“Family plan?” Dean asks.
“Seminary school.” I mumble. He mouths ah and nods.
“Yeah, so you see, Daddy has a tight hold on everything that I do.” Maddie says with disdain towards me.
“What’s wrong, Mads? Why suddenly are you all pissed off at me?” I ask confused.
“I don’t want to talk about it.” She crosses her arms over her chest and huffs out a breath, turning her face.
Dean pulls his hand from mine, wraps it around my shoulders and pulls me closer to his body. His head leans towards me.
“Give her time.” He says so only I can hear.
He kisses my temple and then relaxes into the new position with his arm around me. I turn into him and bury my face in his warm neck to breathe him in.
“I like this.” I admit. His hand on my shoulder squeezes, but he is silent.
“Shit. Should I have not said that?” I pull back and look at him, suddenly feeling like I overstepped.
His gaze finds me again, his smile slow to form.
“Kale. You can say whatever you want, whenever you want.” He kisses me again. “However you want.” He whispers against my lips and then he kisses me again. His tongue runs against the seam of my lips, when I grant him entrance, he groans lightly and runs his tongue against mine.
“Get a room!” Maddie grumbles.
We laugh and cease kissing.
Chapter Five
Dean
“We should probably talk. I know we should talk. I’ve got questions, do you?” Kaley turns to me and asks as soon as Maddie retreats to bed for the night.
We’ve had a long day. We did the tourist thing with her family, we hiked and went to a museum or two and then ended with dinner. Once we returned to the apartment, we played a few board games and now here we are.
It’s just Kaley and I, alone.
We’ve been alone several times, hell we live together. But this is the first time that we’ve been alone together after what happened this morning. After we’ve both seen what the other one looks like when they come. And after the lines got crossed, and everything about our relationship became real.
“I do. Want a drink?” I ask, standing to grab myself water.
“Wine please?” She asks.
I take my time in the kitchen pouring her a cup, because we’re not classy enough to have glasses of wine and then return to the living room and sit beside her on the couch facing her.
“So?” She starts nervously.
“This thing happening with us.” I finish for her.
“What are we doing Dean? Are we being stupid? Will this little game ruin our friendship?” she asks with worry.
“What if this, and by the way, it’s not a game, but what if it’s the most important thing to happen to either of us?” I ask. Because what if it really is? “What if all these events in time that have happened for the past forty-eight hours are setting both of us up for something amazing?”
“You sound like you’re drunk. Did you take a shot in there?” she asks, pointing towards the kitchen.
“Is this part of the plan though to you? To make your lie to your family to be more believable?” I ask.
“No.” She says.
“Are you attracted to me?”
“Are you stupid?”
“No, I have an impeccable G.P.A. That would prove that I’m not.” I grin.
“I mean, yeah, of course I’m attracted to you. Have you looked in the mirror? I mean, from the moment that I met you, I have been attracted to you.”
“Really?” I ask, suddenly confused.
“So then why now? You never said or acted differently before.” I ask.
“Because you’re my best friend’s twin brother. That’s almost like sleeping with Denise.” She turns her head and covers her mouth before mumbling, “plus, she may have told me not to go there.”
“Wait, what? She wouldn’t have.” My eyebrows go to my hairline.
“Your first two years of college, what was it like?” She asks.
I tip my head back to recount. “Football. School.”
When I first started college, I was so focused on keeping my grades up and playing the best ball that I could, I barely had time for anything else. When the season was over, I trained my ass off and even taught a peewee league in the inner city of Seattle.
“So, you were so enamored with school that your sister said that any additional things would be a distraction. So, you became a friend. Then a roommate. Now even though, you’ve let loose a lot more and aren’t so stringent on your regime of things, you still have your habits that are important.” She says.
“So, how was I supposed to know that all these years you’ve thought of me in the more biblical sense?”
“You weren’t, but I guess now you do.” She shrugs.
“Can we get back on subject here? We got sidetracked with my attractiveness.” I ask her with a smile. “This thing with us? What do you want to do? We can stop and go back to pretending we’re a couple? Which I think is a monumentally horrible idea. Or, we can continue and see where it goes?”
“Hold up!” A voice from behind us says loudly.
Shit! We both turn our heads slowly toward Maddie, eavesdropping from the hallway.
“Crap!” Kaley hisses. “Hey Mads.” Her voice is shaky as she greets her sister.
“You guys aren’t even a couple?” She asks.
“We… um.” Kaley stutters.
“We are.” I say, my hand squeezing Kaley’s hand.
“Bullshit. I heard you guys. You guys are pretending to be a couple.”
“How long were you listening to our conversation, Mads?” Kaley asks, with an edge to her voice.
“I got thirsty and I come out here thinking you guys are asleep, when I hear him ask you if you want to keep pretending to be a couple. So what the fuck Kaley? You guys just bouncing on the bed this morning? Gross.” Maddie’s hands are on her hips and she looks disgusted.
Kaley releases my hand and stands up.
“Listen Mads, I think you’re misunderstanding things here. You heard Dean, we are together. I think you misheard our conversation.”
“Bull. Shit! I’m telling Daddy!” Maddie stomps off to the bedroom with Kaley on her tail. Kaley pounds on the door and then lets herself in.
I’m stunned silent on the couch, unsure of what just transpired, and left clueless as to what Kaley and I are now. She wasn’t exactly forthcoming with a yes when Maddie asked her; she hesitated.
Well fuck.
Kaley
I’m sitting on the bed having a staring contest with my teenage sister. Her lips are thin and her eyes are a storm of anger, but I’m just confused as to why. She grips her cell phone, but I know she’s not making any calls since it’s so late. That means I have all night to talk her out of saying anything to our parents.
“I can sit here all night with you, Mads. I need you to understand what you heard and what the truth is.” I say evenly.
“I don’t need to listen to your lies. When I tell Daddy that you are lying to him and mom, he’ll be pissed and see that you return home and then I’ll be off the hook for everything and will be allowed to live my life as I want.”