“I just thought we both needed a night off from everything. We should do it more often.” She smiles at me and I hope we’ll get to do this many times. The next phase of my plan is to ingratiate myself into her life. Get her so comfortable with me that I have access to everything, and thus, access to her father. I need his secrets. I need them so I can protect myself with them. Wear them like a bulletproof vest for the bullets I know he’s going to send my way when he finds out.
Time. It’s going to take time. More dates, more sleepovers, more time with Saige. It’s a price I’m definitely willing to pay.
Eighteen
I hang out with Saige two more times that week. Once we go to the movies and once we just hang out at her apartment again. There’s sex on both dates.
“What are you doing this weekend?” she asks as we bask in the post-coital glow. She told me she had to do homework, but I changed her mind when I flipped her over the couch, yanked her pants down and went down on her.
“Nothing, why?” If I tell her I have plans, she’ll want to know what they are and then I’ll have to make something up that sounds convincing. Keeping her in the dark about my personal life when I’m not with her is key. I need to know everything about her while revealing nothing of myself.
“Just wondering. I thought maybe you and I could go out with some of my friends, including Lo. You didn’t exactly meet under the best circumstances and it would be good to do a re-meet, don’t you think?” Part of making my way into Saige’s life is impressing her friends. So I’m on board.
“Sure, when?”
“I was thinking Saturday night?” That will work if I visit Lizzy in the morning and then drive back.
“I’m free. Do you want me to pick you up here?” She nods and says she’ll text me with a time and I get up to go to the bathroom I’ve been neglecting my check-ins and I need to fix that. I just get so distracted when I’m with Saige and the time just seems to melt away.
“Hey, your phone is blowing up,” Saige says through the door and I nearly break my neck scrambling to get out of the bathroom. I have to keep my burner phone on me in addition to my regular phone and it’s not like I have anywhere to hide it when I’m naked.
“Whoa, where’s the fire?” Saige says, laughing as she hands me the phone. Shit. She’d taken it out of my pants and it’s my regular phone. Not the burner. Internal sigh of relief. I don’t need her knowing the burner exists, let alone taking it out of my pants.
I check out the number and it’s one of those stupid random 800 numbers that’s probably calling me to tell me I “won” a trip to Jamaica, as long as I give them all my personal information. I ignore it and lock my phone again.
“Expecting a call?” she says, sitting back on the bed and combing her fingers through her hair.
“Uh, yeah. But it’s nothing,” I say, getting my heart back under control and giving her what I hope is an easy smile.
“Is everything okay?” she asks and I kick myself for being in this situation. From now on, when I’m not fucking her, my pants are staying on.
“Absolutely.” I wink at her and then decide to divert her attention by diving forward and nuzzling her chest, right between her breasts.
She laughs and grabs my head and I throw us back on the bed and then the phone is forgotten.
“Hey, Sister!” I say as I walk into Lizzy’s room on Saturday.
“Brother!” she screams and throws herself at me. She’s dressed in a bright blue sweater with a kitten on the front and her hair’s been braided. I wonder which nurse did it. Everyone loves Lizzy. She has a way about her that draws you in. Makes you care. Would make you do anything for her.
“I brought you something,” I say, bringing my hand out from behind my back and presenting her with the book I picked up on my way here.
“Harry Potter!” she yells, jumping up and down and clapping. “Can we watch the movies too?”
“Absolutely,” I say as I put my arm around her and we go to sit on her bed. “How are you today?”
She beams at me. It’s a little funny that the two people I care about most are the happiest. You’d think that would rub off on me, but I think I’m immune to it by now.
“I’m good. Callie braided my hair,” she says, turning her head and showing me the elaborate French braid that twists into a knot on the back of her head.
“I see that. It looks very pretty.” I touch her hair and am stabbed by the memory of our mother doing the same thing.
“I wish I could show Momma. I miss her,” she says, turning back around and pouting.
“I know, I know. I miss her too.” Lizzy holds her arms out and gathers me in a hug.
“You okay, Brother?”
“Yeah, I’m okay.” She shushes me and strokes the back of my head.
“It’s okay,” she says, as if she’s comforting me. “Everything will be okay.”
I hold onto my sister, my only flesh and blood left in this world. I haven’t cried in four years, but I feel like I want to now. Not enough to actually do it, but the thickness at the back of my throat and the itch in my eyes could turn into tears.
After a few breaths, the feeling is gone and I’m back to normal. I let go of Lizzy, but then she grabs my face in both hands and searches my eyes. Sometimes she does this. Lizzy can be disturbingly perceptive sometimes.
“Why are you happy and sad?” I’m not quite sure what she sees in my eyes, but I’m definitely not happy. I haven’t been happy… I don’t remember the last time I was happy.
An image of Saige writhing beneath me as she climaxes dances through my mind, but I shove it aside.
“I’m happy because I’m with you and I’m sad because I can’t stay longer,” I say, but Lizzy continues to stroke my cheeks with her fingers.
“I love you more than anything. You know that, right?” She nods slowly and lets go of my face.
“I’ll eat you up I love you so,” she quotes from “Where the Wild Things Are”. Our mother used to chase us around the house and pretend to eat our hands or toes when we refused to go to bed.
“I’ll eat you up I love you so,” I say, tipping my head forward and she moves her face forward until we’re touching.
She beams and then grabs the book.
“Read to me?”
“Of course,” I say.
But before I can even open the book, a text comes through the burner phone. Shit. I ditched my follower today (Hardy) and that’s him asking where the fuck I am. This stalker is really messing with my life and I need it to stop.
“I’m going to go answer the phone. You start and I’ll come and catch up,” I say as I head for her bathroom. She nods and starts paging through the book. I’m fortunate that Lizzy never asks many questions.
I pick up the call and wait for him to stop cursing at me. He’s the more reserved one of the twins, but you never want to piss him off because he’ll let you have it. And I’m facing his wrath
“Look, I had some things to take care of, so I bailed, okay? It’s a pain in my fucking ass to be followed around. You’ve gotta cut me some slack.” I keep my voice low but urgent. My speech is met by an icy silence.
“You can’t fucking do that, Sylas. And you know it. All of us have rearranged our lives to keep you safe and you’re acting like we’re inconveniencing you. Get your head out of your ass.” He’s reined in his anger, but I’m still going to get it. Fine. Lizzy is worth it. They could waterboard me and I’d never tell them where I went today. Never. Lizzy is off-limits.
“Fine. I’ll be back in a few hours.”
“You know we can track you. All I have to do is get Cash.” I know that. I should have ditched my phone before I came here, but I didn’t really have a whole lot of choice.