11
BRANDON
I take a deep breath and steady myself before sliding into my seat opposite Alicia at the bar.
I know she’s not dressed for me. She came out in what she was already wearing when I rang her doorbell. She’s not wearing cutoff shorts like the ones she wore when we were teenagers out of any desire for me to look at her ass. She didn’t tie off that white button-down shirt at her midriff so that I could admire the smooth plane of her abdomen.
And when she folds her arms, I know she’s not deliberately pushing her breasts up to entice me.
At least, I think I know that. I can’t be sure about that last part. And whether it’s her intention or not, she absolutely is enticing me. I could tear off her clothes and take her right here on the table.
“So, tell me about the day you left the pack,” I say once we’re seated and holding a couple of drinks.
“I’m surprised you want to hear about that,” she admits.
I shrug. “It was a long time ago,” I say, not bothering to act like I don’t know what she’s talking about. “I think we can be adults about it. Don’t you think so?”
“I do. I just… I’m really glad to hear you say that,” she says. “I was worried things would be awkward between us. Especially after what happened the last time I was home.”
I raise my eyebrows. “I thought we weren’t ever going to talk about that again.”
“That’s not what we agreed on,” she objects. “We said we weren’t going to tell anyone else about it.”
“Ah.”
“Anyway, I’m glad you and I can get along, that’s all. I don’t want it to be awkward while I’m here.” She takes a sip of her beer. “Why do you want to know about the day I left home?”
“I’m assuming it’s an interesting story, that’s all.”
“My stepmother-well, my ex-stepmother-was responsible for setting the two of us up,” she says. “Did you know that? It wasn’t my father’s idea. Not originally.”
“Why did Deidre care? I always got the feeling she wasn’t that invested in Vern’s other children.”
“Oh, she was invested in us all right,” Alicia says. “She was always looking for ways to run us down in front of Dad, to prove to him that Lonnie was the only one of his children who was worth anything. That’s why Pat was mated so young, you know.”
“What do you mean?”
“She wanted to get her out of the house, so she got David to ask Dad to set them up two years earlier than he would have done on his own. She was only
eighteen when they got married.” “I don’t think I knew that.”
“We were pretty young at the time.”
“Yeah,” I agree. “I guess we were.” That seems like such a long time ago now. “But why did that mean she wanted to set me up with you?”
“You didn’t have the best reputation at the time,” Alicia reminds me. “She took me aside before the ceremony and told me she’d put me with you because you were a troublemaker and would never amount to anything. And…she threatened me.”
“Threatened you with what?”
“She said I’d better never have a baby with you. She knew if I did, that baby would be a threat to Lonnie. She said she’d make my life and my children’s lives hell if I did.”
“Why didn’t your father intervene?”
“She’s just so manipulative. I’m sure she was feeding him some kind of lie. I know Dad was surprised when I rejected you.”
“But Deidre probably knew you would, after a threat like that.”
“I think she might have,” Alicia said. “I think she was happy. I’d given her another excuse to tell my father how awful I was. So she was berating me, and Lonnie was staring at me like he just wanted to get a bucket of popcorn and watch everything go down, and my dad was acting like I’d broken his heart or something. And I just realized that living here-with them-was too much. I needed to get away for my own sanity.”
“Are you happy out there?” I ask. “With the humans?” She looks at me. “You really care about this stuff.” “Sure I do,” I say. “I’d like us to be friends, Alicia.” She nods. “I’d like that too.”
It feels like something shifts between us then. Like maybe one of the walls that she had up, or that I had up, is finally coming down. Like we can see each other a little more clearly.
Do I really want to be her friend?
Sure I do. Friends can have sex with each other.
Yeah, that’s exactly what I want. For us to be friends-and, occasionally, to be naked.
“It’s good with humans,” she said. “There are problems, just like there are anywhere. But I’ve got a life, and it makes me happy.”
I nod. “I’m happy for you,” I say. “Really? You are?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I don’t know. Everyone else seems to want to convince me that I’m not as happy as I think I am, and that I want to come back to the Greystones.”
“Well, don’t get me wrong,” I say. “It would be cool if you came back. But I’d say you know what you want better than anybody else does.”
“I appreciate that,” she says. “Really. You have no idea how nice it is to have someone just take me at face value, and not try to tell me that I don’t know what I want from my own life.”
“You’ve always known what you want,” I tell her. “And you’ve always gone for it. It’s one of my favorite things about you.”
She actually blushes at that. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen Alicia blush before-she’s not the type. But it’s intriguing knowing that I can have that effect on her.
And now I’m thinking about all the other effects I might have on her. Fuck, I hope the night doesn’t end here.