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guy can, but you usually don’t. What gives?”
    He flicks the cap of his beer off and takes a seat beside me. “My parents stopped by yesterday.”
    Now it all suddenly makes sense. As much as I love Jason’s family and consider them my own, his parents are incredibly overbearing. He’s the youngest of three brothers and they’ve doted on him ever since I can remember. They don’t like the idea of him living on his own and not only check in with him on a regular basis, but expect a great deal from him. His dad’s a lawyer, a damn good one, and as Jason mentioned the other day, wants him to follow in his footsteps. Jason, on the other hand, has absolutely no desire to follow anyone’s path. He wants to pave his own way, which I admire. Unfortunately, right now, even being a senior in college, he’s kind of lost. He has no idea what he wants to do and his dad continues to put pressure on him to join the firm in any capacity once he graduates.
    “So your mom cleaned up?” I tease.
    He chugs down some beer and sets it on the table. “Uh, no. I’m capable of cleaning.”
    “So, what happened?”
    He crosses his legs and folds his arms across his chest. “It was fine. Same as always. Dad gave me the same lecture I got on the phone the other day about getting my shit together and coming to work for him while Mom just sat there saying nothing. I know she doesn’t even agree with him, but yet she still says nothing. I don’t know, man. There’s too much pressure to figure out what I want to do with my life. Sometimes I think they forgot what it’s like to be young. Maybe I want some time to explore my options. Who knows? I might move to the city and become an actor. What about you?”
    I scrub my hand across my face as I consider his words. Jason and I are almost in the same boat. I mean, I’m an Economics major, but do I really want to do something in that realm? I’m not sure. I love computers and I’m a really good problem solver. I can take almost anything apart and put it back together so that it functions. As time goes on, I’ve thought more and more about it. I wish Dad was here so we could talk about it together. Although, if he was here, I’d be at the University of California right now playing baseball. “I don’t know. I’m still thinking about my options.”
    There’s a long pause and I can tell Jason’s mulling something over in his head. “So, what’s Delilah up to? Is she feeling better?”
    My jaw stiffens and I give him the death stare he’s accustomed to when he brings up my sister, but this time he actually does something that surprises me. He doesn’t back down.
    He grabs a pillow and tucks it under his arms. “You know, Ash. I don’t know how to break this to you, but your sister is pretty amazing. She’s not only beautiful, but she’s sweet and sensitive, incredibly smart … not to mention she’s feisty as hell, which is pretty freaking irresistible. Oh wait, and did I mention that she’s twenty years old and we’re not kids anymore?”
    I grin and launch a pillow at his face. “Gee, thanks for telling me how amazing my sister is … like I don’t know that already. But remember, you promised you’d stay away from her.”
    He lobs a pillow in my direction. “Yeah, yeah. I remember,” he grumbles. “Come on, let’s go look at my laptop.”

 
     
    I’m back in the library the next day. I know … big surprise. Cara’s staring at me, images of milk chocolate dancing before my eyes. “Seriously, why do you want to hang out with me?”
    I stall, rubbing my forearm and looking around. “I don’t know … I find you … interesting.”
    She flicks her pencil, causing little dots of lead to appear on the counter. “Hmph. Interesting as in a specimen you need to examine more closely?”
    The edges of my lips curve as I rock on my feet. “No. I’d say interesting more like a specimen I find fascinating … that I’d like to dissect.”
    She’s failing miserably to