Dustin’s father cast the deciding vote, saying he understood both his son’s and his new wife’s reasoning. Dustin’s mother had a right to know, but he thought it best to wait until they had more information. “Call him,” Jason said. “See if he picks up. If he tells you the truth, we’ll go from there.” Dustin would have preferred to make the call alone but could tell his father wasn’t going anywhere. Nicholas didn’t answer anyway, so Dustin left a simple voice mail and asked that his brother call him back. He tried to keep his voice neutral so his brother wouldn’t think he was angry about the three grand. Honestly, Dustin didn’t care about the money at all, but he was freaked out that his brother took the car. Nicholas had done some really crazy things while under the influence of drugs, but as far as Dustin knew Nicholas was sober when he did this, which made Dustin wonder if love was the most powerful drug of all.

Since the Kimmie debacle, Dustin had made a point to shut down his interest in romantic pursuits. It seemed like so much drama and pain, and he wasn’t quite sure what the point was, though if things had turned out differently between him and Kimmie, he would probably be dancing in the streets and shouting the exact opposite from any and all rooftops.

Dustin thought about his brother driving twenty-seven-hundred miles in a stolen car for a meth addict named Natalia and wondered whether his journey would end in disappointment and disillusionment like his own quest for Kimmie had. He eventually concluded that every man needed to find out the truth about love for himself. Dustin loved his brother and wanted to believe in the fantasy that perhaps this girl was what his brother had been looking for his whole life, and that she might fill the void that he’d once filled with drugs.

Dustin stared down at his phone and saw the newest selfie Lolly had posted. She and Steven were dressed up for the party as Cher and John Wick. They looked so beautiful and happy together. More than that, they looked like their lives were better than everyone else’s.

Dustin had read that there had been a growing trend of anxiety and depression in teenagers who had grown up with smartphones. Everyone was addicted to gawking at the endless photo stream of beautiful people living fabulous lives. It seemed the only reason for doing anything these days was just to post pictures of all the fun you were having, just like Lolly and Steven were doing.