Some Loves (5 page)

“Of course you didn’t,” I said as I forced a smile. “So I’m just going to go and you two,” I vaguely motioned th
eir way, “can just carry on.”

“Emory—”

“Don’t worry about it. Really.” I was only slightly aware that she continued to protest, or maybe apologize. I tugged my arm free from Riley’s. I didn’t stick around to hear what anyone else had to say. I just had to get out of there. I hurried back up the path, passing a bewildered looking Laurie.

I heard her call out my name but I ignored her. I was almost to my car by the time
I heard Riley running, trying to catch up to me.

“Emory, slow down!”

I did as she requested but only after I reached my car.

“You can stay,” I said as I wiped away the river of tears that had begun to fall. “I’m sure Casey w
ill give you a ride back to the dorms.”

“Nope, not happening,” Riley said. She plucked my keys from my hand. I didn’t protest. I fell into my passenger seat. Luckily my glove box was well stocked with tissues. This past year I’d used more than my fair share of them and I never let the supply dwindle.

We drove in silence for awhile. We were halfway back to my house when Riley spoke up.

“I feel like this is my fault.”

“Why would this be your fault?”

“I made that smart
ass comment to Noah the other day. About him not dating? I probably put the idea in his head. Made him feel like he had to or something,” Riley grumbled.

“I don’t think it was that. I think it had more to do with the fact that Melanie’s really cute.”

“She feels terrible. She couldn’t say too much with Noah standing right there, but it’s obvious she feels really bad,” Riley said sympathetically.

I blew my nose and tried to dry off my tears.

“It’s not her fault. Noah’s allowed to date whoever he wants. Melanie’s a sweet girl. She’d probably be really good for him.”

Riley shot me a look.

“I just really could’ve done without stumbling upon them kissing,” I said as the tears came again.

“Oh, Emory,” Riley said softly.
“I’m so sorry.”

“I’m fine,” I lied. “They just took me by surprise, that’s all. I mean, I rounded this curve in the path and they were right there and…” I wasn’t going to finish that sentence.

“You know that Melanie isn’t going to see him again, don’t you?”

I turned to look at Riley. She pulled her eyes from the road long enough to glance at me. Her look was full of concern and it made my tears well up all over again.

“Did she tell you that?” I asked.

“No. But you know how she is. She’d never date Noah if she thought it would hurt you.
In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if they left right behind us.” She glanced in the rearview mirror, as if she truly thought they would’ve ended things the very moment I walked away.

I let out a frustrated groan.
“I don’t want her to do that. If she likes him…,” clearly, she did, “she has every right to date him. And if he likes her, and why wouldn’t he…?”

“Don’t do that. You don’t have to be all selfless,” Riley commanded.

I let out a bitter laugh. “I’m far from selfless. It’s just really none of my business who Noah dates. But if he’s going to date someone, I’m glad it’s Melanie. He deserves someone like her.” That didn’t mean I had to like it. In fact, I pretty much hated it.

“I thought you two were making some progress,” Riley said.

“We are. We’re talking again. But that’s a long, long way from dating,” I pointed out.

“Do you know what we’re going to do?”

I glanced at her. “I’m almost afraid to ask.”

“We’re going to go back to your house
and I’m going to spend the night. I’m going to make some popcorn. Then we’re going to curl up on your couch and scare ourselves senseless with some horror movie that will take your mind completely off of this situation.”

“Sounds good,” I said glumly.
I was grateful that she was trying to cheer me up. I didn’t bother pointing out that there was no movie scary enough to chase away the sight of Noah with some other girl in his arms.

“Are you sure you’re ready to be done?” I asked my little brother.

He nodded so I proceeded to scrub his head with a towel. Water droplets fell to the tiled floor as rivers of water ran over our toes. The comforting scent of wet cedar and the strong scent of chlorine filled the large pool area.

“I’m surprised you didn’t want to swim longer,” I admitted. “Is your leg bothering you?”

We were at the Timber Bay Lodge. It was a local resort that sold daily pool passes. Swimming was an activity that was easy on Tyler’s injured leg. We came here often. Usually, I had to pull him out of the water. Sometimes, a bribe or two had to be employed. I was surprised when tonight, he’d gotten out on his own accord.

“It’s fine,” he said in answer to my question. “I just want to go home.”

“You want to go back to Aubrey’s?” I asked with a frown as I wrapped a towel around his body. I shivered as reached for my own towel.

I’d picked him up after school. We’d been swimming for a little over an hour. This time of year, and this time of day, the pool was pretty quiet. At the moment we were the only ones in here.

He shook his head at me. “No. I want to go
home
.”

Oh. Right. I should’ve realized that’s what he meant.
He wanted to go back to our house. He must’ve wanted it badly if he’d been willing to finish up with swimming early. I couldn’t blame him. Despite how wonderful our aunt and uncle were, living with them had been a huge adjustment for all of us.

“We’re going back to the house for awhile,” I assured him.

His little chin jutted out. His eyes were wide and his mouth had drooped into an unhappy expression. “Can I stay with you? Overnight?”

