by Eden Finley
I screwed up my face. “Dating on speed?”
“Well, we’re trying to figure this thing out, right? Preferably as soon as possible so we don’t have to continue to sneak around?”
I nodded, it made sense. “What about Saturday night?”
He let out an exaggerated sigh. “I guess I’ll have to wait four days then.”
I leaned over the cab of the truck and pressed my lips to his. “I’ll see you on Saturday.” I went to pull away, but he cupped the back of my head and brought me to his lips again.
“Saturday can’t come fast enough.”
****
“Where have you been for two days?” My dad barked as soon as I walked through the door.
“Sara’s.”
He stood from the couch where he was watching TV and approached me. “Why didn’t you call?”
“Because I’m twenty-one years old?”
Dad sighed. “Still doesn’t mean I don’t worry.”
Clearly.
I took my phone out of my back pocket, showing him the empty notification screen. “Your phone makes calls, too, Dad.”
“I know. And I figured you were with Sara, but it’d be nice if you just let me know in future, okay?” He hugged me. “You’ll always be my baby.”
I rolled my eyes. “Okay.”
“Well I’m off to bed. Goodnight.” Dad walked out and I went to walk away too, but Reece cleared her throat.
I turned to see her staring at me from the couch with a wide grin. “So, where were you really?”
I swallowed hard. Trying to hide my panic, I lied my butt off. “Studying with Sara.”
“You’re going to have to learn to lie better than that if you’re going to be a lawyer.”
“Uh … I …” Brain? Are you there? Please form words.
“I saw Sara at the shops earlier. Alone. It’s okay, I won’t tell your father you were with Hunter.”
I really didn’t know how much longer I could keep up that charade, but it was the best I had to go with. “Thanks,” I muttered and then shuffled off to my room as quickly as possible.
I took my phone out of pocket and sent Cole a message.
We need to be more careful. Just got the third degree from Reece. Told her I was with Hunter. Night. X
I jumped in the shower, loving the feel of fresh clothes when I got out. If nights at Cole’s were going to become a regular thing, I’d need to carry a bigger handbag with me so I could at least have a spare change of underwear with me.
When I checked my phone before jumping into bed, Cole hadn’t messaged me back. I had to tell myself that it meant nothing, even if he always usually responded. It wasn’t really a message that warranted a reply anyway. Then I had to tell myself to not turn into that girl. It is what it is. Nothing more. I was scared I was giving away my heart and it was only going to get crushed.
****
My phone vibrated as I sat down for my first lecture on Wednesday morning.
Hemsworth:
Hope uni isn’t too rough on you today. Can’t wait for Saturday.
My smile must’ve been blinding because next thing I knew, Sara was sitting next to me, whining loudly.
“Ugh. That smile screams sex afterglow. I take it you got over your vomiting issue then? Or is he into that? Totes gross, by the way.”
I’d filled her in via text, asking her to make sure she took notes for me in the classes I’d missed the last two days. “Yeah, I recovered.” My cheeks heated. “And you should really stop with the word totes—whether you’re using it sarcastically or not—because next thing you know, it’ll slip out in mock court.”
She ignored my barb, still focusing on my love life. “I’d totes be jealous if I didn’t know you deserved it. I don’t even think Dickwad made you smile like that.”
I sucked in a shaky breath and nodded, not really sure if what she said was a good thing or not. I didn’t want to fall for anyone; that wasn’t on my agenda when I met Cole. But now I was seeing if I could fall for him? Was I actually hoping that I wouldn’t?
“I’m guessing you’re going to be busy again this weekend and every weekend for the foreseeable future?” Sara asked.
“I’ll be free on Fridays if you want to do something. Cole has Cody every second weekend, and then he has that Friday night ritual on the other weeks with his friends who all know Reece, so we can’t really hang out. Unless I pretend to be into Hunter which I don’t really want to do anymore if I can help it.”
