Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
I expected him to roll off of me at some point in the night. But he only rolled onto me further. He’s completely on top of me now.
His naked body is completely draped across mine.
For the first hour, I just cupped his lower back, holding on to him. I behaved. But then my fingers itched to move, and I let my thumb slide up his spine. Just an inch, but the moan of satisfaction he gave at the simple touch snapped something wound tightly in me.
I spend the rest of the night letting my hands move across his warm skin, bouncing up his spine, curling around his shoulders, raking across his scalp.
The sounds of approval he gives me with each graze render me unable to sleep, adrenaline and excitement writhing inside of me.
When the sun peeks over the horizon, casting the room in pinks and blues, I see his phone light up, a message on his screen.
My stroking hand pauses, and he shifts against me, murmuring something in his fevered state.
My gaze strains toward the phone on the side table, and I see several other messages pop up. I know little about Caleb, his family, and his life before becoming my roommate. But perhaps he’s the kind of guy who messages his mother before bed, and now she’s worried about him.
It’s a wild thought, one that even I doubt, but it has me reaching for his phone, my fingertips dragging it toward me. I really shouldn’t do this. I shouldn’t, but once that phone is in my palm, I know I won’t be able to let this rest.
My gaze flicks down to the screen, and I see he has messages from Aunt Del, a guy named Luke, and another named Mal. I know that in order to see what they said, I need access to his phone, but that’s a major invasion of his privacy.
I debate it, my hands leaving Caleb’s back for a moment, just to see if I can open his phone. But then he shifts restlessly on top of me, and I stroke his back once more, helping him settle. His face turns, and so does my wrist.
Unlocking the phone.
I shouldn’t do it. I should wake him, but he’s sleeping happily, his body still against mine. I shouldn’t bother him. He needs to rest.
My thumb flicks across the screen, and I pull up the first message.
Aunt Del:
How are you, baby?
We miss you. You coming home soon?
Send me a date and I’ll make your favorite dinner.
Jealousy courses through me. What would it be like to have someone care about me that much, to invite me home just to visit, with no strings attached?
I exit out of that conversation, and know I shouldn’t, but open up the one from Luke.
Luke:
Dude, wanna see the shit I just took? It’s huge.
I click out of that conversation before I see anything I can’t forget. Then I click over to Mal. I know this is his best friend. He’s mentioned him more than a few times.
Mal:
You wanna go work out?
I debate this. I truly do. In my mind, I go over all the points, positive and negative, before deciding to respond to Mal.
Caleb:
He’s sick. Fever. This is his roommate btw.
I see the three little dots wiggle on the bottom of the screen.
And then a message from Aunt Del pops up.
Aunt Del:
Been worried about you. I know this time of year may be hard, with the anniversary of your mom’s death. Call me.
Fuck, his mom is dead?
Suddenly, Mal replies, asking if Caleb needs anything, and before I can respond, Aunt Del is calling.
I hold my breath, but answer all the same.
“Hello?” I hear her say on the other end of the line.
“Hello,” I reply softly. Caleb sighs against me, and I stroke the back of his neck gently.
“You must be the roommate. Mal messaged, said Caleb was sick.”
Well, that was fast.
“Yes, he is.”
She hesitates a moment and then asks, “Does he need anything?”
Caleb’s lips brush against my neck, and I bite back a cry for help.
“I don’t think so. I’ll take care of him.”
“I’m his aunt, by the way. You must be Whit. He’s told us about you.”
My heart explodes into tiny fragments, my vision going slightly fuzzy.
“Oh.”
“Nothing bad, I promise. But listen, I have some soup I’ve made up, and I have far too much. I’m going to stop by with some.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll call again when I’m close. I’ll bring his cousin, Luke, with me. Just for peace of mind.”
I hum my agreement, and she gives me a quick goodbye with a promise of being over later.
I set the phone down, thinking that this is enough prying for the day. I should never have messaged Mal, and I definitely shouldn’t have answered Aunt Del’s call. But what’s done is done, and honestly, he’s lucky to have someone out there who loves him.
He shifts against me, grunting in his sleep, and I place both of my hands against his back and stroke, feeling him shiver above me.
That shiver slips under my skin and sets me alight.
A few hours later, Aunt Del messages Caleb, letting me know that she’ll be arriving around lunch. When it grows closer, I realize I need to get up, shower and change.
The only problem is, he won’t let go of me, and every time I pull my hands from his skin, he whines and holds on to me tightly. His feet are tucked in under my calves, his face buried in my neck, and his arms are tucked around my shoulders.
