by Claire Raye
The drive over to her sister’s place is quick. We spend most of it chatting about our day and organizing our schedule for kickboxing classes, falling into an easy conversation with each other.
When I pull into the driveaway of their place though, I feel a weird nervousness settle over me. I have no idea why Caleb invited me tonight or what to expect when we go inside.
“You ready?” Mila asks, opening her door.
“Let’s do it,” I say, giving her a smile.
We walk up to the front door, where Mila knocks once before opening the door and walking inside, calling out to her sister.
“In here,” comes Caleb’s voice from somewhere inside the house.
I follow Mila through the living room and toward the kitchen at the back of the house where Caleb is stirring something on the stove.
“Check you out,” I say with a laugh. “All domesticated and shit.”
Caleb laughs, rolling his eyes at me as he gestures toward the fridge. “Whatever. Plenty of beer if you want one. Help yourself.”
I open the door and grab two, handing one to Mila without even thinking about it. Caleb watches us, saying nothing even as he raises a brow at me. “What? We’re not in the bar, it’s cool, right?”
Laughing, he shakes his head as Mila walks over and kisses him on the cheek. “Well, I’m legally allowed to drink in his country,” she says with a smirk.
“Oh, I see and that makes it okay in this country, does it?” Caleb asks, smiling at her.
“Yep,” she says, turning to give me a smile before she disappears out of the kitchen.
“So,” I start, stepping over to the stove. “What’s cooking?”
Caleb turns and leans back against the bench, reaching for his beer. “Nothing fancy, it’s just chili.”
“Sounds good,” I say, taking a sip of beer. “Thanks for the invite, not sure why…” I trail off, unsure how to finish my sentence without it turning into an insult. I have no idea why Caleb invited me. I mean yeah, we work together, and I guess we’re friends, but we don’t really hang out.
To be fair, that’s on me, given I pretty much keep everyone at arm’s length, never really getting close to anyone. But shit feels different with Caleb, because there are no expectations and no questions. Ever.
And maybe that’s because of everything he went through, who knows, but I appreciate the fact he doesn’t ask me a million questions either. About why I’m here, what I’m running from, why I never get attached. I appreciate that he just lets things be.
And yeah, if I’m being honest, it feels good just to hang out with someone again, without all the bullshit.
Caleb shrugs. “It’s all Sie’s idea, so you can blame my sister,” he says taking a sip of beer. “I mean, of course you’re welcome here anytime, you know that, but this family dinner thing,” he says, air quoting the last part, “is all Sie.” He rolls his eyes, but I can tell he doesn’t mean it.
“You’re not digging it then?”
Shaking his head, he reaches into a cupboard to grab some plates. “Nah, it’s fine. I mean I get why she does it, she’s just a little…I don’t know, too into it, if you know what I mean.”
I laugh just as Reid walks into the kitchen. “You giving my girl shit again, Parker?” he says, smiling as he comes over to shake my hand. “Adam, good to see you.”
“Hey, Reid, you too.”
“Please,” Caleb says, shoving the plates at Reid. “She is my sister, so it’s pretty much my job, isn’t it?”
Sienna and Mila walk into the kitchen and Reid immediately hands the plates to Mila as he pulls Sienna into his arms, Mila shooting him a what the fuck look that makes me laugh.
“What are you two going on about?” Sienna asks.
“Nothing,” Reid and Caleb reply at the same time, both of them grinning.
Despite the teasing, it’s clear all of them are close, sharing a bond that only comes from having known each other their whole lives. It’s not something I have over here in the States and watching it in action now only reminds me of how lonely and isolated I’ve allowed myself to become over here.
I turn to Mila who’s standing watching me, a small smile on her face.
“What?” I mouth to her, curious as to what she’s thinking.
Her smile widens, those beautiful eyes of hers lighting up a little as she mouths back, “Nothing,” before turning away.
“No Charlie?” Ruby says as she now walks into the kitchen.
