Chapter Six 627

Chapter Six

“And what did he say when he opened the door?” I gasp, trying to speak through the laughter.

“Don’t make me say it, Alara.” Cal pinches the bridge of his nose, not finding this story nearly as funny as Aaron and I do.

“Say iiit.”

“Son, do you even know where those things go?” My father strolls into the room, carrying a plate full of pizza, placing it on the table, and puts both hands on his hips before finishing the story for him. “Tampons are for vaginas. They aren’t toys.”

“Brava!” Aaron jumps to his feet, and I fall back against the couch, cackling. “What did you do?”

“What the hell else could I do? I tucked them under my arms and ran home. I thought she was bleeding out, for fuck's sake.” He grins, leaning back beside me.

“My hero.” I bat my lashes.

“The manager didn’t agree with you.” My father picks up his plate and joins us on the couch. “That prick called the cops.”

“Of course he fucking did.” Aaron rolls his eyes .

“Well, Daddy took care of that, didn’t he, kids?” He reaches for the remote and brings up the menu. He scrolls until he finds a movie. “What about this one?”

“Sure.” We settle back, bellies full and content in this moment. I imagine we’re all wishing for the same thing. That the remote in my father's hand could lock out the rest of the world and freeze this moment forever.

“Do you still feel it, Cal?” I ask, resting my head on his shoulder and yawning.

“I wish I didn’t.” He drops a kiss on my forehead, and I look up to see Aaron watching us with a smile.

“You two are something else, you know that?” he asks.

“They sure the hell are,” my father snorts. “You should hear them go at it.”

“What the fuck, Mykel.” Calden snaps, jumping to his feet, his shoulders heaving and trembling with anger. It would be hot if we were alone, but we’re not. So this is fun. Abort. Mission.

“Cal.” I put my hand on his leg. “Calm down.”

“It’s okay, man.” Aaron flips open the pizza box and hands my father another slice. “Eat more. Talk less, Mykel. Calden, do you want to step outside and burn one with me? ”

“You good?” Cal asks, not answering him until he knows I’m okay.

“You know I can handle my father,” I answer, squeezing his hand, and look up at Aaron.

“I’ve got him.” He nods, pulling a bag of M&M’s from his pocket and tossing them to me, and Cal pivots, following him out onto the porch.

I wait for shouting or cop cars, something that says he knows, and our world is crashing down. As well as I think we hide it, I’m starting to wonder if we’re fools for letting someone else get close enough to see through the lies. Maybe we aren’t as good as we thought. Maybe the truth is that no one has cared enough to really look, and now that Aaron’s back, he’s not going to like what he sees.

“He’s going to ruin you,” My father mutters around a mouth full of pizza.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” I yawn, watching their silhouettes in the moonlight through our front window.

“My mind isn’t broken, angel.” He sighs. “It’s just a little bent. Much like my hearing. You need to get out while you can. ”

I ponder his words, relaxing when the tension drops from Cal’s shoulders in the shadows. He thinks he’s hard to read, but not for me. I can tell his mood from a mile away, and right now, smoking with Aaron on our front porch, talking about God knows what, Cal is as relaxed as he gets. He carries the weight of the world on his shoulders, and somehow, Aaron has managed to lighten his load. I want to trust it, but inside, the words of my father are fighting to drown out Cal’s. And for once, it’s harder to hear his promised whispers over their doubts…

I love you. You’re safe. I’m sorry.

***

“Cal?” I blink awake, my brain trying to catch up with the events of last night. “Cal!”

The door flies open, smacking the wall, and I scream, pulling the blankets up around my neck.

“What?” He barrels into the room and onto the bed, wrapping me in his arms, and Aaron is right on his heels, wearing nothing but –

“Why is he naked?” I ask, averting my gaze from his… two, four… holy fuck, he was hiding so many abs under his shirt .

“It’s a towel.” He looks around the room. “And forgive me for not stopping for pants when you were screaming like someone was skinning you alive in here. Still having night terrors?”

“Yeah.” I lean forward, pulling a scrunchie from my wrist, and tie up my hair, letting Cal rub the knots from my neck.

“Grab a pair of pants from the closet, man,” Calden tells him, and Aaron reaches in, takes out the first pair he sees, and steps into them.

“I’m sorry,” I breathe. “I didn’t mean to sound so fucking harsh.”

