Stepbrother Dearest(51)

He closed his eyes and moaned upon taking the first bite. “There is nothing better than your f*cking ass cream. I’ve missed it.”

I’ve missed this.

Being in this kitchen and sharing the ice cream with him made it really feel like yesterday more than any other moment up until now. I wished we could go back to that time for just one more day. He’d be right upstairs and not heading home to her. We’d play our video game. It was so simple then.


Then, memories of the night he made love to me started to flash through my mind at a tremendous pace. Not so simple. His leaving was starting to really hit me all of a sudden. The silence wasn’t working for me anymore, and I tried to make light conversation to mask my melancholy.

“What did Greg and Clara have to say?”

“They were asking where we went. I told them.”

“Did they think it was bizarre?”

“I could tell Greg was a little concerned.”

“Why would he be concerned?”

He pulled the spoon slowly from his mouth and looked down in hesitation. “He knows.”

“Knows what?”

“About us.”

I put my spoon down and wiped the corners of my mouth. “How?”

“I confided in him a few years back. I knew he wouldn’t tell Randy.”

“Why would you tell him?”

“Because I felt like I needed to talk about it. I didn’t have anyone else I could trust.”

“It’s just…you told me not to tell anyone, and I didn’t for a long time until I finally told Victoria years later.”

“Greg is the only person I told.”

“I just didn’t think—”

He raised the tone of his voice. “You didn’t think what happened between us affected me in the same way it affected you. I know. Because I led you to believe that.”

“I guess it doesn’t matter anymore,” I said under my breath so low that I didn’t think he heard me.

Elec scowled as he took the empty bowl to the sink, washed it and put it in the strainer.

He looked back at me. “You’ll always matter to me, Greta. Always.”

I just nodded, refusing to shed a tear but feeling completely broken inside. This was different from the last time we said goodbye. Back then, even though I was an emotional wreck, I was young and suspected that my feelings might have been infatuation and that I would grow out of it.

Unfortunately, this time with the advantage of experience and hindsight, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I was hopelessly in love with him.



***



The drive to Logan Airport seemed like it only took a few minutes. A pink hue lit up the sky, appropriate symbolism for sending Elec off into the sunset. Unprepared for how to say goodbye, I opted not to say anything at all during the ride, and neither did he.

As we exited the car at the curb just outside the entrance to his terminal, the wind was powerful amidst the deafening sound of jets taking off.

Clutching my own arms protectively, I stood across from him. I didn’t know what to say or do and couldn’t even look him in the eye. Now was not the time to completely freeze up, but that was exactly what was happening to me.

I looked up at the sky, down at the ground, over at the luggage handlers…anywhere but at Elec. I knew as soon as I looked into his eyes, I would lose it.

His tone was gruff. “Look at me.”

I shook my head and refused as the first teardrop fell. I wiped my eye and continued to look away from him. I couldn’t believe this was happening to me right now.

When I finally looked into his eyes, I was shocked to see them watering, too.

“It’s okay,” I said. “Go. Please. Text me if you want. It’s just…I can’t do a long goodbye…not with you.”

“Okay,” he simply said.

I leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before rushing back to the car and slamming the door.

He reluctantly picked up his bag and walked away toward the entrance.

When I saw the automatic doors finally close behind him, I leaned my head against the steering wheel. My shoulders shook as I let the tears I’d been struggling to hide fall freely. It was only a matter of time before someone told me to leave since this was only a temporary drop off area. I just couldn’t seem to move.

Sure enough, someone knocked on my window.

“I’m going. I’m going,” I said without even looking up. As I was about to start my car, the person knocked again.

I looked to my right to find Elec standing there.

I frantically wiped my tears and got out of the car, walking around to him. “Did you forget something?”

He dropped his bag and nodded yes. He startled me when he suddenly took my face in his hands and kissed my lips tenderly. It felt like I was melting in his arms. My tongue instinctively tried to enter his mouth, but he didn’t open for me. He just kept his lips pressed hard against mine as he breathed erratically. This was a different kind of a kiss, not one that leads to something, but a hard, painful one.

It was a goodbye kiss.

I pulled back. “Get out of here. You’re gonna miss your flight.”

He wouldn’t take his hands off of my face. “I never got over hurting you the first time, but hurting you twice…believe me when I say this was the last thing I ever wanted to see happen in my lifetime.”