“Nah, she couldn’t come,” Mila replies, her smile now replaced with a nervous look as she quickly glances at me.
I have no idea if what she’s just said is true. Maybe Charlie couldn’t come, but then maybe she didn’t want Charlie to come. Charlie is the only person who knows about Mila and me and maybe she didn’t want her here where she might spill our secrets to everyone.
Does Mila not want her sister or Caleb to know about what she and I are doing?
Do I want Caleb or Ruby to know?
It’s not like I’m embarrassed about it, far from it. But considering neither of us has even attempted to define it, much less discuss it, maybe keeping things on the downlow isn’t such a bad idea at the moment.
“Yeah, I think she had some study thing or whatever, right?” I chime in.
“Huh, that sucks,” Ruby says as Mila now flashes me a grateful smile.
Dinner is fun, the six of us falling into an easy conversation that features plenty of stories, including from Reid, Sienna and Caleb about their childhood in Providence and Mila and Ruby about their time in Tahoe. They ask me questions about growing up in Australia, about my family, my friends and whether I plan on going back anytime soon.
I keep my answers vague, answering in a way that I hope doesn’t invite too many more prying questions.
Afterwards, we all settle on the couch to watch a movie that involves an endless amount of arguing and bargaining as to what it’s going to be.
“No sci-fi,” Sienna shouts as she flops onto the couch.
“I second that,” Mila adds, taking a seat beside me.
“You don’t like sci-fi?” I ask, a mock horrified look on my face.
“Umm, no,” she says, bottom lip between her teeth.
“Shit, we definitely need to change this,” I say, picking up the remote as I flick through the movie options on the TV.
Ruby laughs, heading over to the single seater where Caleb is and sitting on his lap. “Good luck with that,” she says, smirking at her sister. “Her and Sienna don’t like anything good.”
“Hey!” Sienna calls out as Reid laughs.
“Dude, pick a movie and let’s see how much shit you get for it,” he says, grinning at me from the other end of the couch where he sits with his arm around Sienna.
I glance at Mila, who’s sitting beside me, watching me with an unreadable expression on her face. We are surrounded by couples, yet here we sit, a foot of space between us. It feels so much wider though and I want so badly to pull her into my arms, have her sit in my lap, but I’m not sure we’re doing that.
“Trust me?” I ask, my words quiet.
She swallows hard, a light flush on her cheeks as she whispers, “Uh huh.”
With a wink, I turn back to the TV and press play on Terminator Genesis.
Chapter Nineteen
Mila
“So, you guys came together, huh?” Ruby asks, when we’re walking out the door. “Something else going on here?” She tilts her head to the side, a hand on her hip as she looks at us skeptically.
Adam chuckles a little at her choice of words. We’ve certainly come here together, and we definitely came together the other night, but she doesn’t know about that last part. I’m sure she’s dying to know, judging by the way she’s looking at us.
“We live in the same apartment complex,” I start to say, and Adam interjects with, “Like literally two meters apart.”
I can’t help but
laugh at his joke, a joke that Ruby knows nothing about, which clearly pisses her off because she lets out an annoyed huff, in addition to rolling her eyes. She’s far too nosy for her own good.
“I don’t even know how much two meters is,” Ruby chides, and this causes both Adam and me to burst out laughing. I’m sure she thinks we’re laughing at her and while we are just a little, it’s more about the striking similarities this conversation bears to the one Adam and I had just before we left to come over here.
“What’s so funny?” she now asks, growing more annoyed with us than before. Her arms are crossed over her chest, her eyes narrowed at us. Caleb comes up behind her, slipping his arms around her waist and kissing the side of her neck.
“They fucking with you, babe?” he asks, kissing her neck again.
“They are,” Ruby whines, stamping her foot a little.
“Nah,” Adam says, smiling sweetly at her. “Just you two are more alike than you realize.” He motions between Ruby and me, causing us both to shake our heads quickly, attempting to deny what he’s just said.
