“Mmm,” he murmured sleepily against my hair.
Knowing he was already halfway into dream world, I did something I shouldn’t have. I deliberately used his half-consciousness against him.
“Did you miss me?” I whispered, already tensing up in anticipation for his reply.
“Mmm, aye, missed you, wee yin,” he mumbled. “Sleep.”
And then he was out, his soft, even breathing filling my ears.
An ache spread out across my chest, the claws of it burrowing deep to my heart. What were we doing?
“I missed you too.”
Twenty-three
ONE MONTH LATER
Surprised?”
I quirked an eyebrow at Caleb, a smile prodding at my lips. “Not in any way.”
He grinned and turned back to the television.
We were at his apartment, and he’d told me that he would surprise me with his movie choice for the night. What was now flickering across his huge flat screen was in no way shocking.
Goodfellas.
I shook my head. “You could have at least tried to be original.”
“It’s a great movie,” he argued, throwing popcorn into his mouth.
“It is,” I agreed honestly. “But if you’d asked me to guess what movie you would choose, it would have been a toss-up between this and The Godfather.”
“Let’s watch that next.”
“Are we not having sex tonight?”
He gave me “a look.” Of course we were having sex tonight. After all, we were friends with benefits. However, since he arrived back in Boston a month ago, Caleb had really been embracing the friends part. In truth, he was so busy in his new role at work, and I was so busy with new clients, that finding time to see each other had become a little trying at times. I felt like we were both frustrated by it, but neither of us would admit it.
“Then I don’t think we have time for The Godfather on top of Goodfellas,” I said. “Plus, if we watch The Godfather we’ll want to watch The Godfather: Part II and even though it’s not my favorite you can’t watch parts one and two without watching part three. And we definitely don’t have time for a Godfather marathon on top of Goodfellas.”
“Is it wrong that the fact that you enjoy mafia movies turns me on a wee bit?” He grinned, one filled with wicked boyishness.
My chest fluttered with too much feeling. Over the last month I felt like I was getting to see the real Caleb. The relaxed, nice, down-to-earth Caleb. I didn’t know if it was having Jamie around or if it was us settling into a real friendship, but I liked this side of him either way.
“It’s a little wrong,” Jamie answered for me, striding out of his bedroom, covered in flecks of paint. I hadn’t seen inside his room, but Caleb told me he had let his brother turn the guest room into a bedroom/ art studio.
“I wasn’t asking you.” Caleb threw a piece of popcorn at him.
“And yet here I am sharing my opinion for free. I’m such a good brother.” Jamie sighed dramatically as he passed us.
“If you’re heading into the kitchen for a beer, you’ll be an even better one if you bring us one too.”
“I’m working,” Jamie called to us, having disappeared out of sight. “So I’m on water.”
I glanced at the open doorway of his room, but all I could see was the head of a bed and a nightstand. Curiosity was compelling me to get up and have a wander into the room, but my good manners quelled the compulsion.
“He won’t let me in either,” Caleb said quietly, having noted my interest. “He keeps his work private until it’s finished.”
“He has a huge social media following,” I said, as if that explained my curiosity.
“I do.” Jamie appeared from out of the kitchen. “And I have great hearing.” He handed us beers and kept hold of the bottle of water in his hand. He pinned me to the sofa with his ice blue gaze. I found it remarkable that two brothers could have identical beautiful eyes and yet only one of them made my heart flutter when he focused on me.
“You been stalking me, Miss Breevort?” Jamie teased.
The upside to hanging out with Caleb as a friend was that Jamie was around in the background during most of those times and he’d gotten to spend a little time with me. Although I still sensed his hesitancy with me, for whatever weird reason (Carissa?), he was at least congenial enough now.
And on that Carissa note, I still had no idea who she was or what lesson she’d taught Caleb.
“I was curious.” I shrugged. “And you have over half a million Instagram followers. That’s pretty impressive.”
“Plus, Ava sketches,” Caleb offered. I’d left my sketchbook out on the coffee table a week ago and nosy Caleb had taken a peek. Admittedly, I’d flushed with pleasure at his praise for my drawings. “She’s good. You should check them out.”
I tried to ignore the warmth his words caused in my chest. “They’re nothing like your paintings. I just … doodle.”
“They’re more than doodles.”
“I didn’t know you were into art.” Jamie studied me curiously.
I stopped myself from responding that he didn’t know anything about me because he refused to ask. Instead I said, “I went to art school. Interior design.”
“Oh, right, of course. I dropped out of art school.”
“Not that it did him any harm. Jamie’s got an exhibit coming up in New York,” Caleb said, smirking at his brother, but it was a proud smirk. I could tell. And it made my insides mushy.
Jamie flicked his brother an amused but pleased look. “What can I say … I’m a genius.”
Caleb chuckled, shaking his head at him. And with one last look at me, Jamie wandered back to his room.
“And modest too.” I turned to his big brother. “A self-portrait next, I think. Titled Genius.”
Caleb grunted, his lips quirking up at the corners.
“I heard that,” Jamie grumbled before slamming the door shut behind him.
“Just when he was starting to like me.” I took a swig of my beer as I felt a hand on my naked thigh. We were having an extremely warm June and so I was still in the shorts and T-shirt I’d put on to wander around Back Bay in the sun earlier that day. I followed the length of his arm all the way up to its owner’s face.
Mirth danced in Caleb’s gaze. “Do you really want tae watch the movie?”
“I thought you wanted to watch the movie?”
His big hand caressed my skin, his fingers disappearing under the hem of my shorts. “You’re being cute. So now I dinnae want tae watch the movie,” he whispered, the amusement giving away to heat.
“I wasn’t being cute.” I leaned toward him. “You just have a one-track—” My phone began to vibrate on the coffee table, cutting me off.
Harper’s name flashed on the screen.
Caleb saw. “Call her back later.”
But I couldn’t.
These last four weeks had been strained between me and my best friend. My uncertainty over her boyfriend meant she was avoiding me, and I didn’t know how to make things right. I felt like I was forcing her to have lunch or drinks with me because when we were together she barely laughed and she seemed on edge, afraid, I think, that I’d ask about Vince.
I didn’t ask about Vince because I just wanted my best friend back.
This was the first time in weeks that Harper had initiated contact.
Caleb knew all this because I’d confessed my concerns. He saw the look on my face. “You better answer it, then.”
I grabbed the phone and answered it on a breathless “Hey.” My heart had started racing a little with relief.
“Ava?”
My blood chilled instantly at the garbled way Harper said my name.
“Harper?”
“Ava,” her voice croaked. “I’m … I’m in trouble.” And then I heard the soft whimpers of her crying, and fear slammed into me.