Chapter 15
Liam
I’ve just hit a homerun, and the buzz of the crowd is so wild my ears are ringing.
I’m playing ball again, but this isn’t the baseball dream I’ve had a million times since I was ten.
This one is about Sophie. She is there in the stands.
And when the game is over, we have celebratory sex in the back of my car in the players’ parking lot.
And as hot as hell that part of the dream is, the best part is when we finish, we drive home together. To our house.
Something buzzes again, and I realize it’s not the crowd, and I’m not dreaming. I reach across the expanse of sheets to find her. To haul her into me. To get my mouth on her again.
The phone rings again, and I crack one eye open at the nightstand.
Cal Rhodes is FaceTiming you.
Fuck.
I bolt upright and grab my phone, clutching it to my chest like Cal could see who I’m with through the unanswered phone. But as I frantically look to my right, I realize I’m alone.
The phone rings again.
Fuck.
Then I hear the shower running in the hall.
It strikes me that Sophie is up earlier than usual.
But Cal’s nagging ringtone pulls my attention.
If I answer and Sophie walks in wearing just her towel…
or less…we’re both dead. But if I don’t answer, Cal will think something’s wrong.
I know he was worried about me when he left.
And I was pretty fucked up, so I don’t blame him.
If I don’t answer now, he’ll do something drastic like call my mom.
Fuck.
I need to answer, assure him everything is cool here, and get off the phone before Sophie gets out of the shower. I hit accept.
“Dude!” Cal’s voice booms out of my phone, making me recoil back from the screen.
“Hey, man, what’s up? How’s Cancun?” I say, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.
“Cambodia, dude. You’re still in bed? What time is it there? I thought it was like 8 a.m.?”
“Um, yeah,” I run my fingers through my hair. “It is.”
“What happened to your crack of dawn runs?”
“I just…” I stammer into the phone, my eyes flicking to the bedroom door.
“Oh, fuck me. You have a girl there, don’t you? Or more than one?”
“No!” I say a little too forcefully. “What?”
“Dude, you are still in bed at eight and you have the ‘I had a girl riding my face all night’ hair.”
“Fuck off.” But there’s a little too much heat in my voice, so I try to add a laugh at the end.
“What? It’s cool, man. I’m glad my bed is seeing some action. You’ve probably had more girls in there since I left than I’ve ever had.”
My eyes flick to the door again. Please, Sophie, don’t come out of the bathroom.
“Oh, wait, is she still there? That’s unlike you. You usually have them out the door before they can catch their breath.”
My mind wanders to last night. The way Sophie’s body felt curled around mine, soft and luscious.
Her little mewls of pleasure. The way she smelled, a little like a sugar cookie and a lot like me.
And I loved how she fucking tasted. And the way I felt inside her, like my body was made to fit.
Despite Cal’s accurate description of my habits, when we were done, I didn’t want to go anywhere.
I pulled her on top of me and stroked her hair until we both fell asleep.
I wonder when she’d gotten up? I had hoped we could spend the whole day in this bed, enjoying this thing—this agreement—between us.
“Earth to Liam, sorry to break into your sex dream there, but…”
“Did you call all the way from…wherever the fuck you are to harass me about who I’m sleeping with?”
“No, no, you’re right. But did you at least get this one’s name?”
“I’m hanging up on you. I don’t care if this is your one phone call for the month.”
“I’m staffing a rural health clinic, not a prison.”
I shrug into the phone. “Sounds like the same thing.”
Cal laughs with the familiar boom to his voice.
“Well, you look good,” Cal says, nodding in approval. “Whether it’s copious amounts of anonymous sex or not, you look more like yourself. I was really worried about you when I left.”
Cal has been my ride or die since I was fourteen, and as much shit as we give each other, he’s never let me down.
And here I am lying to his face. I should tell him.
I should come clean. But I promised Sophie I wouldn’t say anything to her brother.
I can’t break her trust like that either.
It’s loud wherever Cal is calling from, and I strain to hear if the shower is still running over the din.
I don’t want Sophie to walk in right now.
“Thanks, man,” I say, but my eyes dart around the room.
I try to angle the phone away from the door, but Sophie’s stuff is everywhere. If I move at all, Cal will see her clothes, her art supplies, and her teddy bear that she’s had since she was a kid, Mr. Snowflake, on the dresser. If Cal sees any of it, he’ll know.
“Liam, what’s going on there?” Cal’s voice changes. It shifts from the teasing tone he’s been using to one that is filled with that classic Cal Rhodes big brother concern. “Are you okay? Wait. Who’s there with you?”
He knows. He fucking knows. He knows his little sister is here, and he knows I’ve been taking advantage of her. I don’t know how, but he knows.
“Nothing,” I let out a long sigh, like I’m getting bored with this conversation.
“You’re right, I had someone here last night, but it’s no big deal.
” I stare at Cal through the phone. My heart is beating so wildly, I’m sure he can see it through my bare chest, but I keep my expression neutral.
“You know me. It’s just sex, it doesn’t mean anything. ”