“I tell her that all the time,” Caleb adds. “Deep down they’re very similar, but for some reason they both like to act like they don’t like each other or that being alike is a bad thing.”
“You two are annoying,” I defend, looking over at Ruby as she shrugs. “We’re sisters so of course we’re alike, but Ruby’s perfect and I’m well…” I don’t finish my thought, but what I should add is that I’m a fuck up, a disaster, a hot mess, or whatever fits the bill at the moment.
“Happy,” Adam says, filling in my missing ending and all of us fall silent. Well, he isn’t wrong, but like hell if I’m admitting that in front of my sister who thinks I’m the black sheep.
Ruby looks back at Caleb with a knowing glance, but I don’t think Adam or I are ready to admit anything out loud. It’s so new that we haven’t even addressed it ourselves.
“Thanks for coming, guys,” Caleb says, filling the silence and making it so we don’t have to answer any of Ruby’s prying questions.
“Thanks for inviting us,” Adam replies, slinging an arm around my shoulders. “We’re gonna head home. See you tomorrow, Caleb.”
“Later, Ruby,” I call over my shoulder as Adam ushers me to the car, letting the conversation die there.
“She’s a nosy one, huh?” he says, when we’re settled in the car and heading back home. “You can tell her, you know that, right?”
“Tell her what?” I ask, not trying to fish for him to say he’s my boyfriend, but we haven’t even discussed what this is that’s going on between us. I’m certainly not going to be the one to give it a label. Labels just don’t work for me. That’s when it usually goes to shit.
“That we’re together,” he replies, like I’m an idiot for not recognizing it. “I mean, I think we are,” he adds, back peddling a little and there’s something so damn cute about his sudden insecurity.
“I would say that we are too. I don’t plan on being with anyone else and I’d like it if you weren’t too, but—”
“When I’m in, Mila, I’m in. And you certainly aren’t fucking anyone else but me, unless you want me to kill them.”
“I’d prefer no one dies,” I respond, jokingly. “But I’m all in, too.” He reaches over and takes my hand, bringing it to his mouth, he presses a small, simple kiss to the inside of my wrist.
“You’re staying with me tonight,” he says, and what most would think is a question, I know better that it’s a demand.
“Of course.”
We wake early the next morning for kickboxing and then I’m off to class. It’s the same as every other day this week since this thing between us started. We only see each other as ships passing in the night with Adam’s job at the bar and my classes during the day. But now, when he climbs in bed next to me at the end of a long day, it’s absolute perfection.
I’m pretty well spent by the time I walk into mine and Charlie’s apartment. With a full load of classes and tons of extra work from my anatomy class, I feel like I could sleep for a week.
“Hey!” Charlie calls when I walk in. She’s on the couch with a bunch of books and her laptop scattered around her. “How’s it going?”
“Okay. I’m fucking tired.” I sprawl out on the floor in front of the couch, looking up at her.
“Same. Fuck, I don’t have any idea how anyone stays up till two a.m. and then goes to class,” she jokes. “Someday we’re gonna have to get real jobs and that’s really gonna suck.”
I laugh, knowing it probably will, but then I look at Caleb and think he’s one of the few people I know who legitimately enjoys his job. He enjoys the hard work and the effort that goes into running the bar. And really when I think about it, as much as Adam is far too overqualified to be working in a bar, he seems to enjoy it too.
“Yeah, I guess, or maybe if you find something you really love, you don’t mind working.”
“Who the fuck are you?” Charlie asks, faking an affronted tone. “I think being with Adam has done something to you.”
“Come on. Don’t you wonder what it might be like to actually like your job? I mean my dad works nonstop and I can’t imagine he likes being a corporate lawyer. I’m sure he thought he’d be defending the innocent and catching liars in the act all My Cousin Vinny style.”
“All what?” she says, as I realize not everyone watched bad lawyer comedies with their dad.
“Never mind that. I’m just saying, we choose our majors based on what will make us money. Why not choose what makes us happy.”
