there’s nothing wrong with making up for lost time.”
Dev nodded, not sure how to bring up his concern now that he had Bryan’s ear.
“Hopefully you won’t get the third degree when you get home,” Bryan continued. “We talked about it. Jess is worried.”
“Worried? His ‘she’s leading me like a horse to water’ theory?” Dev asked.
Bryan nodded. “I think he’s more worried that he doesn’t know what her end game is. Kenny’s worried that he does.”
“End game?”
“That Lin has aspirations to keep you.”
“Why is that a source of worry? Isn’t that kind of the point to dating? Find someone you’re compatible with and build a life together?”
Bryan smiled. “Yes and no. You’re eighteen. The point to dating for you is to gain experience so when you’re older you’ll recognize the traits you want in a partner.”
“Interesting lecture coming from you,” Dev said. Bryan and Brenda eloped at eighteen.
“Granted. Bren and I were friends before it ever turned romantic. We had a solid foundation, and it felt natural when hormones started kicking in and we realized we were attracted to each other. Most people aren’t lucky enough to have it happen like that. And it wasn’t all easy, don’t get me wrong. You and Lin have an easygoing friendship and some things in common that you had to look beyond the band to find. Kenny’s wrong to come down on her for not being as into the music as you are. Now there’s attraction too and I think you’re starting to see some bumps in the road ahead.”
“How’d you guess?”
“I know you. Lin’s pretty hot. Bren and I had suspicions before, so she did some digging and got a picture of her before her goth phase started.”
“What?” Dev looked at his friend, shocked that Bryan would check out his girlfriend without telling him.
“I would have mentioned it, but she was cute. Bren suspected you were more at ease around her because she wasn’t cute. I thought she might have a point. Also, Lin indicated she had more experience dating that you did, even at fifteen. That would fit with her being a cute little blond, not as a moody goth. And face it, she didn’t do the goth look particularly well considering how smart she is. Her act had to be just an act. By the time Bren showed me the picture, you were already attached to Lin anyway. Given all of that, I decided to let it play.
“The thing is, Dev, cute or hot, Lin could dress it a couple of ways and she’s choosing to show you ‘hot’ girlfriend, not ‘cute, sweet sixteen’ girlfriend. You better believe Jess called out the difference.”
“Why should he care if my girlfriend is hot versus cute? And why the hell is he checking her out?” Dev demanded.
Bryan was silent a moment. “He’s not, it’s just an observation. I told him to chill, if you got in over your head you’d come to me.”
Dev nodded.
“You’re in over your head, aren’t you?” Bryan asked. “How deep?”
Taking a long, cleansing breath, Dev closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. He opened his eyes again and looked at his friend’s calm exterior.
“Just between us? If Lin knew I was telling you, she’d kill me. Maybe.”
“Doesn’t leave this car. Not even Bren,” Bryan promised.
“Remember when I cut the deal with Flynn to leave for MIT in January?”
“It was a big stress for you, of course I do.”
“All right. With all the conditions Flynn piled on me, I’d still have to say he took it better than Lin did.”
“Really? She seemed pretty cool about it.”
“We talked about it and Lin didn’t want me to go. Part of it was because she was concerned about me meeting someone else. We addressed that, but it still made her anxious all semester. The other part was, well, she admitted to Jess’s ‘leading me’ theory before, and it made sense. I was kind of reserved –”
“A little bit,” Bryan agreed with a smile.
“Yeah. She caught onto that pretty quick.”
“And she helped you
Dev nodded, not sure how to bring up his concern now that he had Bryan’s ear.
“Hopefully you won’t get the third degree when you get home,” Bryan continued. “We talked about it. Jess is worried.”
“Worried? His ‘she’s leading me like a horse to water’ theory?” Dev asked.
Bryan nodded. “I think he’s more worried that he doesn’t know what her end game is. Kenny’s worried that he does.”
“End game?”
“That Lin has aspirations to keep you.”
“Why is that a source of worry? Isn’t that kind of the point to dating? Find someone you’re compatible with and build a life together?”
Bryan smiled. “Yes and no. You’re eighteen. The point to dating for you is to gain experience so when you’re older you’ll recognize the traits you want in a partner.”
“Interesting lecture coming from you,” Dev said. Bryan and Brenda eloped at eighteen.
“Granted. Bren and I were friends before it ever turned romantic. We had a solid foundation, and it felt natural when hormones started kicking in and we realized we were attracted to each other. Most people aren’t lucky enough to have it happen like that. And it wasn’t all easy, don’t get me wrong. You and Lin have an easygoing friendship and some things in common that you had to look beyond the band to find. Kenny’s wrong to come down on her for not being as into the music as you are. Now there’s attraction too and I think you’re starting to see some bumps in the road ahead.”
“How’d you guess?”
“I know you. Lin’s pretty hot. Bren and I had suspicions before, so she did some digging and got a picture of her before her goth phase started.”
“What?” Dev looked at his friend, shocked that Bryan would check out his girlfriend without telling him.
“I would have mentioned it, but she was cute. Bren suspected you were more at ease around her because she wasn’t cute. I thought she might have a point. Also, Lin indicated she had more experience dating that you did, even at fifteen. That would fit with her being a cute little blond, not as a moody goth. And face it, she didn’t do the goth look particularly well considering how smart she is. Her act had to be just an act. By the time Bren showed me the picture, you were already attached to Lin anyway. Given all of that, I decided to let it play.
“The thing is, Dev, cute or hot, Lin could dress it a couple of ways and she’s choosing to show you ‘hot’ girlfriend, not ‘cute, sweet sixteen’ girlfriend. You better believe Jess called out the difference.”
“Why should he care if my girlfriend is hot versus cute? And why the hell is he checking her out?” Dev demanded.
Bryan was silent a moment. “He’s not, it’s just an observation. I told him to chill, if you got in over your head you’d come to me.”
Dev nodded.
“You’re in over your head, aren’t you?” Bryan asked. “How deep?”
Taking a long, cleansing breath, Dev closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. He opened his eyes again and looked at his friend’s calm exterior.
“Just between us? If Lin knew I was telling you, she’d kill me. Maybe.”
“Doesn’t leave this car. Not even Bren,” Bryan promised.
“Remember when I cut the deal with Flynn to leave for MIT in January?”
“It was a big stress for you, of course I do.”
“All right. With all the conditions Flynn piled on me, I’d still have to say he took it better than Lin did.”
“Really? She seemed pretty cool about it.”
“We talked about it and Lin didn’t want me to go. Part of it was because she was concerned about me meeting someone else. We addressed that, but it still made her anxious all semester. The other part was, well, she admitted to Jess’s ‘leading me’ theory before, and it made sense. I was kind of reserved –”
“A little bit,” Bryan agreed with a smile.
“Yeah. She caught onto that pretty quick.”
“And she helped you
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