Falling For My Stepbrother
Chapter 16--Everything Goes Up With The Bonfire-2

I took them to my favorite sandwich joint in town. When I walked inside I came into contact with yet another person I knew from high school. If they weren't wearing a name tag I would have totally forgotten who they were. But they recognized me easily. They said hi to me, taking our orders, and then falling back into the kitchen.

This is the problem with my town. Everyone always comes back. I know that it's break and that a lot of people just want to spend time with their family for the holidays, but everyone always comes back. Will is living a town over and he's already started looking for a home here. I'm sure Matt is going to come back once he and his roommate branch away. And James? James wants to leave but he also knows it would be difficult to. If he can make it into the city he will. But first he wants to start the car shop.

"This is all American food," I said to the boys as our sandwiches came out.

"Yeah but Hispanic food is amazing too," Pierce said before taking a bite from his sandwich. When he did his eyes widened, "Oh my God."

I smirked, crunching my own sandwich. Aaron's eyebrows lifted as he took a bite. This shop is about a thousand times better than Subway. It's amazing. My dad helped the owner get a better deal for the space, so my family always ends up getting a discount.

When we were done, I led the boys back through town. Once I've shown them all of town square, there wasn't much else to do. I'm sure they wanted to keep exploring and walking around, but for me, I was quickly getting bored. Not because of them, just because the town is what the town is.

"So ice cream?" I asked Aaron as we rounded a corner. Just ahead of us was Jack's Parlor. If there's one thing I really miss about home it's Jack's. When I worked there I would always get an employee's discount. And if it we had no customers and the shop felt like a ghost town, Jack would always let James and I study.

Jack-the owner-is by the far the nicest man I've ever met. Everyone in town adores him. He sponsors a lot of the high school activities. Caters occasionally. And knows about basically everyone in town. Some of the stores here in town get vandalized from the high schoolers that truly don't know what else to do. Not Jack's. Jack's is the one place that no one will touch. "It's already cold," Aaron said. "You're going to make me eat ice cream?"

"Yes," I said with a 'duh' tone. These two have never had Jack's ice cream. It's an all year store. Even on the coldest days of winter, Jack's is still open and people are still flowing inside. "Is it really that good?" Aaron asked.

"I promise," I grabbed his hand and dragged him across the street. Pierce following after us. The moment I walked into Jack's I was hit with the familiar smell of sweet. It was like entering a candy store but better. The bell on the door caught the attention of a few people that were eating and Jack who was behind the cash register.

His hair was still as white as I remember. An old but soft smile quickly spread on his lips. Jack always looked like Santa Clause if you take away the beard and the really big stomach. He's a bit thinner but I think that's because of the old age. "Parker Finch," He said happily while coming around the counter to give me a hug. "One of my favorite customers and employees."

I smiled hugging Jack back. The reason I got a job here was because James and I used to come to Jack's every weekend for ice cream. He got to know us from a young age until high school. Where he asked if we would like to work for him. James and I nodded and together became the employee duo. On the wall behind the cash register there's two framed pictures. One of James with his graduation cap as he stood between Jack and I. The second framed picture was exactly the same except I was the one in the graduating cap.

Jack is like the grandfather James and I never had. He gave us both college advice. When I was deciding whether to go in-state, Jack was against it. He said I had much better potential and that I should go somewhere else I could replace my way of using it. I didn't take his advice the way James took Jack's advice to major in something other than business. But at least I caught myself. When I told Jack I was moving to Miami he was ecstatic.

"What brings you about here?" He asked putting a small towel over his shoulder while crossing his arms.

I pulled Aaron and Pierce to both of my sides, "I'm here to enculture my two friends."

Jack smiled going back around the counter and standing by the buckets of ice cream. "What would you all like?"

I got my typical cone with three different flavors. Mint, cookie dough, and vanilla. Pierce ordered

a cookies and cream. And Aaron went with a small cone of vanilla. When I went ahead to pay Jack put his hand up and smiled, "On the house."

I smiled back, "Thanks Jack."

"You kiddos have fun." He grinned before going back into the shop. Probably to make the ice cream. Even though James and I used to work here, we still don't know how Jack makes so much ice cream and how it ends up tasting so good.

We all took a seat in the back of the shop. There was a comfortable sofa near the radiator so we could warm ourselves up in the cold store. Sure, our ice cream would melt faster but considering it was so tasty it wouldn't take us long to eat it all.

"Holy shit," Aaron said quietly so that the family a few seats away from us wouldn't hear him. He had just tried the vanilla ice cream. I wasn't surprised by his reaction. Jack's has the best ice cream in the world. "This is so good."

Pierce-who had a cup instead of cone-took a spoonful and moaned. "This taste just like the ice cream I had in Rome."

"Of course it does," I said with a smirk.

"Can we come back tomorrow?" Pierce asked.

I laughed and nodded, taking my own licks of the ice cream.

When we arrived home, Matt made me help him shovel up the driveway. Pierce joined in his reasoning was because he'd never shoveled snow before. So he was excited. Matt and I were not, shoveling the driveway was probably our least favorite chore while growing up. It started snowing halfway through so Matt and I gave up and went back inside.

Aaron was watching a movie with my family. We joined in, half-way through the film. Will made sure that neither Aaron and I were near each other. A classic Will move that had my eyes rolling. Ashley texted me later in the day, giving me the directions of the bonfire and what I should bring. I of course was in charge of the marshmallows. We only had to wait a few hours for the bonfire so once the movie was done I told the guys to get ready. James was going to come along too, mainly because the people getting together were some of his friends as well.

