and there’s no bed in there yet. But if you were joining us, I would take that tiny room and use it as an office. Because, let's face it, I'm mostly going to be sleeping in Dylan's room."
I snicker.
“Yeah, I know," she says. "But we could tone it down if that helps."
“Tone what down?"
"The PDA, and the sneaking off early every night." She sighs. "I know we're a little much. But I don't want to be the reason you pay for a dorm room. I don't want to scare you off from a situation that could really help the whole family."
Yikes. "Chastity, you're not scaring anybody off. I promise. When Dylan mentioned the house to me, I told him no as a reflex. I didn’t want to crash anybody’s party."
"Oh," she says quietly. "But why would you assume you were? Dylan wouldn’t have suggested it to Rickie if he didn’t want you there."
"I suppose you’re right," I say, although I’m unconvinced. Dylan thinks I’m an uptight drag. He was probably asking out of obligation, and hoping I’d say no.
"Just think about it," Chastity says. "I think it would be nice."
"Too much testosterone in that house?" I ask with a chuckle. As it stands, she’ll be the only woman with three men.
"No, that’s not it. I just like your company. The world is full of cliquey women that I don’t understand. But you shoot straight every time."
"Oh," I say, taken aback by this compliment. It’s a really nice take on my overly direct personality. "Thank you."
"You’re welcome." Silence falls again, but only for a moment. "Hey, Rickie said that sometimes you get ice cream on the way home. Do I get ice cream, too?"
"Sure," I say quickly. "Why not?"
Twenty-Seven
Rickie
The sun beats down on my bare back as I kneel down to remove a white paper sleeve from the base of an apple tree. Dylan and I are making a sweep through the orchard, removing spent pest traps, and picking up any early drops and tossing them into a compost bin hitched to the back of a tractor.
“If we let ‘em lie there and rot, we get pests and disease,” Griffin had explained.
It wasn’t hard work, but the day was shaping up to be another scorcher. And I keep getting interrupted by texts from Lenore, who’s unhappy with me for canceling our appointment this morning. My phone chimes three times again in rapid succession.
“Problem?” Dylan asks from the opposite side of the same orchard row.
“Sorry,” I mumble. “Let me just tell her I’m busy.”
“Sure, man. We need a water break anyway.”
I pull out my phone.
Lenore: Please check in. You were upset when I last saw you, and this seems like the wrong time to miss an appointment.
Rick: I’m fine. I’m just tired from a long weekend of aversion therapy. That didn’t go so well but I’ll tell you all about it next week.
Lenore: I thought we were going to *discuss* that plan before you put it into action.
Rick: I had an opportunity. 3 nights in AMC huts. No locks anywhere. It’s all about trust, right? And sleeping near sweaty strangers.
Lenore: That sounds like my version of hell. Did you make it all 3 nights?
Rick: Barely. I actually slept some the 3rd night. Not sure if that was progress or just exhaustion.
Lenore: Please check in with me tomorrow. I could make time on Friday again.
Rick: Next week. Regular time. I swear. Sorry for the cancelation.
I look up to see Dylan watching me. When I put my phone away, he tosses me a bottle of water. “Is everything okay?” he asks.
“Yeah. Fine. There’s someone I usually see on Wednesdays in Burlington. She’s just pissed that I canceled on her.”
Dylan’s eyebrows lift a millimeter, which is basically as shocked as Dylan gets. “You got a girlfriend in BTV? No way.”
“Nah. It’s not a girlfriend. We both know I’m hung up on your sister.”
Dylan grins and shakes his head.
“My standing date on Wednesdays is with a therapist.”
“Oh,” he says. And there isn’t even a twitch of surprise at this little revelation. Dylan just rolls with it, as usual. “If you’ve got your phone on you, can you look at the weather? I didn’t think it was gonna be this hot again. It’s only noon.”
“Sure, man.” I pull out my phone and check. “The high will be eighty-eight today, ninety tomorrow.”
“Christ.” He drains his water bottle. “At least we got the cooler weather for hiking.”
We put the water bottles onto the tractor and Dylan drives the compost