So that’s what this
was about.

I made it a point to do something with my brother a few times a week. He often stayed overnight on the weekend. However, this past weekend he hadn’t. I had gone out on Friday night—and now wished I’d stayed home—and he’d gone to a sleepover the following night.

“That sounds like a plan to me. Let me text Aubrey to let her know. Then…,” I scrunched up my face, pretending to be deep in thought, “I think we should stop at the grocery store. I think that cheeseburgers, homemade fries and chocolate malts should be on the dinner menu.”

He grinned at me and nodded. I had known he would. It was his favorite meal and usually reserved for his birthday.

“Yes!” he exclaimed. “Do we have to have a vegetable with it?”

I laughed. “I think that just for tonight, we’ll consider the fries our veggie.”

This earned me an adoring smile and my heart melted.

I walked over to the table that we’d overtaken and grab
bed his clothes. “You go change. I’ll let Aubrey know you’re staying with me.”

“Will she let me? It’s a school night.” His smile slipped and he looked concerned.

“I know she doesn’t want to make a habit out of it, but I’m sure it’ll be fine for tonight.” Both Aubrey and I had agreed it was best to keep Tyler on a routine during the school year. I was also sure that since we’d missed our weekend visit, she’d be lenient tonight. Fortunately, I’d been building a good relationship with my aunt. I was sure that if I told her I thought this was best for Ty, she wouldn’t question it.

I handed him his clothes. “You go change and I’ll meet you back out here. Okay?” He nodded and I pointed a finger at him. “But do not leave the pool area without me.”

He took his clothes and we each quickly changed. In the meantime I let Aubrey know that I was keeping Tyler overnight. As I’d predicted, she didn’t have a problem with that.

“We’re good to go,” I told him as we crossed the parking lot. “
Aubrey said you could stay as long as I agreed to eat dinner with you guys one night this week.”

“She likes to make deals,” he said with a grin.

“At least she makes easy ones,” I said as I ruffled his wet hair. It was still plastered to his head like a helmet.

“They’re easy for you,” he corrected me with a roll of his eyes.

I sliced a teasing look at him. “Are you telling me she’s hard on you? What kind of deals does she make?”

“She always says I have to have my homework done before I can do anything fun,” he grumbled.

I laughed. “Ty, that’s the same kind of deal Mom used to make with you.”

“I know,” he grumbled again. “But that doesn’t mean I like it!”

“Do you have any homework tonight?” I asked suspiciously.

He shook his head. “No
. We had testing all day. Can we have chocolate malts?”

“Absolutely.
That sounds like the perfect way to celebrate having all that testing behind you.”

“Can I have extra malt mix in mine?”

I scrunched up my nose at his request. “If you must.”

“I must,” he decided. “That’s the best part.”

We reached my car and I opened the door for him. He clambered into the backseat. I watched to be sure that he buckled his seatbelt.

We weren’t even out of the parking lot when he started peppering me with questions.

“Are you and Caleb fighting?” Tyler unabashedly demanded.

A brittle, nervous laugh slipped out. “What? Why would you ask that?” I stole a peek at him in the rearview mirror.
He wore a concerned frown. His gaze met mine, waiting for an answer. “We’re not fighting.”

“Then why don’t you do anything with us anymore?”

I knew he was more observant than the average child. I took a minute to choose my words carefully, hoping my expression gave nothing away.

“
I know how much fun you have with Caleb—”

“I like when you come with too,” he interjected.

“That’s really sweet, Ty. But when I spend time with you, I like to have you all to myself.”

“Oh.”

I was met with a few moments of silence. I should’ve known that he wouldn’t let the subject drop so easily.

“Can’t you just have me all to yourself
sometimes
? Does it have to be all the time? Don’t you have fun with me and Caleb?”

“Of course I have fun. But Caleb’s making a special effort to spend time with you. He probably feels the same way. I bet he likes to have you all to himself too.” My fingers gripped the steering wheel a little tighter than necessary. There was no good way to explain this to Tyler. He was far too young to understand. Even if he were older, I wouldn’t want to burden him with it. The kid already had enough to deal with.

“Caleb wouldn’t care if you came with,” he argued. “We’re going to the rock climbing wall again this weekend. It was really fun last time. I asked him if you could come with. He
said
yes.”

“Ty,” I said as I tried to keep my voice calm, “can we just drop this?”

“But
why
?”

I could hardly tell him that my feelings for Caleb were compl
icated. I liked him as a friend. At one time, I’d felt a lot more. Spending time with him had gotten me into trouble. I just didn’t think it was good to tempt fate.

“Let’s make a deal,” I said.

I watched in the mirror as he rolled his eyes. “What?” he asked in a growly voice, but there was a smile on his face.

“You stop asking, and I’ll think about it.”

“That means you’ll say no.”

“That means I’ll think about it,” I firmly repeated. “Now, are you sure you wouldn’t rather have plain old vanilla malts? Or strawberry?”

