They shook hands.

Alan smiled, and then faced me. "The invitation will always stand, pretty girl."

5

"I swear Mom loves Tyson more than her own kids." Ethan stood next to me while Mom gushed all over Ty.

"Oh, my," she swooned. "You've gotten so damn handsome."

I smiled. It was true; he had. I didn't miss the look she gave me over his shoulder while she was hugging him.

"Well," Tyson started. "You haven't changed a bit. I swear you and Dimmy could be sisters."

I snorted at the same time as Ethan scoffed, "Lame." Mom smiled warmly at me.

While Ethan looked every bit like Dad, I was a fine mix between the two. Dad was Mexican, and Ethan got all his dark features: his dark skin, hair and eyes. Mom was almost the opposite. She had fair skin and natural blonde hair; and her eyes were the color of the ocean. She did look younger than her years, and even after everything she'd been through, it hadn't affected her looks.

"So, when do we get to meet this asshole?" Ethan joked.

Mom laughed at him. "Soon."

Scott, his name was.

Dinner went smoothly. He even managed to keep up with Ethan's fifty questions. Ethan played the overprotective son perfectly. I think Scott found it more amusing than anything else, but he hid it, and treated Ethan with the respect he seemed to think he deserved.

Tyson sat next to me and occasionally nudged my leg. It was this stupid game we’d played when we’d dated. Back then, it started with nudges on the leg, and eventually it had turned to him trying to sneak his hand up my thigh.

He didn't do that tonight.

After Scott and Mom retired to the living room to watch TV, we went up to my room. Ethan had a date; he wouldn't say with whom. Alexis also had a date that night. Funny how that happens.

"Am I sleeping in here?" Tyson asked, walking around my room. He was taking everything in; like it had changed since the last time he'd seen it.

"I don't know, I didn't really think about it. I mean, I'm fine sharing a bed if you are."

He looked at the bed, and then at me. A slow smirk pulled on his lips. "Hey, remember that time . . ." He walked over to the bed and sat on it. "We snuck here after school once. The first time we fooled around was right here—on this bed."

I nodded, biting my lip. I remembered.

He leaned in closer. "Shit, it was good times. You were so responsive, too."

"Tyson," I warned. We were about to go somewhere I didn't want to be.

He just nodded and cleared his throat. "I'm glad I was your first," he said, removing his socks and jeans. "That way you'll always remember me." He took off his shirt and stood in nothing but his boxer shorts.

I looked away.

I waited for him to get into bed before switching off the light on the nightstand. "So does that mean you can easily forget me?" I asked him. I knew I wasn't Tyson's first. He was two years older, and had been open about the fact that he'd dated and slept with other girls before me. We never got into the specifics of it. I didn't want to know. Some girls may have wanted a list of names and locations, but I was happy being naive.

He laughed quietly. "No, Dim." He rested his hand on my stomach. "I'd never be able to forget you. I don't think any guy would be able to forget you."

I wondered for a second if Logan had forgotten about me. It'd been months.

"Trust me," he said, pulling me from my thoughts. "He hasn't either."

I turned to my side to face him, causing his hand to wrap around my waist. "Why are you so nice to me? I mean—you don't need to be. I was horrible to you. I treated you so badly, and you still talk to me. You still care about me. Why?"

He pulled me closer to him. "I don't know. I'm not going to lie, it really hurt—what you did to me, but I guess I learned to accept it. Truth is, I'm always going to care about you. You're my best friend, Dim. Shit things happened to you, and you just keep getting up and fighting. You could've easily turned the other way. You could've shut everyone out and let that consume you, but you haven't. And I admire that. I admire you. In fact, I'm pretty sure I love you."

I gasped.

"Shut up, idiot. Not like that." He laughed.

"Oh." Relief washed through me. "Plus, I keep you around because you're easy on the eye."

I shook with laughter and pushed him away.

He brought me closer. "I'm serious, Dim. In high school, you were cute, you know? Now . . . you've gotten so fucking hot—"

"Shut up!" I tried to pull away from him but his hand on my waist kept me there.

"Fine," he sighed. "You want to just fool around for a bit then?"

"Okay," I joked.

"Yessss!" he mocked.

We didn't fool around. We fell asleep.

He kept his hold on me.

And I let him.

***

I went to the store the next day, got all the ingredients that I needed, put on my big girl panties and drove to his house. A part of me hoped he wouldn't be home. The other part of me wanted to see him.

I knocked on the door. He answered almost immediately. His eyes went from my face to the bags in my hand. "Amanda, you have no idea how happy I am to see you."

"Dr. Matth—"

He raised his eyebrows, the gesture alone interrupting me.

I smiled. "Alan." I jerked my head in greeting.