Jesse's Girl

Epilogue

     "Carson," he said once he was standing in front of us.

     "Darren."

     "How is sweet Katrina doing? Did she miss me terribly?"

     "She missed you about as much as I did."

     His expression soured. "Lovely as always. Thanks for coming to pick me up from the airport with the family, by the way, you ungrateful lunch box."

     I smiled sweetly. "I didn't want to overcrowd the car."

     "Really? Cause it seems to me that you'd rather spend more time with your boyfriend." The words wiped the smile off my face. My mouth popped open to say something, but Darry's attention had already left me. He shot a hand out. "I'm Darren. You're Jesus, aren't you?"

     "His name is Jesse, you expired pretzel."

     "Now, now," my mom chided in, coming to stand beside Darry. "It's nice to see you, Jesse, how are you?"

     My mom's question seemed to shake Jesse out of whatever trance had possessed him the moment my brother dove out of the car. He blinked a few times, mouth parting as he drew in a breath. When he breathed out, his hand rose to meet my brother's.

     "I'm Jesse," he said to Darry, and then turned to my mom. "I'm doing great. I'm sorry for bringing Carson back late. I really meant to keep track of the time, but we got distracted."

     "Doing what?" Darry asked.

     I looked at him, fingers aching to slam a punch into his arm. "We were studying."

     "Is that what they call it nowadays?"

     "You son of a—"

     "I hope you guys are hungry!" my dad chimed in, wrapping an arm around Darry's shoulder. "Big dinner planned today."

     "You are staying right, Jesse?" my mom asked.

     Jesse had only began nodding, but before he could say anything, Darry cut him off, his eyes on the car I was sitting on. "That's not a Mustang." He turned to my dad, visibly confused. "You said it was a Mustang."

     "I said it was a Camaro."

     Darry turned back to Jesse. "You know, I've played Need for Speed on my PlayStation before—"

     "Alright, alright, we can talk about this inside," my mom said, offering me a sympathetic look. "C'mon, guys."

     My dad steered my brother inside, heads huddled together, arguing in hushed tones about car brands.

     My mom began following them inside, but not before glancing back at Jesse and I. "Dinner should be ready soon."

     I nodded. She smiled reassuringly at Jesse before disappearing inside the house.

     Once the door closed behind them all, Jesse turned to me. "He really is quite the character."

     "He's demented."

     Jesse chuckled, blue eyes sparkling under the sunlight. He took a step toward the house, only to hesitate when he noticed that I wasn't moving to follow. "We going in?"

     "We'll give them a minute to settle in."

     "I already kept you from your family long enough."

     "Oh, why look at you," I teased. "A perfect gentleman."

     He didn't protest more, instead displaying a charming smile as he made his way back to the car. "Have I not always aimed to please?"