She nodded. “So we’ll turn Fridays into our late-night cramming sessions? We’ve got some major exams coming up.”
“Ugh. Don’t remind me.”
The lecture started, and we both fell silent, but I couldn’t concentrate on what my professor was saying. I spent the entire ninety minutes telling myself to stop thinking about Cole.
17
- COLE -
Paige and I easily fell into a routine in the coming weeks. Friday nights were spent apart, Saturdays and Sundays we were together when I didn’t have Cody, and then she’d often come over one or two nights during the week. But I hadn’t seen her at all this week because she said she had to study for an exam, and whenever she tried to study at the apartment, I would distract her. Which, if I was honest with myself, was totally true. I couldn’t help it when she was around me.
I couldn’t get enough of her, and it was getting to a point I wanted to see her as much as possible. However, as good as things were going, we still hadn’t had “the talk.” We were both too scared to admit what we had. I wanted to be with her, but a part of me wasn’t sure if she was there yet. We’d been dating for a little over six weeks, and she was still coming up with reasons we shouldn’t be together and making comments about us being casual.
Even though it was Friday night—which wasn’t our night—I wanted to see her.
Cole:
I’m blowing off going to the pub. Come out with me tonight.
Shortcake:
Have plans with Sara.
Cole:
Bring her. I’ll drag Hunter along.
Shortcake:
So long as Hunter keeps it in his pants. Her words. (I may have told her about the condom incident. First impressions and whatnot. My bad.)
Cole:
You can tell her he said he won’t hit on her. It would be lying, because I haven’t actually talked to him yet, but I really want to see you. Come by the apartment and we’ll go from here.
“Going to the pub tonight?” Hunter asked.
“Nope. And neither are you. I haven’t seen Paige since last week, but she had plans with Sara, so …”
A knowing smile crossed his face. “So you want me to entertain her friend while you have sex with Paige?”
“Something like that.” And so I can see you hit on a girl who has no interest in you.
“Okay.”
“Okay? Just like that?” I didn’t expect it to be that easy.
He shrugged. “I remember you said she was hot. But what I want to know is, what’s the deal with you and Paige, anyway?”
My mouth went suddenly dry. “Uh … we’re still kind of figuring it out.”
“But I’ve never seen you like this with anyone before.”
“You’ve never seen me with anyone but Reece before.”
“True, but—”
“I’m going to shower before they come over.” I started to make my way down the hall, but his voice stopped me.
“You’ve already fallen for her,” he yelled.
I spun around to face him. “You’re insane. It hasn’t even been two months.”
“You’ve already referred to her as your girlfriend, you told her about your DVO, and that was only after a few weeks. Why do that if you didn’t have feelings for her?”
My whole body tensed. “Stop trying to make me talk about that … and about her.” He’s always on me about my damn feelings.
He threw his hands up in surrender. “I’m not trying to make you do a
nything. I’m just saying that you’ve already fallen for her, so this whole spending time together in secret thing is unnecessary. The longer you leave it to tell Reece, the worse it’ll be.”
“It doesn’t matter how I feel about her, because it’s pretty obvious she’s not there yet. I asked her if she wanted to tell Reece a couple of weeks ago, and she said she wasn’t ready. If I’m completely honest, I don’t think I am either—even though I know I have real feelings for her.”
He lifted his eyebrows, clearly surprised I admitted it out aloud.
“Was that answer satisfactory enough for you, Doctor Hunter?”
He laughed. “For now. I just think the more lies and secrets, the bigger the fallout, and I don’t need to remind you Cody’s at stake.”
I pursed my lips, telling myself to calm the anger that was building. “Do you really think I don’t know that?” I yelled, no, more like exploded. Yeah, I couldn’t calm it.
He didn’t respond, just stood with his arms across his chest. He knew when to push and when to back off with me.
“I’m going to shower,” I mumbled, stalking down the hall.
