Author: Nyrae Dawn

She steps closer to me too. So close I can feel her heat as we gaze up.

"You guys aren't going to start making out, are you?" Sebastian cuts in. "Ouch!" He stumbles backward when Aspen hits him.

"Bastian!"

"What? I'm just sayin'." He winks at me.

I don't know what he thinks he's winking at. We obviously weren't going to kiss and if we were, he totally ruined the mood.

He stands there like he's thinking for a second and I actually cringe when he opens his mouth again. You never know what's going to come out of Sebastian's big-ass mouth.

"Actually, that's a good idea. You know you guys want to. Kiss, fall in love, come to New York with us. Happily Ever After. The end."

"Stupido," Priscilla calls him.

"Has anyone ever told you that you have a huge mouth?" Aspen adds.

"It's a joke. He won't kiss her. I think he's lost his touch."

He just smiles all wide like he's proud of himself and I have the urge to sock him. Okay, maybe that's partially an excuse to touch her again, but I turn to pull Priscilla to me, shocked when she beats me to it. She's grabbing my face and her lips slam into mine. It's almost like our first kiss, all messy and unskilled, but we find our rhythm quickly. We start moving together the way we're supposed to and, like always, she goes straight to my head. All too soon she's pulling away. She looks at Sebastian and flips him off.

I'm thinking we need to teach him another lesson in case he missed it the first time, but instead I wink at him. "Please, man. You don't lose skills as good as mine. I could teach you a lesson or two."

For the first time, Sebastian is speechless. He's looking back and forth between me and Priscilla and finally he yells, "Hell yeah!" And then the dumbass attacks me. He tries to jump on my back, but I dodge him. His arm hooks around my neck and freaking ruffles my hair like we're five and I shove him off. It's then I realize I'm laughing my ass off and he's laughing and the girls are laughing.

It's awesome.

We start down the street again, Sebastian still talking crap and still trying to beat me up. When the girls aren't paying attention I look at him and say, "That doesn't mean I'm staying in New York."

He gives me another huge smile. "Whatever you say, man. Whatever you say."

***

Our next stop is the Chicago History Museum. Not that I'm a museum kind of guy, but it's another one of those things a guy will do for a girl. Priscilla loves history and I know she really wants to go.

This is probably going to make me sound like an idiot, but I had no idea museums were this big. Or maybe not all of them are, but I swear it's like the size of my hometown. There are different rooms for different kinds of exhibits and of course she wants to go into all of them.

 So we do.

I kind of enjoy it, too.

Aspen and Sebastian go off on their own. I'm assuming it's because Aspen knows she can control him better when it's just the two of them. Or maybe it's because they've been leaving us alone together a lot on this trip. Whatever the reason, they're somewhere and we're here and we're going to meet up with them in a little while.

We're there for a few hours and they have some kind of special going on about magic. Magicians walk the hallways, performing magic tricks. They've stopped Priscilla a couple times and showed off their skills. It's so funny to watch her. It's almost like she's a kid. She gets these smirky little smiles on her face like she's up to no good. Other times it's huge, stretching across her face.

It's cool to watch her—to see her enjoy something so much.

Is this what she wants to do? I wonder. I can't believe I never thought to ask her. We have all always known she didn't want to be a lawyer, but I've never asked her what she does want to do.

We look around some more and finally end up meeting Sebastian and Aspen in one of the rooms where they're doing a magic show. It's all about history and Chicago's part it in. I never would have thought I'd like something like that, but it's fun.

Sebastian and Aspen stand next to us. She's in front of him, leaning back with her head on his chest. Sebastian's arms are around her, holding her close. I look at Priscilla standing between us. I'm not holding her hand. Not doing any of the things Sebastian is doing with Aspen. She looks at them too and I wonder why I can't be man enough to do what he's doing. Wonder why we can't stand the way they stand and be happy the way they're happy.

It just reminds me again I'm not the guy she deserves.

Chapter Thirteen

Sebastian threatens to try and jump off the trolley as we head to the hotel. I threaten to push him. Neither of those things happen. "It's hot. We should go swimming or something," Priscilla says when we're in the hallway of the hotel.

 "Sounds good to me." I open the door to our room. Once everyone is changed, we meet down by the pool.

The girls mostly lay in the chairs while Sebastian and I swim, which is pretty confusing since I thought we came down here because of the heat. They get in about thirty minutes before we're done.

"Let's play chicken!" Sebastian gets a huge smile on his face.

Priscilla on my shoulders while I get to hold her thighs? I'm totally in.

 Her feistiness takes over and we win, two games to one.

I'm pretty sure Sebastian threw the last one just to have an excuse to dunk Aspen. Not that she seemed to mind. Personally, I was good with the whole riding-on-my-shoulders thing.

We get out of the pool and head around the building to go back to the room. Aspen is walking closest to the wall and when we walk around a corner, she says "Ouch!" and drops everything in her hand. When she bends over, red trickles down a cut on her leg.

The stuff is out of Sebastian's hand in a second and he's kneeling on the ground next to her. "What happened, baby?"

