bar, and I want to see her again.”
“Why?” Toby asked. “I told you when you were twelve, you can’t knock up a girl just by kissing her. Emily lied to you when she told you that.”
“That’s because Emily hated Jessie Lewis. And Jessie Lewis always crushed on you,” Nick said.
“I hate Jessie Lewis, too,” Kyla said.
“Emily hates any girl you like. Ever notice that?” Toby asked
Eric clenched his fists. “She does not!”
Toby waved him off. “So why do you need to find this girl? The one you kissed? Did she steal your wallet?”
Eric sighed and stared at the flames from the fire pit. “Because she was different.”
Nick pointed at him. “You sure it wasn’t a guy dressed up like a girl? That’d be different.”
“No, this was the most amazing kiss of my life,” Eric said.
Toby made a face. “Shit, bro. You sound like a girl.”
Kyla twirled a long metal skewer with a marshmallow on the end, just waiting to be roasted. “You guys are idiots. Just go back to the bar and look for her.”
“Emily and I did that tonight. Thus, the shirt.” Eric gestured to his chest. “Got lots of tongue, but no mystery girl.”
“How about a Craigslist ad?” Nick offered.
Toby rolled his eyes. “Pathetic.”
“They have a missed connections section,” Nick said.
“Save your money and take out an ad that says I’m a loser instead. Or buy a t-shirt that says it. Oh, wait. You already did,” Toby said, pointing to Eric’s shirt.
Kyla drummed her fingers on the arm of the couch. “I don’t know. I think you’ve gotta keep going back to the bar. She’s gotta turn up sometime, and maybe she’ll come up to you.”
“True. Maybe she’s out there trying to find me right now. All right, new plan. I’m going to be at the bar every night,” Eric said, leaning forward putting his elbows on his knees.
Kyla wrinkled her nose. “Hasn’t that been your plan for a long time?”
Eric sighed. “Yeah. But that’s going to change. This non-stop partying is pointless.”
He expected to hear some grumbling and complaining from his siblings, but no one said anything. “That might be a good idea, bro,” Toby said.
“What?” Eric asked.
“You’ve been partying hard for a long time.” Nick wouldn’t look at Eric.
Eric’s stomach clenched. “Is that what you all think?”
No one said anything, until Kyla cleared her throat. “It’s not like we were going to stage an intervention or anything.”
“Yet.”
Eric stood up. “I gotta go.”
“Eric, I haven’t even served the strawberry star tarts I made. There’s one for everyone. Moon pies, too.”
“Good lord, are we going to have to stage an intervention for you?” Toby said.
Kyla pointed her marshmallow stick at him. “You know I like unique party foods.”
Eric stood up. “It’s been a blast as usual, sibs, but I gotta split.” He quickly left, and took a cab to Emily’s place, but her lights were out. He didn’t want to wake her, but he was lonely. He liked when she crashed at his place. He felt complete when she was around. Hell, he kind of felt the way he felt when he kissed that girl. But Emily was just a friend. If something were going to happen between the two of them, it would have happened by now. At this stage in his life, Eric needed more than that. He needed the girl with the lips. And he needed to be sure Emily wasn’t hurt when he found her. What would Em do without him?
***
“Do you really think she’d be out on a Sunday night?” Emily asked.
“I’m going to come here every night for two weeks, and if I can’t find her, I’ll move on.”
“It sounds like a plan. Wait, move on to what?”
He shrugged. “I’ll find someone else who makes me feel that way.”
She looked over at his glass. “That doesn’t sound like the Eric I know. What are you drinking?”
“Diet Coke.”
“With…”
“Ice.”
Emily set down her drink. “So you weren’t kidding? About slowing down the drinking?”
“I want something different in my life.”
Emily couldn’t turn down her smile.
“What?”
“I’m just so glad.”
“Because now you won’t have to stay over at my apartment every weekend night to make sure I’m okay?”
That killed the smile. Emily pressed her lips together. What would she do with herself when Eric eventually found a girl? If he was serious about growing up and moving on, where did that leave her? Alone. Like Wendy without Peter Pan. Maybe she’d have to tell him. Maybe she should just lay it all out on the table and see