On The Rebound (Steinbeck U #1) - L.A. Cotton Page 0,7
because I didn’t want to see where she lived. I didn’t want to see her things—photos, trinkets, her clothes—I didn’t want to see any of it.
“Okay, get her on the bed and I’ll do the rest.”
I laid her down and stepped back.
“Z- Zach?” She blinked up at me.
Fuck.
It was one thing bringing her back here, but I didn’t want her to know.
“Hey.” I grabbed Josie’s wrist and pulled her over to the door. “This stays between us, okay?”
“W- what?” Her brows crinkled.
“You can’t tell her.” My eyes went over to the bed. Calli was out cold again, her top rumpled up her body, revealing a sliver of her flat stomach.
“Why not? That’s just—”
“Tell her and I’ll tell Joel you’ve been sexting with Brad.”
Her mouth hung open. “You wouldn’t.” She seethed.
Interesting. I sensed there was something going on between them, but I’d guessed at the sexting.
“Prepared to take that chance?” I arched a brow. Josie was off-limits. It wasn’t only a team rule, it was Joel’s number one rule. He was next level protective of his sister.
“You’re an asshole.”
I didn’t argue. “So we have a deal?”
“Yeah, yeah, I won’t tell her. But one day I’ll find out what you did to her, and then maybe I’ll have leverage over you,” she sassed.
Josie had balls, I’d give her that. But then people didn’t know how deep my darkness ran. They thought I was just grieving, that I was just lost to the pain and regret. But I’d been like this long before I arrived at SU.
Calli made a moaning sound, and Josie glanced over her shoulder.
“You should go see to her,” I said.
“I’d say thanks, but—”
“Yeah, yeah, you think I’m an asshole.” With a dismissive shrug, I stepped into the hall and Josie slammed the door in my face.
And I walked away more than ready to forget this night ever happened.
Calli
Everything hurt.
My head.
My stomach and insides.
My muscles.
I didn’t need to crack an eye open to know I was hungover, I felt it in every inch of my body. Not to mention my cotton mouth.
Oh god, my mouth.
I tried to sit up, hoping by some small miracle there was water. To my relief, I found a glass and some Advil.
What the hell had happened last night?
Usually, I didn’t get drunk, preferring to be in total control of myself at all times.
I remembered Josie turning up here and walking to Joel’s house—
Basketball.
Joel played for the basketball team, so did all of his friends. So did... Zach.
My body tensed. No. Zach didn’t go here. I frowned, rubbing my eyes. I must have dreamed it.
So why did you get ass over elbow drunk?
Panic raced down my spine as I tried to piece together the hazy memories of last night.
We saw a guy... Brad, I think. He and Josie had some serious sexual tension. Then Joel showed up and got all big-brotherly. The house was crammed. We were in one of the less busy rooms…
It happened like waking from a dream. The memories shimmered and shifted on the edge of my consciousness, slamming into me one after another as reality yanked me out, planting me in the harsh light of day.
Zach was there.
He goes to SU.
That’s why I’d told Josie to get me a drink—a real drink. One full of liquid courage and magical numbing powers.
Fuck. My. Life.
It wasn’t a dream, it was a nightmare.
My worst nightmare.
He couldn’t be here.
Declan, his brother, went here. But not Zach.
I never in a million years would have committed to SU if I’d have known.
But Callum knew. He knew and never said a word.
Damn you, brother.
Not that it was a surprise. We hadn’t exactly talked. Even at Mom’s funeral we barely managed to utter a few words to one another. We might have been siblings, bound by blood and DNA, but those things didn’t make you family. They didn’t excuse poor decisions and selfish mistakes.
Callum and I were nothing more than strangers these days. Strangers with the same name, the same pouty lips and whiskey-colored eyes. The family resemblance might have been there, but that’s where our similarities ended. I was nothing like my brother.
Nothing.
I flopped back against the pillows, letting out a pained sigh. I hadn’t even managed a whole twenty-four hours here and my world had already been flipped upside down.
It would be okay though.
Now I knew Zach was here, and that Joel was a basketball player, I could avoid them.