“Oh, really,” Gracie says, putting her hands on her hips, looking like a force to be reckoned with.
Braxton rubs the top of her head. “Chill out, Gracie.”
“Well, it was nice to meet you all,” Baylor says. “You ready to go have some fun, Gracie?”
“Of course,” she says, linking her arm in his.
“Where were you planning to stay, Gracie?” Keatyn asks again.
“Hadn’t gotten that far,” she replies. “Figured I’d just crash somewhere.”
“Why don’t I make sure she gets back to the hotel,” Braxton offers. “You at the usual place?”
“Yeah, except we have a suite this time,” I reply.
“Penthouse?” Braxton asks. “Change of plans, kids. Party at the Penthouse.”
Both Baylor and Gracie look excited until Keatyn says, “No party at the penthouse. Just sleep.”
“Do you have room for all of us?” Gracie asks.
“We have room for you, Gracie,” I stress.
“Not your bro?” Braxton asks. “I’m crushed.”
“You can have the couch. And if you’re so inclined, you and Baylor can share.”
“Uh, sorry, man,” Braxton says to Baylor. “Alright, old people. See you in the a.m.”
We hang out for a bit after the game to chat with old friends, many of whom are genuinely happy to see me.
Finally, Dallas says to me, “I promised Aiden I’d make sure Keatyn got enough rest. If you want to stay, I can take her now and you can come back whenever you’re ready. You put her through a lot this week and she looks exhausted.”
I study her. She’s smiling and speaking animatedly, but there are dark circles under her eyes and she keeps covering her mouth, trying to stifle her yawns. I feel bad for all I put them both through this week. “Yeah, she does. I’ll go get her.”
I interrupt her conversation. “Dallas is being a party pooper and wants to head to the hotel. You okay with that?”
She gives me a wide, happy smile. “Yes. I am.”
Once we’re in the car, she says, “Don’t you think it’s a strange twist of fate that the boy who I was supposed to babysit at The Cave when he came for Prospective Student Weekend is now watching my baby sister? Are you sure we shouldn’t stay? Looking back, I did a really bad job of watching Braxton.”
“Did he make it back to Dawson’s dorm room that night?” I ask her.
“Yes.”
“Then you did fine.”
“He was shit-faced and puked all over a girl!”
“She puked on him back. It was even.”
“I don’t want Gracie drinking. She’s too young.”
“Ah, don’t worry about it, Keatyn,” Dallas says with a grin. “They’ll probably sneak back to his dorm room to make out.”
“Oh, that’s even worse. Let’s have the driver turn around. Dallas, are you really that tired?”
“No, but you are,” he says.
“You guys tricked me?”
“Aiden said we’d probably have to,” Dallas says. “And he was right.”
“Just text Braxton,” I suggest. “You know, if Braxton can handle Gracie, I might just give him a job. I could use someone to babysit some of our movie sets.”
“Speaking of movie sets, did you know that Knox sees Jennifer as a very short term thing?”
“Really? That surprises me.”
“Doesn’t surprise me,” Dallas says. “Knox liked that she crushed on him. He has a huge ego.”
“It might even be bigger than yours,” Keatyn says, teasing me.
“No way he’s bigger than me,” I tease back.
Keatyn’s phone buzzes and she looks down at it.
“Shit. Your brother texted me back. He said All’s good. Isn’t that Johnson code for it’s out of control but no one got arrested? Yet.”
“Pretty much,” Dallas laughs.
Keatyn falls asleep on the couch while Dallas and I are flipping through TV channels.
“What do you think I should do about Ariela?” I ask him for the first time.
“What do you want to do?”
“I really don’t know.”
“How was being back?”
“Hard. At first, anyway.”
“How so?” Dallas is like a shrink. He asks a whole lot of questions and never offers an opinion unless you force him to. And, to be honest, I probably don’t want his opinion right now.
I slump down in my chair.
“We have a big balcony,” he says, pulling a joint out of his pocket.
I set my scotch down. “Heck, yeah, we do. Shh. Be quiet. We don’t want Keatyn to wake up.”
“I’m still awake,” she says. “Just resting my eyes. It seems wrong that I’m not going out to smoke with you. Especially here.”
“We don’t have to,” I say, not wanting her to feel left out.
“Close the door, call me, and put me on speaker. That way I’ll feel like I’m out there.”
Dallas and I go out on the deck, light up, and do as we’re told.
“Remember the morning when you called me and asked me how to get un-high fast?” Dallas says to Keatyn into the phone.
“Ohmigawd,” Keatyn replies. “That was the morning I accidentally ate one of Jake’s brownies before school. What about senior year when you tried to turn a hollowed out log into a party bong?”