my ceiling. The fan was on, cutting through the shadows from the streetlight. Today had taken a turn, and my summer was completely altered because of it. I was looking forward to spending time alone with Savy. I wanted to know her. The her that existed without Nathan attached to her side, and demanding every minute of her time and energy.
My cell vibrated, lighting up on the mattress beside me.
Thanks for helping me tonight. You’re the best.
Savy had my number for emergencies. You know, in case Nathan lost his shit and one of us needed back-up. This was the first time she texted me. Seeing her name on the screen was making me smile like a fucking fool.
I’m glad we got to hang out.
I really was. I was too glad. I’d liked being alone with Savy way more than I had any right to. Damn, I’d wanted to kiss her so fucking bad. She smelled like flowers, and bubble gum lip gloss.
It was nice of you to invite me to the lake tomorrow. I don’t want you to feel obligated to follow through with it. I was having a little mini meltdown. It isn’t really all that bad.
Yes it was. She was a freaking prisoner in her life, and my brother was the cell she was living in. That girl needed a break. No one would be able to understand that like I did. I got away, and it wasn’t until I had that I realized how stifling life with Nathan could be. Savy needed to be young and crazy and wild. All things that would cause Nathan to lose his shit.
Are you kidding? You’ll be doing me a favor by coming. With you by my side I won’t look like some lame college guy at a high school party.
I was mostly kidding. A lot of my friends were already home for the summer and there wasn’t much else to do around here on a Sunday other than drink at the lake.
Do people swim there? Should I wear a suit?
Hell yeah. Wear the bikini you had on earlier today.
As soon as I hit send my heart stopped beating, and time stood still. Did I just flirt with Savy on a text? Was I off my fucking rocker? I told her I’d be her friend. I should be telling her to wear sweatpants, not a sexy two piece. I closed my eyes and banged my skull against the headboard a few times, groaning at my rash stupidity.
“You need something, man?” I opened my eyes to find my brother back in my doorway, the light from the hall making him an imposing dark shape backlit enough for me to see his face.
I shook my head. “Nope. All good.” He narrowed his eyes, watching me. My phone vibrated on the bed. My heart stopped again. I was going to end up having a heart attack by the end of this text conversation. I looked down, sighing in relief when I saw the damn thing was face down on the mattress.
“You sure you’re okay?”
I nodded. “I’m greeeeeeat.” I imitated Tony the Tiger, like the commercials from when we were kids. Why? Sheer nervousness.
His eyes narrowed further, but his lips twitched. The lip twitch was pretty much all anyone but Savy could get by way of a smile out of him. “’Night.”
“’Night, Nathan.”
I waited until I heard his bedroom door shut before I picked my phone up and opened Savy’s latest text.
You got it. See you tomorrow afternoon.
I’d told her I’d pick her up around noon, which was when Nathan would be leaving for work. Yeah, I was a bastard. I could tell myself I wasn’t sneaking around behind my brother’s back with Savy all I wanted, but it wouldn’t make it true.
Nathan invited me to run with you guys in the morning.
You didn’t tell him about the party, did you?
That poor girl. Nathan wasn’t her dad, he wasn’t her brother, and he wasn’t her boyfriend. Him knowing she wanted to go have fun without him terrified her, and was fucking sad. I felt trapped by my brother and his moods growing up, but never once did I have to curb my life to make him happy. But Savy did, every damn day of the last ten years.
No. I didn’t say a word.
I’d lie for her a million times over.
They say two wrongs don’t make a right, but that was feeling like utter bullshit. Savy had been wronged by me, my brother, and our parents.
I’d