“Because I have no idea what will make me happy in ten years, Fuck, I can’t even figure out what will make me happy tomorrow, besides pizza. Can I major in pizza? Maybe I can find a guy who owns a pizza place and marry him,” Charlie rants, making us both laugh.
“God, that would be fucking amazing. Between Caleb’s bar and your imaginary pizza maker, we’d be set.”
She kicks at me with her foot, still laughing, but I’m kind of serious. Maybe she does need to find a guy who owns a pizza place. I think we’d all be happier.
“You staying with Adam tonight,” she now asks, changing the subject.
“I don’t think so. I’m going to drop by the bar to say hi and maybe grab something to eat, but I have school shit to work on and I hate that I haven’t seen you in what feels like forever.”
“I’m totally fine. You don’t need to worry about me. I’m used to being alone,” she says, and I know she is, but still. She prefers her bedroom over anything, so it’s kind of surprising she’s even sitting out here studying to begin with.
When Charlie and I became friends, neither of us really had any. Charlie had just transferred schools and I had gotten boobs. Boobs that remained smaller than anyone else’s after sophomore year, but that didn’t seem to matter. We liked being each other’s only real friend and we’ve been together ever since, so this whole getting a boyfriend thing makes me feel a little bad.
“Wanna watch a movie tonight? I’ll grab food from the bar, and we can eat in front of the TV?” I suggest and she smiles. As much as she won’t admit that being alone has been a little lonely, I know it has.
“Yeah, let’s do it.”
After a few hours of studying, I call in a pick-up order to The Last Drop, ordering way too much food, but not caring at all. Charlie and I can eat the leftovers tomorrow. I didn’t want to have to decide on one thing and with the discount Caleb gives us, we basically pay the same price for four meals as we would for two.
“I’m gonna go grab the food,” I tell Charlie as she looks up from her laptop screen. Her eyes are tired and sometimes I worry about her. She needs to take it easy.
“Want me to go with you?” she offers.
“Nah. I’m gonna stop by and visit Adam for a bit and then I’ll be back with the food. You should take a break from that computer screen. I think it’s frying your brain.”
She smiles. “Yeah, you
’re probably right. Be on the lookout for my pizza husband while you’re out, will you?”
“Will do.”
I pull up around the back of The Last Drop, parking in the spot that’s reserved for Caleb. I know he’s not in tonight because he has Adam working on next month’s schedule and placing the orders for the week. Caleb has stepped back a little since giving Adam more responsibility and I think it’s good for both of them. Ruby gets more time with Caleb and Adam is doing more than serving drinks.
I punch the code in the back door and open it when it clicks to indicate it’s unlocked. I’m sure Adam will be in Caleb’s office, so I don’t even bother heading into the bar.
As soon as I reach the office, where the door is open and the lights are on, I see Liv leaning over Adam, her low-cut V-neck shirt exposing her tits that are nearly spilling out in Adam’s face. Everything about what she’s doing is intentional and purposeful. But this time, I feel nothing when I see it.
The jealousy that once took over my body is long gone. She doesn’t have a chance and my trust in Adam is stronger than her overdone perfume.
“Hey, babe,” I say, coming through the door and walking straight to where Adam is sitting. “How’s your night going?” I now ask, moving to the opposite side that Liv is standing on, and I lean down and kiss the side of his neck.
He turns and looks up at me, not acknowledging Liv at all. He’s beaming, his face absolutely glowing when he sees me.
“I didn’t realize you’d be coming by tonight,” he says, but there’s nothing nervous in the way he says it. He doesn’t care that I found Liv in here with him even though that’s what she was hoping for.
“Yeah, I ordered some food, and Charlie and I are going to watch a movie.”
Liv is now walking away, not saying a word, not even bothering with a greeting, but my words catch her.
“Charlie?” she scoffs, turning to glare at me.
“Yeah, her housemate,” Adam replies, coldly.
“You’re okay with her living with a guy?” she now asks, prying far more than she should, but now that she knows we’re together she has to dig deep to find something to wedge between us.