Page 69 of This I Promise You
“Anywaaaaay, what I wasgoingto say waaaaas… My parents have a beach house in Myrtle Beach and they have agreed to let us use it for theentireweek of spring break! And I want you all there. Aidan, Tyler included. I’ve already reached out and arranged everything with him. Isn't that wonderful?”
Devina squeals and claps her hands.
Easton and I look at each other with surprise.
“You asked Ty? How?” Aidan asks, flabbergasted.
“There’s this new thing, maybe you haven’t heard of it, but it’s calledsocial media. It’s a glorious invention. Makes it super easy to contact people.”
“But how?” he asks again.
“You tagged him in a post and I went to his page and asked.”
“Stalker much?” I whisper for only Easton to hear. He shakes his head and giggles.
“He’s down! He said he’ll meet us down there. I sent him my parents’ address and everything. He awaits your call. You in?”
Everyone’s looking at Aidan.
“Uh, of course!” The look of surprise on his face is so sweet. “So that’s why he couldn’t come back up the mountain!”
“Paulston, you in? Actually, Paul doesn’t have a choice since he’s never been to the beach.”
“Paulston?”
“Your ship name.”
“Wait, you’ve never been to the beach?” Easton asks me.
“You gave us a ship name?” I eye her and she just shrugs.
Easton’s shocked. I mean, I get it. I’m twenty-one and haven’t really been outside of the Midwest until moving here. Going to Austin, Texas, for my aunt’s wedding a few years back was probably the closest I’ve ever been to a large body of water. But I still have never been to a beach. Lake of the Ozarks 1,000 percent does not count. I told Huxley this a few weeks ago during one of ourSchitt’s Creekgame nights. That little shit set this whole thing up. Damn, she’s good.
I shake my head slowly. “Nope. Never been.”
“Then yes! We’re totally going,” he tells me. Then turns to Huxley. “We’re totally going, Hux.”
“Yes. Perf. Lovely. This is going to beah-maze-ing! Spring break here we come! Oh, and I need everyone to text me their fav artists so Dev and I can create a road-trip playlist.” Her eyes lock on me. “I will not stand for fighting over music in my car.”
We all agree, then Aidan slips out to Facetime Tyler while Devina and Huxley turn on some music and dance around the apartment.
I lean over to Easton. “We?”
“Uh…yeah?”
“I like when you refer to us as a we.” I kiss him.
We’ve kissed since my big meltdown, but we’ve kept it pretty PG-ish. It’s only been two weeks but fuck it. I don’t care anymore. I may not be ready to have sex with him right now, but there are plenty of other things we can do until then. Like Dr. Orleen told me yesterday, if I think I’m ready, I should try to do things outside of my triggers. And it’s happening. Tonight.
* * *
Aidan left shortly after his call with Tyler so they could…finishtheir call. But we all know what that means. And since Huxley—and partly Devina—cooked, I volunteered Easton and myself to clean up.
He’s wiping down the table while I put the last of the dishes in the dishwasher.
“Done,” I declare to him triumphantly.
“Me too.” He smiles and I wrap my arms around his waist.
