“Okay. Good luck. Bye.”
I end the call and put it back in my bag.
Keely is watching me again. “Austin told me to be nice.”
“Okay.” My voice is quiet, slow. I don’t have a response to that. Do I say thanks, or yeah, you’ve been a real bitch, I’d appreciate it?
“He likes you. And I’m not trying to be a bitch, or poison you, or put laxatives in your coffee.” She laughs. It’s almost a giggle. Sweet and innocent. But there’s also something maniacal about it, too. I swallow. I’ll kill him for telling her that. “I’m worried about him. He’s my best friend, and I don’t want him to get his heart broken.” Her eyes narrow at me, driving home the point.
She thinks I’ll break Austin’s heart. If only she could see that she was the one who was hurting him. “Believe me, I won’t hurt him. He’s a great guy.”
“He is.”
“Want to come with me?” I ask her.
“Where?”
“Austin and Colt are playing ball before their next class. I thought I might watch. Enjoy the sun for a while longer.”
I love being able to walk around. It’s summer, and the last thing I want is to be stuck in the apartment because I have a broken ankle and arm. The moon boot has been a life saver.
“Sure.” She smiles and packs up her things in the exact reverse order of the way she unpacked them. Throwing her bag over her shoulder, she stands up. “Need some help?”
I wave her off. I’m used to the moon boot now and can move around much easier. My arm is almost healed, so it doesn’t hurt, and I get the cast off at the end of the week. Finally.
“I’m okay.”
“All right. Let’s go then.”
We walk together across campus, laughing and talking. Maybe Keely isn’t so bad. But I’ll still drink my coffee with one eye open.
25
Colt
“Think you can get someone to watch Clyde and Jordan for a few days?” Austin barges through our front door without even a hello.
He doesn’t knock anymore. Not since he birdsat the chickens when Em and I went home to visit Dad a couple of weeks ago.
“Only you. All those other fuckers will barbecue them, and then Em will murder me in my sleep.”
Austin smacks my legs and makes me sit up so there’s room on the sofa for him, too. “Anyone but me?”
I pause the game I’m watching and sit up. “No. Why?”
“Rome found a campsite up the coast, right on the beach. Thought we’d go camping for a few days. Enjoy the break before it ends and pre-season kicks off. Coach will bust our balls every other minute of the day, so it might be our only chance.”
“I’ll see if Em knows anyone.”
“I was going to ask her when I saw her this morning but wanted to run it by you first. In case you didn’t want to come or whatever.”
“No, don’t tell her anything. Leave it a surprise. She gets her casts off tomorrow and will want to do shit to make up for missed time.”
He chuckles. “Yeah, she couldn’t wait to tell me that this morning.”
“Have you kissed Em yet?”
Austin chokes on nothing. “What?”
“Have you kissed her yet?”
If he’s kissed her, then I’m screwed. If he’s kissed her, then she trusts him and they’re likely dating for real. He’s hung around her for a lot longer than most guys, which makes me believe that things could be more serious than I thought. Or as serious as things can be in a relationship where she humps my hand every other night and not her boyfriend.
I’m so confused. My head aches from trying to work out what’s going on between them. I’m sort of stuck on the idea that there is nothing going on because trust is a huge thing to Em, so she wouldn’t be fooling around with me if she was dating Austin. But then they go out for coffee and lunch and breakfast, and he walks her to class, carries her books, hangs out here. All. The. Freaking. Time. Just like a boyfriend would, but there’s nothing physical between them. I’ve yet to see them hold hands or hug, which isn’t exactly a surprise given Em’s ability to break bones when someone gets too close.
“Maybe you should ask Em. I don’t feel comfortable discussing my relationship with her with you.”
“But you haven’t won the bet yet, have you?”
Austin breathes through his nose in slow, controlled breaths. “No.”
I smile. “Good.”
And for now, I’m happy. I settle on the conclusion Em hasn’t kissed him, because she still asks me every day, and they’re definitely not screwing, because Rome would never let me hear the end of it if he won the bet.
The only logical explanation is they’re good friends. I can deal with that.
“I guess we can always bring the chickens with us.” I shrug. They’d love it. They enjoy our early morning walks and feeding the ducks at the park.
“What, you’re going to build them a pen? Or let them sleep in your tent?”
“I’ll bring the coop. And their leashes. It’ll be great. When are we leaving?”
“After Friday. Wait for traffic to die down. We’ll stay a few nights.”
“I’ll have to buy a tent and some supplies first.”
“I’ve got you covered. My folks camp a lot, so it’s in the genes. You bring your chickens and Em.”
“Sweet.” I un-pause the game and settle in to watch it in silence.
But luck is not on my side. “You got any food?”
“Nope.” I shake my head. We have food. Went shopping this morning, but I want him to leave. He’s been here too long.
Austin stands up and I grin, holding my hand to fist bump him and send him on his way, but he digs around in his pocket and pulls out his phone.
“Bruno, hey! Can I get the usual please?” With a grin, he gives out my address and hangs up. “Pizza will be here in thirty minutes.”
Forty-five minutes and two slices of pizza later, my phone rings. “Hello?”
“Hey. Can you pick me up?” Em’s voice floats down the phone line.
“You finished?”
“Yeah, it was quiet.”
“Okay.” I tuck my phone back into my pocket and stand. “Hate to eat and run, but I got to go get Em.”
Austin reaches for the remote and nods. He makes no move to leave. Instead he leans back on the sofa and kicks his feet up on the coffee table. “See you when you get back.”
I frown. I don’t like this one bit. And I’m tempted to kick his ass out, but I fear Em’s wrath more than Austin annoys me.
Collecting my keys from the kitchen, I leave Austin alone in my apartment and go pick up Emerson where I plan to have a long chat with her.
She’s waiting for me out the front of the restaurant when I get there. She’d gone in for a couple of hours to help with paperwork since she can’t waitress until she gets her casts off. She climbs in the car and smiles at me, holding up a bag of food. “Black pepper beef.”
My mouth waters, but then I remember the pizza sitting on my coffee table and the dude accompanying it.