“Nice to meet you, Julia. This is my boyfriend, Vaughn.” Then she grabbed my hand and didn’t let go for the rest of the night.
That evening, up against the shower wall in my bathroom—which she’d helped me tile—when I asked her whose boyfriend I was, she said, “You’re all mine, Vaughn, and I’m all yours.”
I lost it right then, pushing harder and harder into her until she said it over and over again. “I’m yours. I’m yours.”
Things changed after that night.
Up until then, we laid kind of low. We didn’t go up to the bar together on the weekends, not that either of us really wanted to. We tended to stick to ourselves.
We’d never talked about it, but it was fun and there wasn’t anything wrong with spending time getting to know each other in private. And as fast as our sex life took off, it was important that we spent just as much time out of bed as we did in it.
The weeks passed in a blink.
The days were hot; the nights were blistering.
We boated, and like it was the most natural thing, we began spending time with other people.
Together.
As a couple.
It was almost like she finally realized I really was hers, and it was safe to share. Safe to let people know she cared about me and brave enough to show people that she let someone care about her.
I was learning that in a small town, you protect what you hold sacred. For Hannah, what she protected the most was her feelings.
We’d been to Browning a few times with Sunny and it was great watching her interact with someone who was so completely different. At the same time, Hannah was changing a little, but enjoying all the new things she’d never tried.
Her dad still called me Astro, but he came fishing with us on a few occasions and we’d had a good time.
Dean still wasn’t warming up to me, but I couldn’t blame him. It was easy to see he was in love with her and was realizing that he’d lost his chance.
Hannah cared for him like a brother, so I made an effort to pretend I didn’t notice. I never thought it would ever come up, and, honestly, if he was kind to her, what did it hurt me? He wasn’t making her uncomfortable, from what I could tell, and he wasn’t a dick to me. He just didn’t say much of anything.
So when I’d asked Aaron to help me with the roof, and Hannah said Dean would help too, it caught me off guard.
The work went quickly that morning. Dean and I scraped off the old shingles without much trouble. And after catching up on some sleep, Aaron came around noon.
The roof didn’t have too much going on, which made it a pretty straightforward job.
The three of us worked, talked about baseball, and then the conversation turned to women.
Well, one woman.
My woman.
Hannah.
She’d just pulled away, heading back down her road to get caught up on some flies for orders she always said she was behind on. So it was just us three, sitting on my porch eating the sandwiches and drinking the tea she brought us.
“You know what’s funny?” Aaron asked, then kept talking, not waiting for an answer. “I always saw Mutt getting with you, Dean. Sorry, I know that’s fucked up to say, but, Vaughn, you guys look like things are going good. She seems happy. I think that’s cool.”
Yeah, it was awkward and I still hated hearing her called Mutt.
Dean didn’t say anything, filling his mouth with the ham and cheese with mustard she knew he’d like.
That had to be the most challenging part for me. She cared for him, just like she cared for her dad. From the sandwiches he liked, to his whole life story, they had shared holidays with each other, and even though I knew deep down she felt one way and he might have felt another, I couldn’t deny they had a lot of history. Somewhat of a shared past. One I wasn’t a part of or could ever change.
Hopefully, I was her future. As long as he didn’t try to change that, and as long as she wanted to be with me, I would respect their friendship.
Plus, I respected her dad and Dean’s relationship, too. I knew what it was like to be a surrogate family member. I got it.
So, I was the first to speak up.
“I care a lot about her.” Then I wadded up my napkin and baggie, and went around back. That was all I needed to say that mattered anyway. It was the truth and it wasn’t debatable.
How he felt about it wasn’t my business, and if he wanted to talk to Aaron about that, I didn’t need to hear.
Hannah didn’t want to be with him, otherwise she would have been. The fact was, she was with me and that was all I needed to know.
I’d promised myself that I wasn’t going to go over there bothering them while they worked. Besides, I really did have a shitload of lures I was behind on, so I only let myself drive to Vaughn’s on new roof day twice.
The first time was that morning to make sure there wasn’t anything he and Dean needed before they started. Dean and Vaughn hadn’t really ever spent any time together, especially alone. I didn’t want them to be uncomfortable around one another.