I have a human-sized koala attached to me.
Perhaps I could stand with him clinging to me, and shower that way.
That has my mind reeling, clearly unhinged from lack of sleep.
I will absolutely not shower with Caleb. I’ve seen him naked, but that will never happen again, and he will absolutely never see me without my clothes on.
But I do need to get up and get changed.
It’s a feat. I peel his limbs off me, and he whines like he’s being ripped from everything familiar. It makes something deep inside me ache.
I want to crawl back underneath him and let him slide against me, but when I’m finally out of his clutches, he curls around my pillow and stuffs his face into it.
“Whit,” he moans, and I rush out of the room, not needing to hear it—him moaning my name.
He’s nothing I want.
Not at all.
I shower and change, the water cold and refreshing. So different from the heat of Caleb’s body. And when I’m finally ready for Aunt Del to arrive, I feel myself full of nervous jitters. I shouldn’t care if they like me. I’m his roommate and nothing more. I’ll probably never see them again.
A knock on the door has me standing a little straighter. And when I pull it open, I expect to see a woman standing there, holding a container of soup. What I don’t expect is her and about four other people on the other side.
We blink at each other, and then they push their way in, bumping into me as they go, all chattering at the same time.
Aunt Del is left standing there, a container in her hand, her eyes twinkling.
She’s older than she sounded on the phone.
She has gray hair pulled back neatly, lines softening the corners of her mouth and eyes.
There’s a steadiness to her, something that’s come from years of being listened to and, based on the way everyone is crowding around my room and jostling each other, ignored as well.
She’s stronger than she initially appears.
“Hello, Whit,” she says and then moves to the kitchen to place the container in the fridge. I’m slightly overwhelmed by the people here. Who the fuck are they?
“Sorry about this. They can be a bit much, but they were worried. Caleb is a big baby when he’s sick.”
“The biggest man-child,” one of the tall ones says, a goofy grin on his face, his hair tucked under a beanie.
“Sorry, but…who are you?” I ask, my voice sharper than I expect it to be.
“Oh, right. Let me introduce you to the family,” Aunt Del says, touching my arm gently. It’s soft, caring, like a mother should be.
“These are my sons, Luke, Sem, and Liam, and this is Liam’s wife, Anne.”
I nod as my eyes swivel around them all. “Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you, too,” Anne says and then reaches out her hand to me. I shake it quickly and then stuff my hand in my pocket.
“Where’s Mal? Figured he’d be here,” Luke says, eyes swiveling around the apartment.
Just as he says that, the door opens, and the man I’ve seen Caleb with around campus bursts in.
“Yo, dudes! Good to see you. You coming to check on Caleb?”
“The biggest baby!” Liam says, and they all give each other bro hugs, the kind where you slap each other on the back roughly and grunt. It’s affection, I guess.
More than I ever got growing up.
I huff and turn my gaze to Aunt Del, who is watching me carefully.
“Do you mind if I check on my boy?”
I nod and gesture toward the hallway.
Aunt Del moves toward the bedroom, and everyone follows, crowding around Caleb, who is still in my bed, his head tucked against my pillow, his eyelids flickering open.
Aunt Del and Anne are gentle with him. Everyone else is a little too rough. They pat him on the shoulder, call him names—affectionately, I believe, but names nonetheless—and remark on his naked state.
And then the worst thing that could ever happen happens.
Caleb leans up, the covers pooling around his waist, his eyes flicking around the room.
“Whit,” he whines.
My cheeks flame, and when Caleb moves again, almost exposing himself to the entire room, everyone groans.
“Dude! Put that shit away! No one wants to see your tiny dick, man!”
Caleb ignores him, his eyes slightly wild. “Where’s Whit? Need Whit.”
Aunt Del pushes me forward slightly. “Go on.”
My cheeks are molten now. Everyone is staring at me as I step past them toward the bed. When he sees me, he calms, his face relaxing, his arms out.
“Come here,” he says softly, and my heart thunders in my chest.
Hell. This is hell. I can feel my pulse in my throat now, and I inhale deeply.
They care about him. I want to show them I’m doing what I can.
And why the hell is Caleb pouting?
“I’m coming,” I say. It’s a wheeze, more like.
When I sit on the edge of the bed, not committing to anything, he pushes me down and crawls up on me, causing another groan from the men in the room.
The sheets have slipped off, leaving him completely bare and exposed.