 "Something cut me. Whatever that is sticking out the side of the building."

"Let me see it." He's kneeling on the hard ground on his knees, but he doesn't seem to care about anything except for her. He eases her hand away and there's a gash in her leg. Bastian grabs the closest thing to him—his shirt—and starts to clean her up.

"Is it bad?" her voice sounds wobbly.

"Don't look at it, okay? We're good."

Aspen doesn't do well with blood and we all know it. Priscilla and I stand there watching them. Aspen looks up so she doesn't see the blood. As Sebastian alternates between looking at her to make sure she's not watching and wrapping her leg in his shirt.

It's crazy to watch them together. I've never really seen anything like it—the way he takes care of her. The way she takes care of him, too.

"Come here." He stands and lifts Aspen into his arms, hers going around his neck. "I think you might need stitches, Woodstock."

"I'll go grab the keys."

"I'll go with you, Jay, and I'll get some clothes for us." Priscilla and I run up to the rooms. We get the keys to the Explorer and I grab some clothes for Sebastian and me, while she does the same for her and Aspen. We're back out at the SUV a few minutes later. I drive with Priscilla in the passenger seat and Sebastian holding Aspen in the back.

It's the emergency room which means the place is crazy busy. Priscilla and I get dressed in the bathroom, but Sebastian doesn't want to leave Aspen. She does have a shirt over her swimsuit now, though.

He keeps whispering to her and stroking her and all I can do is wonder what that feels like.

An hour and a half later, we're still in the waiting room. Both Sebastian and I have gone up to see how much longer it will be, but no one has an answer for us.

Finally they call her back, but the fact is, we still don't know how long we'll be waiting.

"Why don't you guys go? I'll text when we're done. You can go grab something to eat." Bastian then gives his attention back to Aspen as he carries her through the sliding door.

"What do you want to do?" I ask Priscilla as we climb into the car. The sun is setting. She must be hungry by now. We haven't eaten since lunch. "Are you hungry? We can grab something to eat."

"I'm okay. Maybe we can go walk around for a little while?" She turns the radio down.

The neighborhoods around here are kind of weird. Each of them has their own name, but it doesn't take us long to find a busy area that looks decent. After I park, we get out and start to blend in with the crowd.

A few minutes later she says, "Sucks about Aspen. It's kind of crazy seeing Sebastian with her, isn't it? I mean, it's been almost a year, but it still surprises me sometimes."

Her hand accidentally brushes mine as we walk. Or, at least I think it's an accident. It's so strange, overthinking stuff like this. "I know. I was thinking the same thing. It's cool, but different."

We're quiet for a few more minutes and I can't stop myself from trying to figure out what she's thinking. Is she wishing I could man-up like Sebastian? Is she done thinking of me like that and whatever has gone down on this trip is just for fun? Whatever it is, I can tell it's serious by the way she bites her lip. She does that when she's thinking.

"So... have you talked to your mom since we left?" Her voice sounds unsure.

How lame is it that she has to be nervous to ask me if I've talked to my mom? "A little."

"How's she doing?"

"Okay." Happy. Better off. Not worried about me.

"Is she planning a trip to Texas any time soon?"

I'm trying to figure out how we got on the subject of my family. And why we're still on it. The last thing I want to spend my time with her doing is talking about home. But I also know it shouldn't be this way. This is Priscilla, one of my best friends in the world and the only girl who has ever really meant something to me. I should be able to open my mouth and talk to her.

Priscilla starts in again, "I have, in case you were wondering. I talked to my mom again today. I told her I might change my mind...that I can't promise them I'll be a lawyer."

My feet plant to the ground. "Wow. That's huge, Priscilla." I'm not surprised though. Not when it comes to her. She always stands up for herself. "What did she say?"

We start to walk away. It's late enough that the crowd is thinning out. There's some kind of music coming from up ahead of us.

"That I'm being ridiculous. That it's what I've always wanted. What she means is it's what Dad wants. They never ask what I want. It's assumed and then shoved down my throat." Her head is held high but her voice shakes slightly. What's it like for her? Does she feel any of the same things I do?

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay." she shrugs.

"No." Stopping, I grab her hand. "It's not. You can do anything. Don't let anyone tell you differently." Annnd, I sound like an idiot. "I mean it."

"I know you do." This time it's her who stops walking. She's still doing the lip-biting thing that drives me wild. Her hair is messy and she's in a t-shirt and old shorts, but I don't see anything of that. I just see her.

"You can too, Jaden. You know that, right?"

How did I know this conversation would go here? She goes from looking sexy to feeling sorry for me and I hate that look. She's the last person I want looking at me like that.

With my best smile and a wink, I say, "Damn straight I can."

Her head isn't high anymore and I hate it. Why can't I just be real with her? "I'm sorry. I wish..." But I can't say anything else. There are people all around us and I'm obviously emotionally stunted.

The music is louder; there's a jazz band playing in this little square. People are gathered all around, some of them dancing and stuff. I lean toward her because I can't keep myself away. My forehead touches hers and she jumps slightly as if she's surprised. "Dance with me?" I ask her.