I stayed in the shower probably a bit longer than I normally would’ve, but I needed to calm down. Hunter was right, I knew he was, but I felt like the pressure of telling Reece was forcing us into a relationship that might not have even been real. How was I meant to know if what I was feeling was genuine or just amplified because we had to keep it a secret?
I didn’t know how normal relationships worked. When I was with Reece, I was a teenager and told her I loved her when I didn’t because it was the thing you did. Eventually I did love her, but at first, it was as if we were pretending to be adults, saying “I love you” because that’s what you did when you had a girlfriend. We were in eleventh grade—who falls in real love at sixteen years old?
I didn’t even know the moment I realised I actually loved her. Was there meant to be a moment of clarity? Because I hadn’t felt it with Paige, either. I knew I cared about her, and that I didn’t want to lose her, but if someone asked me if I loved her, I wasn’t sure I could’ve responded with a yes. I was definitely in the midst of falling for her, though. Surely, that counted for something.
By the time I got out of the shower, dressed, and made my way into the living room, the girls were already there, and neither of them looked happy. They weren’t scowling at me, though, but at Hunter.
“Uh … hi,” I said to Paige, making my way over to her to kiss her on the cheek.
“Hey.” She didn’t take her eyes off Hunter.
He stood with his hands in his pockets as if he was vulnerable, but his shoulders were squared, and he was standing tall as if he didn’t want to show weakness. By Hunter’s standards, it was definitely a defensive stance.
“What’s going on?” I asked, because no one was speaking.
“Uh … yeah …” Hunter started. “Turns out I know Sara.”
“And?”
“Apparently we’ve fucked.”
18
- PAIGE -
“Apparently?” I yelled at him. “You apparently fucked?”
“You can’t remember it?” Cole asked, not even showing any hint of surprise in his tone. I had the feeling he wasn’t shocked.
Sara was glaring at Hunter. “Maybe if you’d given me your real name four years ago, I would’ve put two and two together. I wouldn’t have come tonight, and we could’ve avoided this. When Paige told me you were an underwear model—”
“Model. Just model. I’m not always in my underwear, and it pisses me off when people pigeonhole me like that.”
“You gave her a fake name?” I snapped, not caring that he was offended over his label. Ever since we walked in five minutes ago and Sara paled, I knew something was wrong. She never showed weakness, and seeing Hunter had thrown her.
“No, I didn’t. I happened to have just landed my first major modelling gig, and it was for Calvin Klein. I met her out while celebrating, and she started calling me Calvin.”
Cole turned and muttered to me, “Seriously, what is it with you two and nicknames?”
“Oh, so you do remember me?” Sara asked before I could answer him.
Everything was happening so fast, and everyone was talking over each other, but then the name really clicked. “Wait … he’s Calvin?” I asked. I knew all about Calvin, and I knew I’d made a mistake in acknowledging that fact when Hunter’s lips turned up into a smile. “Don’t get too cocky. You don’t know what I’ve heard about you.”
He shook his head. “I did nothing wrong back then.”
“Nothing wrong?” Sara yelled.
Hunter cocked his head to the side as if he was confused. “No,” he said simply.
“Nothing at all? Ryan? I may’ve nicknamed you Calvin, but I do remember the fake name you gave me.” Sara was about to lose it. Her face went red and she almost took a step forward when Cole stepped in to block her.
“Sara, umm … there’s been a misunderstanding. Hunter’s name is Ryan.”
“Huh?” I asked.
“Hunter’s my middle name, and everyone has called me that since before I can remember, except for my brother who always calls me Ryan to piss me off. He was the one who introduced me to you that night, if you remember at all.” Hunter didn’t take his eyes off Sara who seemed to be getting flustered under his intense stare.
“Okay, so this whole thing is kind of screwed up, but it looks like you just match in with the rest of our fucked-up situation.” Cole wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me towards him, and I couldn’t help smiling despite the circumstances. “Is there any way we can put this all behind us and go out to dinner? It was four years ago.”
