“Long night?” He laughs, seeming to bypass me altogether from where I have migrated to the edge of the living room and almost out of sight. “Was it the girl you’ve been trying to convince to go steady, or the blonde from the other night?”
I hear the front door slam and Caleb clear his throat, and I swear my cheeks are fifty shades of fucking red right now.
He spoke to the guys about me?
And who the fuck is this blonde?
Lucas spins to Caleb’s direction, or almost does, but his attention lands on me for a split second before he does a double take. He looks at me for a long moment. And then his jaw drops, and his eyes find Caleb.
Caleb gives him a glowing, proud smile like he’s won some kind of award. “Coffee, anyone?” he asks, completely unperturbed about this horrible and awkward situation right now.
“So, you two?” Lucas’s face slowly morphs into one of humor as he waves his finger between the two of us.
“Uh…”
“Yep,” Caleb interrupts me, affirming Lucas’s words.
“You’re like together, together?” He tilts his head, almost like he can’t make sense of it.
“No—”
“It’s complicated,” Caleb interrupts me again, and this time I frown at him, crossing my arms and then uncrossing them when it raises the hem of the shirt. Lucas looks over at me with a mix of astonishment and confusion.
“Rosie…him?” He gestures in Caleb’s direction, and it earns him a hand towel whip from Caleb and a chuckle from me. Easing slightly at the poking fun—that is something I can handle…banter—I take a few unsure steps toward the kitchen, where we both settle on a stool, waiting for our coffee.
“I think I suffered a head injury at some point.” I sigh dramatically enough that Lucas chuckles.
“The only plausible explanation.”
“That or I’ve been possessed by aliens and my decisions are no longer my own.” I shrug with a mocking sigh of defeat and Lucas throws his head back in a laugh.
“Ha-ha. You’re both hilarious.” Caleb grumbles and then turns to hand us both a coffee, glaring playfully at me. I can’t help but wink in his direction as I bring the coffee to my lips. I don’t realize that we’re staring at each other until a grunt comes from Lucas’s direction.
“Ugh, are you both going to turn into Noah and Jessie and the girls? Because it’d be really great if you didn’t. I don’t think I can handle another annoyingly loved-up couple.”
“We are not a couple.” I laugh at the absurd insinuation, but for some reason I feel an astounding amount of guilt when I watch Caleb flinch, turning away and heading to the living room without saying anything.
“Right.” Lucas drags out the word, clearly not believing me, but when I look over at him, he looks almost…mad at me? I shoot him a quick, wide-eyed glance, letting him know I’m just as confused as him by all of this. He pouts a moment before turning and following Caleb into the living room.
I really need to clear my head. I need to work out what the fuck is going on, and I can’t do that here. Surrounded by his scent, his eyes, his…ugh,his everything.
“You know, I have heaps to do…so I’m just going to go.” I thumb over my shoulder toward the front door.
“Wait, Rosie?—”
“No, it’s so fine.” I wave a hand, forcing myself to appear super chill and not at all like I’m losing my mind a little. “You guys catch up…I’ll call or text you or whatever.” I dart into Caleb’s room, grab my bag, and do one last look around the room, and when I spin, Caleb is there.
“Why won’t you stay. I can get rid of Lucas.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. It’s fine.I’mfine. I have a lot I need to work out right now and I just…I just need my space.”
He frowns a little, his eyes searching mine before he takes a tentative step forward and I smile at him, even though I know he can see beyond it—that my mind is racing a mile a minute.
“And us?”
Oh boy.I hate that my stomach flips with a myriad of emotions at just that one word. Us.
I want to hate it. I want to run and escape and never look back. But his eyes,goddamn,those eyes. I really secretly love those two letters together. Us. I clear my throat.
