The Paths We Take [boyxboy]

The Paths We Take {10}

I eyed the bruise on my arm, punctuated by little cuts where Aaron's nails had been. I tugged my sleeve down to hide them.

We had made out for a little before it became too much for Aaron. He'd shoved himself away from me, rolling the window down and sticking his head out of it until Bruce and Vic came to the car.

Aaron didn't say another word to me, hadn't texted me since. But it was Saturday now, and I was picking up Lily so we could have lunch together. I could talk to her about what had happened. I still couldn't wrap my mind around it. Aaron, who hated touch, had made out with me.

I went downstairs and David held up the newspaper. "You're in the paper, Kaz."

"What?" I furrowed my brow. "Why?"

He gestured me over and laid it out on the table, pointing. Sure enough, there was a picture of me and Aaron laughing with our ice creams in hand. It was captioned "Casimir Warrick and Aaron Kizziar enjoy ice cream from Amelia's Shack. The popular food and ice cream spot opened for business over the weekend."

Mom peeked over my shoulder at the picture. "Great, now the whole town can see my messy haired son."

"It was Rob Campbell who took the picture," David said. "I know him. I think he knows Brett Kizziar. That's how he knew your names, I'm sure. It's a good picture."

"Aaron is a very handsome boy," mom said.

And he was. For someone who couldn't seem to care less about himself, Aaron's hair was neatly cut and his skin was surprisingly clear for a teenager. He had features as sharp as his smile and his eyes were a sharp blue with hints of green.

"I've seen Brett. Aaron looks a lot like him. Is Aaron's mom blond?" David asked.

I nodded. "Yea, he looks like Brett but he got Nicole's hair color. Now, enough about Aaron. Can someone please take me to pick Lily up so we can get lunch?"

"I'll take you," mom offered.

"Thank you," I said, tossing her the car keys.

She caught them and let out an exasperated sigh. "Casimir, I hid these from you. How did you get them?"

I grinned. "C'mon, mom. Don't underestimate me like that."

She rolled her eyes and gave me a light shove towards the door. We left the house and got in the car together, mom driving towards Lily's house.

"You looked happy in that picture, Kaz," mom said.

"I'm a happy person," I said.

She smiled. "You have a very infectious laugh. You probably don't remember, but even when your father was feeling horribly sick, your laugh always cheered him up."

Too bad laughter didn't cure cancer. "I sort of remember."

"You're a good kid, Kaz. I'm proud of you," she said.

I returned her smile. "You're a good mom. I was bound to turn out right with you raising me."

"You're a suck-up," she said affectionately.