chest.

Right before I drift off to sleep, flashes of my conversation with Darlene come back to my mind. I try to push them away, to focus on sleep, but they keep drifting in and out. Every wave exposes a feeling that I’m not ready to acknowledge, crashing over me time and time again.

And then it settles in my mind.

And I realize that maybe, just maybe, Darlene hit the nail on the head about how I feel about Robin.

Chapter 30

Robin

“Don’t let me crash,” I plead while Hayden fastens my helmet. His helmet.

“Never,” he says, winking at me.

I’m only half-kidding about not crashing. I’m actually on the verge of getting off this motorcycle and sprinting in the opposite direction. But this was my idea. And I trust Hayden. More than I’ve ever trusted anyone.