“Chocolate,” he said decisively.

“What? Did you say
caramel
?” I teased as I held my hand up to my ear.

“Chocolate!” he repeated. He was getting a little too old for this type of distraction but it seemed to be working so I continued to go with it.

“
Butterscotch
?”

“Chocolate, Emory. I said chocolate.” He giggled and the sound was musical.

“Oh,
chocolate
. Chocolate it is, then.”

***

“Aww, man,” Tyler grumbled when the doorbell rang.

We were nearing the end of a game of Crazy Eights. He, of course, was winning. We were sitting in the middle of the living room floor. Our huge, empty malt glasses were off to the side.
Our stomachs were both full. I did not feel like moving.

“Do you have to get that?”
he asked.

I laughed a little as I got to my feet. We hadn’t finished eating that long ago, so it wasn’t all that late. Yet I had no idea who was at the door. I assumed it must be Riley. She was the only one who ever really dropped in on me.

Maybe I could con her into playing a game or two. She was usually a good sport when it came to Tyler.

I placed my cards
face down on an end table. “No peeking. I’ll be right back.”

I hurried across the foyer.
I pulled the door open to find Melanie looking at me nervously.

“Hey, Emory. I’m sorry to just stop in. But I was wondering if we could talk?” she asked.

“Uh,” I glanced over my shoulder. Tyler had appeared in the hallway behind me. I motioned to him. “I’m kind of busy. I’m hanging out with my little brother tonight.”

Indecision
crossed her face as she glanced at him and then back at me.

“Please?” she questioned. “I didn’t see you at lunch today. I promise I’ll only take a minute.”

“I was looking over some notes,” I explained.  I had been looking over notes. But we both knew that I’d also been avoiding her.

I had spent the last few days desperately trying to forget what I’d seen. I hadn’t really been able to. Having Tyler tonight had proved a great distraction. Even so, the unwanted image of Noah holding anther girl close, of his mouth on hers, his hands on her body, constantly invaded my mind.

Seeing Melanie here, in my house, was not helping,

It really should’ve come as no surprise that Noah was seeing someone. He was a great guy. Any girl would be lucky to have him. And stupid to lose him.

She cleared her throat as she waited for me to make up my mind.

I stepped back. I wasn’t all that anxious to hear what she had to say. But since she seemed so determined to say it, I decided I might as well get it over with.

“Tyler,” I said as Melanie stepped inside, “could you go get your pajamas on? And as long as you’re upstairs, you might as well brush your teeth. You should also pick out a couple of bedtime stories. Okay?”

He looked like he was about to argue.

I pointed toward the staircase. “If you argue, I won’t read to you.”

It
was a threat that worked every time.

“Fine,”
he mumbled. He lumbered past me and headed up the staircase.

“Come on in,” I said to Melanie. She followed me into the living room. I sidestepped the mess Ty and I had made on the floor. “It usually takes him a little while to pick out a book. But as soon as he decides, he’ll be right down.” That was my way of telling her that she didn’t have a lot of time.

“Right, okay,” she said. She sat down on the chair and bit her lip.

I dropped down on the couch. “You really don’t have to explain anything to me. I mean, if that’s why you’re here. I don’t need an explanation. Noah is obviously free to date anyone he chooses.”

I forced a smile. It felt uncomfortable on my face. He did have every right. That didn’t mean I was okay with it, or that it didn’t hurt.

“I don’t know how this happened
,” Melanie miserably said. “I mean, how could I not have figured it out?”

“Why would’ve you?” I asked. “We were just getting to know each other last semester when Noah and I broke up. I didn’t like to talk about it.”

What I wasn’t saying out loud was that I hadn’t talked to
her
about Noah. Why would I? We were barely friends at the time. It had been hard enough to talk with Riley about it. His name was rarely brought up because I preferred it that way. It also wasn’t as if he was the only Noah on campus. It was a fairly common name. So even if she had heard it once or twice, there was no reason she would’ve made the connection.

“I’m still sorry,” she said. “I never would’ve asked him out if I’d known. I mean, friends just don’t date friends’ boyfriends. Exes or otherwise.”

“No,” I said as I felt the first flutter of panic, “you can’t stop seeing him because of me.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Yes, I can.”

I wasn’t going to lie to her or myself. I wasn’t happy about her dating Noah. But the alternative suddenly felt worse.

“You can’t. Please,” I said
, misery edged into my tone as well. “He’s already given up his spot at Hudson because of me, lost his spot on the baseball team because of me. I cannot be responsible for this too.”

Melanie let out a sarcastic laugh. “Oh, honey, I don’t think he’s going to care all that much. You’ve heard me talk about him.” I nodded because I had. As far as I could remember, she’d only ever referred to him as Cute Chem Guy. If she’d ever called him by name, it would’ve stood out. “So you know,” she continued, “that I’ve always felt like he’s standoffish, not all that interested.
I mean, I’ve been flirting with him for months.” She blushed and hung her head. “It’s like it barely registered with him. He was always friendly enough, but he never really flirted back.”