True Blue (Imperium Coast #1)

Chapter 29

29

I hang up the phone, staring at it in my hand for a minute, heart thumping. Then, without thinking much about it, I’m calling Bentley, continuing to pace my bedroom and running a hand through my hair. It rings several times before the generic voicemail audio starts playing. I glance at a clock and realize he won’t be touching down in Zurich for at least another two hours.

The record tone goes off in my ear and I take a breath. “Hi, Bent. Hope your flight was good. Also wish you were here right now. Janette’s on her way to Maine. Her mom fucking ambushed her with Christopher and then belittled her when Janette tried to stand up for herself.” I stop pacing, pressing my nails into my shaking palm. “I’m so fucking pissed right now, Bent. If Blue didn’t need me to be here, I would be on the first plane down there and banging down Aunt Sandy’s door.” I release my fist and run my hand through my hair, pulling it a bit and gritting my teeth.

Taking a deep breath, I let go of all the built-up tension on the long exhale. “But I can’t. You would tell me; I need to be here for Blue.” I close my eyes. “I really wish you were here. You’d be able to calm both of us down so much better than I can. I’m too mad right now.” I stare at the photo of Mom with Dad, Aunt Sandy, and Uncle Levi on the wall. My eyes get stuck on Mom’s smiling face. “I’m sorry about what I said before you left. That wasn’t fair. I know you want to tell Mira when it’s the best time to do so. I shouldn’t have ruined that moment.”

I bite my lip. “I love you too, Bentley. I should have just said that back in the suite, but I’m not going to make you wait to hear it since you actually waited for my reaction.” I chuckle, remembering Janette just walking out of the suite while I tried to restart my brain. “I love you.” A smile stretches across my face. “I’m going to tell Blue when she gets here too. I know I sort of said it in my voicemail, but I'm going to say it for real to her face.” I sigh. “I still can’t believe Aunt Sandy invited that prick over to try to force Blue to talk to him again. You need to call her when you touch down. I don’t know what time her flight will touch down here, but I’ll text you the details when I have them. I love you. Call me when you get this.”

I hang up, checking my messages to see if there’s anything from Janette yet.

“You suck at leaving voicemails,” Layla says, and my head snaps up to find her standing in my doorway.

My blood starts to race, realizing what she’s just overheard. “How much of that did you hear?”

She walks into the room, closing the door behind her and then facing me again. “You need to learn to shut your door if you don’t want to be overheard. I’ve been standing there since about the start of that voicemail. But I heard you talking to Janette before that. My room’s right across the hall, remember?” She folds her arms over her chest and leans back against the door. “Are you dating my best friend?”

I drop down to sit on the edge of my bed, looking up at her. “Yes.” I flip my phone in my hands. “And I’m dating my roommate.” Tension starts to creep into her shoulders, and she purses her lips. I cut in again quickly. “And they’re also dating each other.”

All the tension leaves her body, arms and shoulders sagging and eyebrows furrowing. “Wait, what?”

I sigh, rubbing the back of my neck. “We’re all together. I’m with Bentley and Janette and they’re with me. And vice versa…in all directions.”

Layla stares at me and I can practically see her brain working to process the information. “She’s actually dating both of you?” She laughs a little at the end, swiping her hand across her forehead as she starts to pace the same route I just did. “She told me she was attracted to both of you at the beginning of the semester, but she was so dead set on not ruining your friendship that I assumed she would never act on any of it.”

I chuckle. “She kind of didn’t. The two of us slipped up and kissed her and both times she reacted by backing off. So, we ended up in this weird limbo for a while where we all knew we liked each other, but not acting on it because we didn’t know how the other relationships were going.”

She stops, looking back at me. “So how did we get here if you all ended up in a stalemate?”

I smile, feeling a knot unwind in my chest the more I tell Layla about us. “Bentley skipped class and forced me to talk to him. We realized we both wanted to be together, and we both wanted to be with Janette. And both of us were pretty sure she wanted to be with each of us. So, we took a chance, and it ended up working. We’ve been together since the night we went to that bar Plankton’s.” I flip my phone in my hand again. “You can ask Blue if you want any more details about it. She’s wanted to tell you, but we were all waiting to tell anyone.”

