Chapter Thirty
El
My father kept insisting that he was okay with my relationship with Matt, that he loved Matt and would accept him into our family if things continued down a good path.
I wasn’t convinced that he meant it, but I’d take what I could get for now.
The conversations we’d had about it since my mother’s birthday party were short and surface-level. Over the phone didn’t seem like the best way to have that conversation anyway.
I’d admit, it had all been bothering me, but it didn’t for one second take from the way I felt about Matt. Every time my mind seemed to be heading to the gutter, he was there, helping me talk through it, or sometimes, fucking all the negative emotions out of me.
I was getting too used to letting his touch and taste carry me off to a better place, a fairytale land where our problems were nonexistent.
Tonight was our first night out since Matt’s starting position was put on the line, and I think it was one of the calmest nights out that we’d had since I moved here.
I’d grown so used to Matt’s bed that I was starting to like it more than my own.
Matt’s fragile snores were few and far between. Nuzzled against him, his light stubble scraped along my forehead, but I didn’t want to move. I was warm, comfortable, safe.
I was ignoring the need to use the bathroom, which was why I’d waken up in the first place.
Biting the bullet, I stood, icy air burning into my skin. For a moment, my teeth chattered, and I held back a groan, snagging a sweatshirt off the floor.
In an attempt not to wake Matt, I pulled his bedroom door open in slow motion, revealing a new wave of darkness.
Bladder on the brink of exploding, I was about to beeline for the bathroom when Cody’s door, directly across the hall, cracked open.
Great, I was about to have to race him to the bathroom.
But instead of seeing a messy flow of dirty blonde hair and a shirtless goalie, I saw bare legs and an oversized Cedar U sweatshirt, accompanied by a chaotic bun of black hair.
Oh. My. God.
Both standing like deer in headlights, Jade and I stared at each other.
Drawing in a staggered breath, shock was all I knew for a moment before Jade tugged on my arm and shut the bathroom door behind us.
“Jade...”
“Shh,” she hushed.
Part of me was convinced I was still asleep. I had to be, right? There was no way I just saw my surrogate little sister walk out of my boyfriend’s best friend’s room.
Especially not the guy who was known for his playboy tendencies and threesomes.
Jesus, I could faint.
“It’s not what you think,” she stammered.
“Jade,” my voice sharpened, reality bulldozing into me, “you’re half naked! I’m pretty sure it’s exactly what I think!”
The sassy ring to her scoff made me want to smack her. “Fine. But if we’re gonna have this conversation, can I at least pee?”
Arms folded tightly across my chest, I was less disturbed by her sitting on the toilet in front of me than I was about what I saw a few minutes ago.
I breathed heavily through my nose like a bull, waiting for any sort of explanation, even though no explanation in the universe would’ve been good enough.
Cody was an attractive guy; that was no secret.
But Jade had no idea what she was getting herself into.
I wasn’t surprised on her part though. She was young, na?ve, new to college.
Cody, on the other hand? He should’ve known better than to get with his best friend’s little sister.
This had death sentence written all over it.
I was tempted to break into his room and slap the shit out of him while he slept.
“Are you gonna explain?” I griped.
She sighed. “I really like him. And he likes me too.”
I didn’t want to tell her I didn’t believe it— from his end, at least.
“Jade, you know you have to tell Matt about this.”
“I...” she trailed off, flushing the toilet. “I know, and I will.”
“Like... immediately.”
“Ugh,” she groaned. She’d always been hard-headed and rebellious, ever since she was young. “I don’t want to tell him about my,” her voice dropped to a whisper and her face scrunched, “sex life.”
“Well, obviously don’t walk up to him and say, ‘Hey big brother, I fucked your best friend, by the way,’” I mocked. Jade shot me a scowl. “Just tell him you like Cody and leave it at that.”
The tapping sound of Jade’s fingernails between her teeth tore into my ears. I hadn’t seen her bite her nails in years. It took a significant amount of time for her to break that habit, but apparently, all that hard work was off the table tonight.
“He’ll probably still know.”
Probably.
“You still have to tell him,” I said.
“Okay, j—just give me a week to figure out how to tell him.”
I lolled my head at her, a crease between my brows.
“Just one week!” she whined.
“Fine,” I sighed. “I will give you one week, but if you don’t tell him by then, I will.”