Page 87 of The Fallen Man

Jackson took a breath. “Yeah. At least, I hope so.”

“You’ll get him,” said Aiden confidently. “But, all that aside.” Aiden lowered his voice, and Jackson tried to imagine what could make Aiden look so severe. “Are you dating someone?”

Jackson was caught off guard. “What? Uh, no. I mean… no.”

Aiden was giving him a lawyer look that said he didn’t believe Jackson in the least.

“You saw Miss Mindblowingly Nice again, didn’t you? The girl who gave you her number but didn’t say to use it.”

“Well, yeah. But. It’s not.”

“Not what?” asked Aiden, obviously waiting for a complete sentence.

“It’s not dating.”

“But you keep seeing her?”

“She doesn’t want a boyfriend and I don’t want anything either, so… it’s just hooking up.”

It sounded so lame when he said it out loud. It sounded belittling to Katie. She was important. Hooking up sounded like they were teenagers and she didn’t mean anything.

“Oh,” said Aiden. “Kay.”

Evan and Dominique had stopped and were waiting for them by the trunk of the car.

Jackson let out an angry snort. “You’re annoying,” he said trying to fit the last word in before they reached the others.

“I’ve heard that,” said Aiden. “Mostly from you, but still...”

“I’m certain I say it too,” said Evan.

“I’m pretty sure I say it as well,” said Dominique, smiling wickedly.

“I’m not feeling very loved,” complained Aiden.

Dominique dashed the few steps back to Aiden and hugged him. “Love you, big brother.”

“What did we say about Deverauxes and hugging?” demanded Evan.

“We said we were going to do more of it?” asked Dominique, sounding puzzled.

“Oh, right,” said Evan. “I forgot.”

Jackson laughed, as Evan put an arm over his shoulders. “You’re all ridiculous.”

“And that is why you like us,” said Aiden confidently.

“True,” agreed Jackson.

Jackson

The Plane

Jackson waited in the hotel lobby for his cousins. Dominique arrived first. She bucked gender stereotypes by being the most organized packer of the bunch.

“OK,” said Jackson, “I’ve got a car coming to take you and Aiden to the train station. Aiden said you had the tickets—”

“Jackson,” said Dominique, interrupting him. He looked up and saw that she was looking unhappy, “I want to go on the plane.”