Dirty Thoughts - Megan Erickson Page 0,43

be like a dog with a bone, wanting to know why she was there.

Cal must have been thinking the same thing, because when she leaned back, his eyes were closed. “Come in,” he growled in the direction of the front door.

Jenna braced herself.

But the doorknob didn’t turn. A joking Brent didn’t burst through the door with a wisecrack on his tongue.

Cal lifted his head and stared at the door. A tentative knock sounded.

With a jolt, he strode toward the door. “Jesus-fucking-Christ, Brent.” He turned the doorknob and flung the door open. “Any other day, you—” His voice cut off. Just dropped off like someone had muted him.

Jenna slowly turned her head, wondering if this was going to get even more awkward because an old flame of Cal’s was on his doorstep. But when she peered under the arm Cal had braced on the doorframe, her breath caught.

Because it wasn’t Brent on that doorstep. It wasn’t a woman. It was a kid. A teenage boy. He had a crazy haircut. The sides were shaved, but it was long on top, with the front combed forward so a lock of brown hair hung down his forehead, touching his eyelashes. He wore a pair of skinny jeans and a blue V-neck T-shirt. He was a little shorter than Cal. And he had a huge duffel bag thrown over his shoulder. And there was something familiar about him that Jenna couldn’t put her finger on.

The kid was trying for bravado, Jenna could tell, but was having a hard time standing up Cal’s scrutiny.

He had large brown eyes that stared up into Cal’s face. The kid licked his lips. “A-Are you Cal Payton?”

Cal seemed frozen. Jenna wondered if she should speak, but then Cal’s voice cracked on a “Yup.”

The kid’s eyes changed, getting even bigger and a little wet. He sniffed once, wrinkling his nose, and then he wiped his hand on his pants and stuck it out. “I’m Asher Weyland. I’m, uh, your half-brother, I guess. And I really need some help.”

Jenna gasped. She couldn’t help it. She clapped her hand over her mouth, but Asher’s eyes darted to her anyway. He shifted on his feet. “Is that your wife?”

Cal ignored the question. “What are you doing here?”

Asher’s eyes darted back to Cal. “I know this is kinda surprising and all, but—”

“Look, kid, I don’t know who you are, but this isn’t fucking funny. So I’ll give you thirty seconds to get off my porch before I remove you.”

The kid’s face paled. “What?”

“I’m gonna start counting. Warning: sometimes I skip some numbers.”

Asher looked physically ill. Jenna could see his fists clenched at his sides, and his slender shoulders began to tremble. She didn’t know what was going on. She hadn’t known Cal had any more siblings, and apparently, he didn’t either, by the looks of it. But there was no way this kid was lying. He looked scared out of his mind.

“Cal—” she started, but the kid cut her off.

“Mom always told me you were her little man,” Asher said.

And if possible, Cal’s body turned to stone. But he wasn’t playing now, like they had been in bed this morning.

The kid’s eyes were huge, and he wrapped his arms around himself, as if it wasn’t seventy degrees outside. “She said,” he continued, “that she knew you picked up the slack when she left.”

Cal didn’t move. He didn’t even blink.

“She talks about all of you. She’s still not so good at the mom thing, but she didn’t leave this time.” He looked down and brushed a leaf on the porch with the toe of his Converse shoes. “I was the one who left.”

“Your mom is Jill Payton.” Cal’s voice sounded like he hadn’t used it for a century.

Asher bit his lip. “Yeah. Well, Jill Weyland. My dad’s Bill Weyland.”

Something clicked in Jenna’s brain. His eyes. He had Max’s eyes. Jill’s eyes. And she was sure Cal noticed, because he hadn’t taken his gaze off that kid’s face. “What’re doing here?” he asked quietly.

“I need a place to stay.”

“You came all the way here from California?”

He shook his head. “We live in Virginia now. I took a bus.”

Jenna’s head felt like it was going to split open. This was no joke.

Cal swallowed, his posture not quite as defensive. “And why are you here?”

Asher gathered himself again, straightening his back and lifting his chin. “I need a place to stay. If you say no, I guess I’ll go somewhere else. But we just moved. I have no