Layla comes over and sits down on the bed next to me, shoulder to shoulder. “So, you’re dating my best friend and Bentley Marshall. And my best friend is dating my brother and Bentley Marshall.”

“Why do you keep calling him Bentley Marshall ?” I mimic her voice as I say his name.

She throws her hands up. “Because apparently, I’m the only one around here who knows who he is! Who his parents are! His grandfather’s a freaking judge for fuck’s sake! And you and Janette act like he’s just some guy you both happened to have a crush on.”

“Oh god.” I fall back on the bed, hands falling on my stomach still clutching my phone. “Do you have a crush on my boyfriend?”

Layla laughs, settling down beside me. “No, I just can’t get over that three months ago we were just hanging out here, living our random lives, and now you’re dating a freaking god and goddess.” She shakes her head, staring up at the ceiling while I look over at her with skepticism.

“You sure you don’t have a crush on my boyfriend? I already know you’re in love with my girlfriend, but I feel slightly less threatened by that since I know girls aren’t your thing.”

She grins, closing her eyes. “Oh, please. I could steal J from you in a second.” She snaps her finger in the air. “You do one thing wrong, and I'll be in there like that.”

I laugh, settling back to look at the ceiling again. “I don’t doubt it. But I'm going to try really fucking hard not to do anything to fuck this up.” I pause, drumming my fingers on the top of my phone. “I love them.”

Layla’s head swivels over to look at me. “Aw, Axe.” She wiggles in closer to me, hooking our arms together and resting her cheek on my shoulder. “I can’t wait to plan the wedding. Can you even legally marry two people?”

I snort. “Slow down, Lay. I still have to tell them.”

She slaps my chest. “You haven’t told them yet?”

“Ow,” I complain, rubbing the center of my chest. “Janette sort of ran out after telling us she loves us, so I didn’t get the chance.” I bite the side of my cheek. “I sort of fucked up telling Bentley, but I said it in the voicemail, so he’ll know soon.”

She groans. “You said it in a voicemail? How did you manage to get two people to be in love with you at the same time.”

I smile. “I don’t know. Ask your best friend.”

Layla shoves my shoulder lightly. We both laugh for a moment, settling back down beside each other. “What did Aunt Sandy do to her that she’s coming here already?”

I sigh. “Christopher was at their house when she got there. I think they got into a fight about it. I don’t know the full story, but I’m sure she’ll tell us both when she gets here.”

“We should go tell Dad she’s coming. He’ll want to make up the guest room for her and go buy that juice she used to drink all the time.”

I nod, neither of us moving. “Do you think he’ll understand?” I whisper.

“Dad? I think he’ll be confused as hell. But he won’t be upset. He never cared who you were with, just that you were happy. Same will apply to this.” Layla squeezes my shoulder. “Just tell him your girlfriend is coming for Thanksgiving. You can tell him about your boyfriend in the Swiss Alps later.” She giggles and I roll my eyes, leaning over to kiss the top of her head.

“Thanks, Lay.” She shrugs, and we stay on my bed for a few more minutes.

“I’m going to take a baking class next semester,” Layla whispers. I look down at her, not moving my head. “I don’t know how to tell Dad. I don’t want him to think it’ll become anything more, but since I'm just kind of still exploring, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to try a culinary class.”

I smile, glancing at the photo of Mom and Clifford’s Cupcakes again. “I’m sure he’ll be excited for you. And you’re already a great cook. You always had the most of Mom’s touch in the kitchen.” Layla nods, chewing her bottom lip. “I can tell him about me being in a triad right after you tell him if you want?” Layla bleats a laugh. My phone buzzes against my stomach.

Blue

Just got my ticket online. On my way to the airport right now. Be there around 9:30.

I type back.

Okay. I’ll pick you up. Call me if you get bored at your gate.

“Blue will be here in about four hours.” I sit up. “We should go tell Dad and get everything ready for her. You still going to make Mom’s cobbler?”

Layla sits up, running her hands through her hair. “Yeah, Dad got me all the stuff I need so I’ll prep it tonight after dinner.”

I nod, grabbing her hand. “Come on, I'm going to need you there to tell Dad.”

She follows after me, hand squeezing mine as we head down the hall and I start crafting a speech to try to tell our dad about my relationship.