“Dean has always played by his own rules. We know that. We’ve known it for years,” Eric said.
“I … I’ve got to think.”
Micah left, but he didn’t go toward the house. Eric stood in the shed. Grabbing the flashlight, he turned it off. There was enough glow from the full moon to light his path.
Dean was in love with her. Micah kept his feelings close to his chest. Even though he played the fun-loving guy, he was anything but. He hid behind that wall to protect himself and to keep everyone else at arm’s length. He got it and even understood it, but one day, it wouldn’t help him. Not if he wanted to be happy.
Eric went straight to his bedroom. Sitting on the edge of his bed, he thought about life here.
The memories he had were all filled with his dad. Being here and with Daphne, she was … everything. All he could have ever dreamed about. When he thought of her, of a life with her, he’d imagined it being just the two of them. However, and this was the big part, thinking about a life with her and his two best friends wasn’t scary. It didn’t anger him.
He actually smiled.
He loved his best friends, and he loved Daphne. Sharing his life with her and with them was the right part of it. Nothing else would ever do.
With that, he knew he was all in, no matter what.
****
Micah sat on a fallen tree trunk all night, staring up at the moon. There were no answers it could provide.
Dean and Eric were happy to give in to their feelings, but Micah, he was fucking terrified.
“Hey,” Daphne said.
He turned to see her. She was a vision in blue. Her hair fell around her and she wore a blue dress that went to her ankles, along with a matching cardigan. The dress molded to her full curves. She held a thermos in one hand and a blanket in the other.
“You must be cold.”
“It’s fine,” he said.
Daphne moved to sit close to him. “You’re not fine. I saw you all disappear into the shed last night.” She put the blanket around him. After opening the thermos of coffee, she poured him a cup. “Here you go.”
He took the coffee. He’d been walking for most of the night.
“Thanks.” He sipped at the coffee. His hands were a little stiff. He’d only been sitting for the last few minutes.
There were times he didn’t sleep at night and would often call a woman to fuck to help tire him out, or he’d hit his gym, or do laps in the pool. Walking around with his crazy thoughts had been a problem.
“You know, I didn’t really see you until Eric started to bully you,” Micah said. “I knew who you were, but it was that day in the corridor when he tripped you. He called you … names, and it was the first time in my life I wanted to beat the living crap out of him.”
“I remember. He purposefully pushed me over. It didn’t seem to matter what I did, I was always in his way.”
“Now I know,” Micah said. “He was hiding his true feelings. He was my best friend, and after that, I should have done something, but instead, I followed his lead.” Micah took a deep breath.
“Micah, why did you guys come here?”
“To see you. That part is true. We all challenged each other to see who could win you.”
“I was a challenge?”
“Yeah and no. You know how Dean and Eric feel about you.” Micah didn’t know if he should tell her the full details of what the guys hoped to gain with her. “Don’t be angry at them. We challenge each other all the time. You were our prize. You still are, but it wasn’t for the weekend or anything like that, okay. You were the prize for life.”
She tucked some of her hair behind her ears. “It’s what every girl wants to hear.”
“It’s actually really sweet, if you think about it.”
Daphne chuckled. “I’ll take your word for it.” She sighed. “If Eric and Dean know what they want, what about you? What do you want?”
“I didn’t have a messed-up family life like Eric. Dean, he had a great home. He still keeps in touch with his parents.”
“I didn’t ask about them. I asked about you.”
Micah took a deep breath. He opened his mouth, closed it. “To my parents, I was … invisible.” He’d never said those words out aloud before.
“Invisible, how?”
“They only cared about each other. They didn’t have time for a son. For any kid. I was an inconvenience to them.” He drank down the hot coffee, relishing the scald as it traveled down his throat. He held out the cup for some more and she filled it. “My parents didn’t come to parent-teacher nights, or any of my sporting events. I worked my ass off to win competitions, to be smart, and still, they didn’t care. I’d sit at that table, and I could be talking to one or both of them, and they’d talk right over me, as if they couldn’t even hear me. They fed me, clothed me. Gave me whatever I wanted.”
“But you wanted love,” she said.
“So fucking lame when you say it like that. Yes, I wanted love. I never got it, no matter what I did.” He laughed. Turning to look at her, he said, “I guess what I’m saying to you is that I know what Dean and Eric want. But I don’t want to be invisible to you. I don’t want to fade in the background. I need to know there’s a chance that you could love me too. That you could look at me and see me.”
Tears glistened in her eyes.
