didn’t want to ruin Nathan and Savy’s friendship. At least that’s what I kept telling myself as I walked into my dark house.
I went straight to Nathan’s room, letting out a relieved breath when I found him lying on his bed. He was still dressed, stretched out over his covers, he’d obviously gotten home not too long ago.
When he saw me he used the remote control in his hand to turn down the documentary he was watching. “Hey.”
I leaned against his doorframe, already sneaking out of my room and into Savy’s in my mind. “How was your day off?”
He smirked, which was typical, I never really got a full smile out of him. “Spent it with Sav, so it was fucking fantastic.”
I wanted to punch him in his stupid smirking face. “What did you guys do?” But instead, I tried like hell to play it cool.
He raised an eyebrow in disbelief. I’d never cared to ask before, and he knew it. “We hung out, went to dinner then a movie.”
I glanced down at my phone, checking the time. “You just now getting home?”
“Yeah. Why? You my keeper now?”
I wanted to scream at him. I wanted to go off and tell him that job had always fallen to the girl next door. The child that our family had used as a human buffer. An instrument, a shield. But I couldn’t do that since I was the asshole stealing time with the girl my brother needed to stay sane.
I swallowed my anger, making sure my voice was even and unaffected. “No. Curious, that’s all.” I pushed away from his room, calling, “Goodnight,” over my shoulder. I closed my bedroom door and threw the lock. I opened my window slowly, trying like hell to make sure it didn’t make any noise before I jumped the few feet to the soft green grass below.
My heart was pounding. I was so damn excited to see her, to hold her, to kiss her. I couldn’t stop smiling. I sprinted across our yards, swinging up into the tree I’d used last night. She’d left her window open halfway for me, which meant this time I wasn’t going to fall into a tuck and roll.
Savy was lying in her bed, asleep with soft lamplight across her pretty face. Her long dark lashes rested against her cheeks, she looked like fucking Sleeping Beauty. I went to her door, turning the lock in place to make sure her parents wouldn’t surprise us. Then I crossed the room, standing over her for a moment, drinking her in. When I couldn’t stand it any longer, I dipped down and placed a soft kiss to her lips.
She smiled, her eyes slowly fluttering open. “Hey. I didn’t know if you’d come.” She scooted over, making room for me beside her in bed.
I knew it was probably dangerous, I knew I’d have a hard time controlling myself, but I couldn’t turn her down. I wanted to lie next to her, I wanted to become part of her space and be surrounded by her scent. I wanted to erase every trace of my brother from her skin, from her room. As much as I tried to deny it, to fight it, I’d accidentally made Savy mine.
There was no going back now.
I stepped out of my shoes and pulled my shirt off, tossing it to the floor before climbing into bed next to the most beautiful girl in the world. “I’m sorry it took me so long.” I kissed the top of her head when she snuggled into my chest. “Nathan wouldn’t answer his phone and I didn’t know if he was still here.”
She gazed up at me, her eyes sad, swimming with unshed tears and breaking my heart. “I think Nate wants to date me. He keeps trying to take me out to nice restaurants and hold my hand. There’s been more than once when I was afraid he was going to try to kiss me again.”
I’d always known that Nathan had feelings for Savy, it was clear as day. When I decided to be Savy’s “hook-up” I figured if they weren’t dating by now, neither of them thought it was a good idea. A justification, for sure, the truth was, Nathan was in love with Savy, and the thought of losing her was making him hold on tighter than ever. I couldn’t blame him. Wasn’t that what I was doing as well?
I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “Do you want to date him?