He decided to drive us in his car Jonquil. It's his white car that we decided to name Jonquil because one day there was yellow snow on it. It looked just like a Jonquil flower which made us all laugh. And we were thankful to have a better name than Tulip.

"Come on Park," James called as the sun started to set. "We're going to be late."

I quickly headed downstairs with a backpack that was loaded with blankets. It always gets ridiculously cold after dark. Thankfully, it stopped snowing hard. Just a few flurries were falling from the sky. The only thing that would keep us warm is the fire, which feels and looks amazing in the snow.

"You guys ready?" I asked Pierce and Aaron who were waiting in the kitchen with James. They nodded, even though I could see the small bit of fear in Aaron's eyes. I think Aaron's body was never built for the cold. He handles the heat and humidity in Miami just fine, but once he's placed in snow it looks like he's completely out of his habitat. It's like putting a crocodile into a lake in Canada. Unnatural. Highly fatal.

Aaron and I took the backseats of the car while Pierce took shotgun and James drove us. The location was just on a hill that overlooks the entire town. I've been to it several times, it's where a lot of high school parties take place. The cops know about it and ignore us entirely. Having a small town means most of the police officers around here have kids that do the same exact stupid things all the other kids do. And even though the hill is popular amongst teens-it's also where a lot of college kids meet up.

It's just outside of town, honestly in the middle of nowhere. James had to take a back road and if this were a horror movie, we would be the ones that die. The monster from Jeepers Creepers would have a feast if he knew we were here.

I got a text from Ashley was we got closer, Your ex is here. Permission to push him off the hill? Permission denied, I answered.

Aw why?

Because you're too pretty to go to prison.

"Is that Ash?" James asked. Of course he'd know, Ashley has a distinctive ringtone for whenever she texts me.

I nodded as I texted her back about how I wanted to keep a whole bag of marshmallows. "Yeah," I said.

"What's she saying?"

I shrugged, "She's giving me a heads up that Jeremy and his girlfriend are there. Also, I'm telling her I'm going to steal a lot of marshmallows."

James looked through the rearview mirror directly towards me. Then his eyes quickly flicked over at Aaron. "Do you want me to turn around Park?"

He completely ignored my last sentence. Focused entirely on the first. I frowned and could feel Aaron staring directly at me. "No," I said. "Why should we?"

"Well I mean..." James said it softly but the stern look I gave him kept him driving. He and I seemed to have a telepathic understanding that I was not going to back out and he kept trying

to convince me to turn around. Eventually he caught on and smirked looking back on the road. "I don't want you to deal with asshole today."

"I can handle myself," I said lying back in the chair. Aaron was watching me with his amused expression. He looked as relaxed as ever. His hand reaching over to take mine.

I didn't want people to look at me as some heartbroken figure. Being sheltered from my failed relationship isn't going to make a difference. Jeremy isn't a part of my life anymore, there's no reason to act like he is. It's much simpler to move on.

"Don't worry Parker. Dealing with asshole is my job," Pierce turned around giving me a dimpled grin. "Hashtag, the gay life."

I busted into laughter as Aaron chuckled through the rumbles of his chest. Even James as laughing lightly. "Thanks Pierce," I said when my laughing subsided. "I appreciate the gesture."

"No problem roomie," He turned back around just as James started looking for a parking space. I could see Ashley's car just a few feet away from ours.

When we got out of the car, I could hear the screaming and shouting of a few people. In the distance I could see the ever growing fire. The sun was just about to fall behind the horizon. James locked the car and we all headed in the direction of the bonfire. Our feet crunching underneath the snow until it was leveled with everyone else's footsteps.

Ashley spotted us and shouted my name as she came running towards me. She pulled me into a hug before I handed her the marshmallows. "I'm so glad you made it Park," Ashley said smiling. She quickly said hi to the rest of my group before putting her arm through mine and leading me to the bonfire. "There's someone I want you to meet."

Her smile didn't falter the entire time I was walking. She stopped me in front of one of the many logs that was situated around the fire bit. Sitting on the log was a guy about our age-if not older. He was wearing a pair of glasses and kept looking around like he wasn't sure how to blend in. He seemed so out of place that I somewhat felt bad for him.

"Park," Ashley said catching both the guy and I's attention. "This is Olly."

I realized then who this was-Ashley's nerdy boyfriend. I had never imagined her with such a nerd but he smiled at me the moment he realized who I was. He stood up and shook my hand, still shy and even in the firelight I could see him blush. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you," He said quietly.

"You too," I couldn't stop the evident smile on my face. "Ash has told me so much about you." Both Ashley and Olly started to blush uncontrollably. I didn't think it was possible for Ashley to like a nerd like Olly, even just looking at him he screamed someone who would rather stay home and watch Star Wars than socialize. Not that it's bad to want to do that, heck, I've done it. But this isn't the typical kind of guy Ashley goes for. Which is why it made me so happy. "Parker is here!" Someone in the distance yelled.

I glanced behind me but wasn't sure who had just called my name. At the other end of the fire, I saw Pierce and Aaron sticking around with James. They were standing relatively close to the fire, especially Aaron who already looked like he was cold. The three of them glanced in my direction when that person had yelled my name.

I was suddenly bombarded by people and I couldn't help but feel constricted. Ashley helped pull me away and told everyone to back off because I was her best friend. I thanked Ashley and she just smiled. "We just want to talk to the valedictorian!" Someone shouted.

"Yeah what's been going on in Smart Girls life?"

"Is Miss Perfect still perfect?"