Page 73 of Movers and Fakers

“Oh, I haven’t told you guys,” Saylor mumbles.

“Told us what?” Jasmine asks, curiosity written all over her face.

I have to admit, I’m curious too. Saylor has a tendency to spill most every thought in her mind. For her to keep something in must mean it’s a deep secret.

“I had a crush on Graham when we were younger.” She twists a rose stem in her fingers, smiling a little. “Every girl in middle school did. He was mysterious and brooding and an artist. It was all very romantic back then. One night, he was staying over with my brother, and I got up in the middle of the night to get a snack. I thought they’d be asleep or playing video games in Andrew’s room.

“I came downstairs and Andrew was in bed, but Graham was up, sketching beneath the light of a single lamp in the living room. He looked so … I don’t know, like a dream, almost. With his dark hair and barely there smile. I went over to him, and he showed me what he was working on. It was a drawing of the tree in my backyard. And maybe it was the light or the way he explained everything to me in a low voice, but I thought to myself: I have to kiss him.”

All of us are pressing in, waiting to hear what happens next. I can picture the story so clearly in my mind, see a younger, shy Saylor taking a risk and kissing her brother’s best friend.

Saylor rolls her lips into her mouth, shrugging a little as tears form on her lashes.

“I leaned in. He leaned back. I was so embarrassed,” she whispers, swiping away a tear. “But he was kind. He let me down easy, told me he thought of me like a sister. It was weird for a little while after that, but we managed to put it behind us.”

“That must have been awful,” I say, trying to contribute.

Jasmine and Marigold nod in agreement.

“At the time it was, but not anymore. I won’t lie and say I haven’t thought of him in that way. I mean, have you seen him?” She lets out a wet laugh. “He’s stupid gorgeous and doesn’t even realize it. But even if his feelings change, we want different things. He thinks marriage is just something that comes before divorce.”

“I’m really sorry, Say.” Jasmine punctuates her sentence with a hug. Saylor returns it, her eyes squeezed shut. Marigold joins in, too.

I let out a tiny sigh and cross the kitchen to add to the hug. Saylor’s eyes pop open and she gasps.

“Tell Hayes thank you. His kiss unfroze your beautiful heart.”

I scowl at Saylor’s dramatic words.

“This is why I don’t give you hugs. You babble nonsense like this.”

“Yeah, come on, her heart wasn’t frozen,” Marigold says as she grins at me. “It was asleep, locked away in a tower, protected by a dragon—”

I pull away from the hug with a frustrated “Ugh.”

“If we tease her too much, she’s liable to never talk to us again,” Jasmine says, humor in her voice.

“You’re the only voice of reason in this whole apartment,” I grumble.

“Aw, come on, Rory. We tease because we love you,” Marigold coos.

Meanwhile, Saylor wipes her tears, then jumps and clings to me like a koala, hanging off my neck.

“Don’t hide your heart away again! We love it and you!” she begs in an overly dramatic fashion.

I extricate myself from her embrace and scowl down at her.

“Attaching yourself to me like a parasite is not helping.”

“I’m not a parasite!” Saylor defends. “I’m more like a remora that hangs onto a shark. We’re in a symbiotic relationship.”

“So now not only do I have a heart of ice, I’m a vicious shark,” I say dryly.

Saylor blinks innocently at me.

“You had a frozen heart until Hayes melted it with his lips.” I cringe at her wording. “And the shark comparison is a compliment. Sharks are my favorite animal.” She smiles as if she’s made everything better.

“This is why I don’t do girl talk,” I mutter.