Why don't you Stay ... Forever - Jennifer Ashley Page 0,22

after Monday, grabbing a bite at a local place. We talk. I’m not a talker, but with Erin, I find myself opening up.

I tell her what it’s like to be the McLaughlin brother who isn’t into sports and who learned machine language at age twelve. I could insult my brothers in binary code, and loved it when they had no idea what I was saying.

I’m tight with my brothers though, and I tell her about that too. How Zach and Ryan would be right there when bullies messed with me, and how they taught me to fight back. How we’d protect Austin too, the baby of the family, though his defense was his smart mouth and quick comebacks.

Erin tells me how she’d wanted to be a dancer since she was a little girl and her mother signed her up for lessons at the local Y. How she’s fallen in love with dance and doesn’t want to do anything else. She majored in dance performance in college, and then tried out for every dance company in the state and across the western U.S.

Reuben had seen her dance in a performance at the university, introduced himself backstage, and suggested she give Clarice a call. That’s how she joined the West Valley Dance Company.

“I should be grateful to him,” Erin says as we finish our sandwiches on Wednesday. “He was really nice to me at first. But …”

“You don’t have to talk about him,” I tell her quickly. “In fact, I’d prefer it if you didn’t.”

“I want to explain.” Erin’s eyes are soft. “I don’t think I was ever in love with him. Excited to be doing what I’d always dreamed of, and thankful he’d helped me. But it is over. O-V-E-R. Reuben promised what we had was forever, then he was gone.”

“He’s an asshole,” I say in disgust. “You’re better off without him.”

“I realized that the day I woke up alone. It was like I could breathe again.”

Erin flashes a smile. I smile with her, but I’m a little bummed. Does she mean she never wants to be stifled with a serious relationship?

Because that’s what I have in mind, a relationship. I crumple the sandwich wrapping to keep from having to respond. I’ll have to figure out how to introduce the idea without scaring her off.

I consult with my brothers. Austin has given me some good advice, but I approach Ryan for more. I avoid Zach, because he knows me too well. Zach, who is now goopy in love with Abby, will try to march me straight to Erin and make me go down on one knee.

But Erin’s been burned. I want to gain her trust, not terrify her.

“A grand gesture,” Ryan tells me when I corner him in his office. I pretend I’m in there to install an upgrade to one of his programs, and I hit him with my problem. “That’s what women love. How do you think I finally got Calandra to say yes?”

“I remember us beating on you until you two got back together and figured things out.”

Ryan flushes. Once he saw the light with Calandra, he became this enlightened guru on love and relationships. He’s so full of shit.

“What kind of grand gesture?” I ask.

Ryan taps his fingers together and swivels his desk chair back and forth, like a detective about to wrap up a case.

“You have to tailor it to the woman. Make it something she can’t resist.”

“Stellar.” I click the last button on the upgrade and drag the installer into the trash. “Your brilliant advice is that I’m on my own.”

“Hey, love’s a bitch. But it’s also worth it.”

Ryan, who used to glower every time anyone mentioned Calandra, beams like a ray of sunshine. Calandra announced she was pregnant a few weeks ago, and now Ryan is not only the love guru, but the expectant father one too. Like I said, full of shit.

On the other hand, I’m really happy for Ryan. He’d been a serious pain in the ass to live with when he and Calandra were going through their issues.

“Thanks, Ryan.”

“Not a problem.” Before I can get out of the room, he lands the bomb. “When are you going to tell Mom and Dad?”

“When I figure out where this is going. If it’s going.” I point at him. “Do not say a word.”

Ryan crosses his heart. But his grin when I turn away is huge.

I put Austin’s plan into motion first.

“So,” I say to Erin on Friday afternoon when the business is starting