Hunter and Sara stared at each other, neither one of them willing to make the first move.
“I have no problem with her,” Hunter eventually said. “If she can’t handle even sitting at the same table as me, then that’s all on her.”
Challenge thrown. I was sure Sara wasn’t dumb enough to fall for it, but it was Calvin. The first and only guy to make her want to tear her heart out.
“No issues here,” Sara said. Well, that’s just a big fat lie.
****
Hunter stormed into the apartment as soon as we arrived back home. “I’m going to bed. Please try to fuck quietly. I’m really not in the mood to be hearing that.”
I’d never seen him so defeated and down before. To say dinner was horrible would be an understatement.
His bedroom door was shut before we’d even had a chance to close the front door.
“Reason number seventy-five we’d suck as a couple. Our best friends hate each other,” I mumbled.
Cole led me over to the couch to sit. He sat sideways and reached for my hand, grasping it firmly. “I think it’s time we stop with the excuses. Hunter said something to me tonight—before Sara turned up and turned him into an ass. And weirdly, after seeing Hunter and Sara together, it got me thinking about what he said, and now I know without a doubt, I want to be with you.”
My heartbeat sped up. I opened my mouth to talk, but nothing came out. Clearing my dry throat, I tried to say something again, but he cut me off.
“Okay, so you’re freaking out.” He chuckled.
“I’m not freaking out … It’s just, everything’s moving a bit fast. No, fast isn’t the right word, I mean, it’s been almost two months. That’s not fast, that’s pretty normal. But we kind of went backwards and started with sleeping with each other before even getting to know one another, and … yeah … you were meant to be a one-night thing, and then we decided to date and it’s kind of …”
“Snowballed into something bigger,” he finished for me. “It’s scary, I get it, I really do. I’m the one who was meant to walk away. But I haven’t … and I don’t want to anymore.”
“But what does that mean? Are we telling people about us? Are you ready to talk to Reece?” This is what I’ve been wanting, right? The reason I hadn’t really exp
ressed how I felt about him, why I hadn’t even admitted to myself how I felt.
He let out a loud shaky breath. “I think I am. Maybe not really soon, because Cody’s birthday is coming up in three weeks. I don’t really want to screw that up by fighting with his mother the whole time, but I know that I want to give us a real go.” He swallowed hard. “I want to be with you, and I want to call you my girlfriend, even if that totally sounds weird coming out of my mouth. I thought grown-ups didn’t have girlfriends or boyfriends.”
We shared a smile.
“If you’re not ready for that, then that’s cool,” he continued. “But just know, all it really means is I’m not going to fuck around with anyone else—not that I have been anyway, but yeah, I’m just saying that I’m all in.”
All in. I nodded. “I can deal with that.” I think.
He let go of my hand and raised his thumb and forefinger to my chin, pulling it down to open my mouth, moving it up and down as he spoke in a high-pitched voice. “And I won’t fuck around on you either, Cole. You’re the most hottest, most awesomest guy in the world.”
I laughed, jerking my face out of his hand. “I don’t sound like that.”
“I think you do.” He leaned in to kiss me, but I pulled back.
“I’m not interested in anyone else, so you don’t have to worry about that.”
He grinned. “Just how quiet do you think you can be if I was to take you to bed right now?”
****
“Holy fuck, Paige, don’t stop,” he whispered. His hand was clutched in my hair, guiding my head as it bobbed up and down, my lips around his cock.
I moaned—quietly for Hunter’s sake—but it just made Cole moan loudly in response.
I pulled my mouth away. “Shh, Hunter’s going to kill us.”
“I really don’t care, keep going.”
Considering Cole’s bedsprings were so loud, we’d decided not to have sex so Hunter wouldn’t be even more pissed off than he already was after tonight. We figured this would be quieter. Cole ended up having to gag me with a pillow to prevent me from screaming out while he tortured me mercilessly with his tongue. Now it was his turn, and he was beginning to become louder than I was.
