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Taking a deep breath and hesitantly opening the door, I came face to face with a boy half my height, with curly black hair and his father’s blue eyes, a little set of glasses resting on his nose. His smile didn’t falter, but his brows furrowed as he took me in.
“Hi, Ava,” he said, but the way he said my name sounded more like a question than a greeting.
“Hi, Lucas.” I grinned at him as I shut the door behind me, desperately trying not to show how uneasy this made me. “Yourdad is still in his office. He’s got a little more work to do but then he’ll be up.”
His nose scrunched up, and his glasses wiggled. He looked adorable in them—like a miniature version of his dad. “Did he send you to tell me that?”
I shook my head. “Nope. I’m having dinner with you guys tonight if you’re okay with that.”
His mouth popped open in surprise, his brows raised straight up his forehead, and he did a little happy dance. “Yay! Dinner with Ava!”
He grabbed my hand immediately, and within seconds, he was hauling me through the hallway and past the couch I’d spent far too much time on with Adrian. “Those new glasses?”
Lucas shook his head, his loose curls bouncing. As we passed Grace in the kitchen, I gave a little wave, and she answered back with a small nod and a smile that told me Adrian had at least warnedher. “Nope! I gotta wear them to read like my dad. Can you help me with my homework?”
————
Four hours later, I’d eaten chicken parmesan, helped Lucas finish his homework, and watched an entire Legos movie with him. It was nearing ten in the evening.
Adrian still hadn’t come up.
Me: Adrian?
Me: Lucas is saying his bedtime is 1 AM. I do not believe him.
Me: Are you okay?
Grace had already packed up and gone home after I gave her the green light. I didn’t know what else to do short of calling Adrian or going down there with Lucas in tow. The nausea in my stomach came more from worry than it did from irritation, and in a last-ditch effort, I snuck away from a yawning Lucas to call his father.
It took four rings for him to pick up.
“Fuck, I’m so sorry,” Adrian said. In four little words, I could hear the overwhelming stress in his voice, couldfeelthe realization hitting him about what time it was and what had happened.
“It’s okay,” I insisted. “Grace went home about an hour ago. We’re just watching TV. Are you all right?”
“I’m just…I’m dealing with a lot. I’m really sorry, Aves,” he sighed. “Actually—fuck this. I’m coming up now. I’ll deal with it tomorrow.”
“Are you sure?”
I could hear the sound of his computer shutting and his chair squeaking. “Yeah. I’ll see you in a few.” He hesitated for a moment, and a second later a light, barely-there laugh echoed down the phone. “And for the record, no, his bedtime is nine. But it’s not on you to police that.”
He said a quick goodbye before hanging up, and as I rounded the corner of the private little alcove I’d stood in, a photo that hung on the wall opposite caught my eye in the low light. I lit the space with the flashlight from my phone, and to my absolute surprise, found a version of my father from at least ten years ago, if not more.
And beside him, a younger Adrian.
They stood in the backyard of the house my mother still lived in, my dad in his barbecuing apron and a set of tongs in one hand, Adrian in stars-and-stripes shorts and a plain white shirt.It must have been the Fourth of July—I couldn’t see him wearing those for any other reason.
There wasn’t a single crease on his face, and every little gray hair that ran through the black that I’d come to adore was absent. It was nearly the exact same version of him that I’d obsessed over as a teenager.
My chest tightened. I’d always been fond of him.Obviously. But looking at him like this, seeing a version of him in the past, comparing that to who he was now and whowewere…there wasn’t a part of me that felt I could explain how it made me feel even if I wanted to. It made a lump crop up in my throat, made my eyes water, made a blockage form in my nose.
This was Adrian before Jan. Before Lucas. Before us.
And for some reason unbeknownst to me, it solidified everything. I could be what he needed, if he wanted that. I could love him, if I wanted that. I was probably way too far along the path than I should be, and I only had my teenage infatuation to blame.
Chapter 26
Adrian