“Don’t worry about it.” He walks over and sits on the edge of the bed. “I get that I’m navigating blind on a lot of things here, but what I do know is that your bond is special and created not only out of love but through necessity. You two have been through some shit and can share as much or as little as you want. Just know that I’m not here to judge you.”

“Well, that’s vague.” I pull my knees to my chest, wrapping my arms around them. He knows. He has to fucking know. Fuck me. “You stayed the night? ”

“Yeah, after Calden carried you to bed, we stayed up for a while and talked.”

“I’m glad you did.” I pick at the blanket, wondering what they discussed. I don’t begrudge them their man time, but I really hope I wasn’t the topic of conversation.

“You are?” They ask at the same time, and I snort a laugh.

“Neither of you stoners had any business behind the wheel of the vehicle.”

“The audacity.” Aaron points at Calden. “He’s a horrible influence.”

“Whatever, asshole. You love me.” Cal pulls the scrunchy out of my hair and flings it at Aaron.

“With the passion of a million burning suns.” He snatches it out of the hair and pulls it over his hand and onto his wrist.

“Why are the three of you in bed together?” My father asks from the doorway like a totally sober fucking asshole. It would be great if we could find a balance where he wasn’t a drunk but also wasn’t fucking everything up constantly with his shit attitude and judgy eyes .

“This is why we have doors.” I pinch both of their legs. “We should use them far more often.”

“Thanks for making our morning weird, sir.” Aaron salutes my father without standing, and he sneers, walking down the hall into the front of the house. “Good talk.”

“That was fun.” I lift up the blanket and peek under, checking my clothes. “Pants?”

“Here.” Aaron scoops something off the bedroom floor.

“Okay?” I wait for one of them to fill in the blanks.

“You threw them at me in the middle of the night.” Aaron blushes, and Calden’s shoulders bounce, trying to hide his laughter.

“He crashed on the floor to hide from your father, only to be assaulted by your pants in the middle of the night.”

“I don’t remember any of that.” I stand, pulling on my oversized lounge pants. “But I believe you. Every time I sleep in them, I wake up tangled in the legs.”

“Duly noted.” Aaron stands, offering me his hand, and I take it, jumping down. “So, what do you two typically do on a Saturday morning? ”

Cal and I look at each other, and he gives me a look that screams not to say a word, but I shut the door, closing the three of us inside.

“Want to know a secret?”

“Alara,” Cal warns.

“Hush, you.” Aaron picks up a pillow and throws it at him.

“Always.” He bites his lower lip, vibrating with excitement, and I wink at Calden.

“Well, when we’re alone and sure that no one can hear us. Calden–” I almost feel bad about this. Almost– “sings show tunes.”

“Damn it, Alara.” Calden chuckles, the tension melting from his body. “You’re going to scare him away.”

“Never.” Aaron reaches under the bed, dragging out the small box I have stowed under there.

“How the hell did you know about that?”

“Know about your secret box of snacks? You’ve always had the same hiding spot, shortie.” Aaron lifts the flaps, rummaging around inside, and tosses me my birth control. “This isn’t candy. Why are your fun time pills in the box of yummy stuff? ”

“Because that’s the only way she’ll remember to take them.” Cal tsks, lifting the pack from the bed, opening it, and pushing a pill through the back of the blister pack and into my palm. “Down the hatch.”

“Good to know.” Aaron jumps when a knock sounds at the door, slides the box back under our bed, and jogs from the room. “Food’s here. I’ll be back.”

“The man is living in the future while we're over here, microwaving hot pockets like cavemen,” Calden calls out.

“I like to think of it as elevating lives,” he shouts back. “Damn, Mykel, slow down.” Aaron walks back into the room, carrying three paper bags. “I nearly lost an arm.”

“Don’t get between our father and food.” I sigh, taking a bag from Aaron. “What did you get?”

“Hell if I know,” he replies, tearing into a bag while Cal and I do the same. “ Up In Smoke over there is the one who ordered.”

“Everything. He told me to order whatever I wanted because he was too worried about getting fresh and clean for us, so I ordered everything.” He grins, looking pretty proud of himself .

“Learn anything today, Aaron?” I look at all the food covering the bed and try not to laugh.

“No, why?” He tosses me the remote. “Find a show tune for the nerd, and let's eat.”

“Don’t mind if I do.”