The Best Kind of Forever (Riverside Reapers, #1)(61)

That’s when I spot Aeris, and a swirling mass of electricity breaks out into brilliant displays of color in my body. I’ve been falling harder and harder for her, which I didn’t think was possible. I’m whipped for her, and I’ll shout it from the rooftops, even despite my slight fear of heights.

I give her a quick peck on the lips. “You guys really didn’t need to do anything for me.”

“Come on, dude. This day is special because you’re special. Of course we had to do something,” Gage says.

I look around between my friends—my family. Maybe this will be the first birthday of mine that I don’t completely despise. Maybe I’ll make a new tradition this year.

“Oh, and if a woman named Crystal Methanie comes by the house, this is definitely not the correct address.”





34





CHOCOLATE GOES WITH EVERYTHING





AERIS





It’s been thirty minutes. Hayes has already crushed five beers and is now currently shotgunning his sixth. His alcohol tolerance is frightening. Lila, Josie, and I watch from the sidelines.

“This is bad,” Lila murmurs, one hand over her eyes, her fingers making the tiniest peephole for her to look out of. “But I can’t look away.”

Revulsion skips across Josie’s face. “I can’t either.”

Faye joins us to watch the fiasco taking place, a beer in her own hand.

“How did my oaf of a brother end up with someone like you?” she inquires, taking a sophisticated sip of her drink—a polar opposite to the man currently in the middle of a chugging contest.

“He, uh, kinda just stumbled into my life,” I tell her, thinking back to the first night we met. To the night I was crying my eyes out because of my brother. To the night I’d sworn off drinking hard liquor. To the night I believed that life wasn’t worth living.

“You’re good for him, Aeris. I mean that. I haven’t seen him this happy since…” Faye trails off.

“Since?”

“Since our mother was alive.”

Their mother, of course. I should’ve put those pieces together.

“I’m so sorry, Faye,” I say softly, reaching out to give her shoulder a little squeeze.

She runs her fingernails against the red grooves in her solo cup. “It’s okay. I loved my mom, but Hayes was closer to her. It broke him. I don’t think he’s ever really recovered from it. I wish he didn’t have to carry all of this weight on his shoulders. He feels responsible for me, even though I’ve told him that’s not true. I want him to start living his life again,” she murmurs.

Sympathy tarries in my chest, causing the airflow circulating through me to leave on a swift set of wings. “I know what you mean. My brother…he passed away. There were so many days I just wanted the pain to go away, but I was too afraid to make it stop because I’d grown so used to it.”

There was a time in my life where I couldn’t even talk about Roden without crying. With Faye, though, everything seems easy. That must run in the Hollings family.

“Aeris, I’m so sorry. What…what changed?” Her shaky words ride out on a slash of breath.

“I met your brother,” I confess, hope sprouting inside of me.

Being with Hayes has made me realize that I’m a lot more than my trauma. The trauma from Roden, the trauma from Wilder, the trauma from my father. While it’s good for me to acknowledge and accept what’s happened to me, I’m not the sum of my hardships. I’m more than that.

“I hope my brother can try to move on…to accept what’s happened,” Faye stammers, and before she can say anything else, I hug her, the rapid beat of her heart in close competition with mine.

“He will. I know he will.”

I have no doubt in my mind that Hayes will find peace one day. I mean, if I believe I can (and that’s saying a lot), then I know he can. And now he has his father on his side to anchor him if he needs it.

By the time the cake has been devoured and all the alcohol is gone, we’re onto presents. Bristol’s been chatting with Lila the entire night—no surprise there—and Casen and Josie have been unable to take their eyes off each other.

Gage lugs a large, rectangular-shaped box and places it in front of Hayes. I almost don’t want to know what it is.

Hayes wastes no time in unveiling the atrocity in front of him, and I can say for certain that everyone is confused when a fully furnished fish tank is revealed. A fake seaweed plant resides next to a large cave sculpture, and a miniature treasure chest bubbles in the corner, surrounded by bunch of colorful aquarium rocks.

Hayes’ eyebrows tug together in confusion. “G, did you get me a fish?”

Gage scoops up a dollop of chocolate frosting from his plate, sticking it in his mouth. “Yep. It’s a Peruvian Blue Fin. They’re really skittish. He’s been hiding in that cave ever since I picked him up from the pet store.”

“Okay, let me rephrase: why did you get me a fish?” Hayes is trying to peek into the cave, but he’s having trouble finding the right angle.

From where I’m sitting, all I can see is a dark blob.

“You just seemed kind of stressed lately. And animals help with stress,” Gage states matter-of-factly.