Little Lies

“Except it was River blocking your messages.” Talking to River about this isn’t going to be pretty.

We sit in silence for a minute, eyes on each other, absorbing this new situation, until his phone chimes with an alert. He glances at the clock on the dash. “Dammit. I have class in fifteen minutes.”

We untwine our hands. I feel off-balance after just that innocuous contact, because now that the walls are coming down, there’s potential for so much more. Also, the shit I pulled in my bedroom sits between us like a fresh cum shot.

So I should not be surprised when Kodiak falls into step beside me as we cross campus and mutters, “Uh, about last night . . .”

“You really want to talk about that now?” There are people everywhere. Girls gawk openly, as if I don’t exist. He’s walking close, but not quite touching me.

He side-eyes me. “I was kind of wondering if that was, like, a one-time thing, or if maybe it was going to happen again?”

“Is that you saying you’d like it to happen again?” How is this even a conversation I’m entertaining at nine in the morning?

“I wouldn’t be opposed, you know, until I earn the actual right to be the one who does that for you.” We stop in front of the theater, and he jams his hand in his pocket. He looks halfway between earnest and like he wants to devour me.

“I guess you better talk to Maverick, then.” I turn and walk away, smiling to myself. It’s odd to have the upper hand with Kodiak. Or maybe I always had it and never realized. Either way, he needs to know who he’s dealing with now.

I could tell Mav, and I’m pretty sure he isn’t going to make much of a fuss either way, but Kodiak has been his best friend our entire lives, so it’s a conversation they need to have without me to mediate. Also, like I told him last night, Kodiak needs to nut the fuck up about this.

Besides, I’m going to deal with River, and that on its own is enough.

I don’t see my brothers or Kodiak for the rest of the day, but I do meet the twins and BJ at the café for a dairy-free latte and one of their edamame salad things. I figure I can’t exist solely on Lucky Charms and muffins, although I would like to try.

Lovey and Lacey jump up and hug me when I arrive. “How are you? How is everything?” they ask, nearly in unison. “You know you can always come stay with us, if you want to.”

“I’m fine. Everything is okay. I appreciate the offer, but I can’t live without my sewing machine.” This is the truth. I was going through withdrawal by the end of the first twelve hours. The fact that my roommate was getting plowed outside my door added to my level of desperation.

I fill them in on the whole situation, since I haven’t seen them since the guys came to get all my stuff. BJ doesn’t add much, other than to say Bethany is a loon and any of the guys on the team who slept with her are idiots.

Lacey and Lovey have to go to class, which leaves me and BJ. He arches a brow. “So . . .”

I shove a forkful of salad in my mouth and wish it were a blueberry muffin instead. I put a hand in front of my face and mumble, “So what?”

“What happened with Kody last night?”

“What do you mean what happened?” My voice is hella pitchy.

“Well, he went upstairs about ten minutes after you and your friend went to study and never came back down. So what happened?”

“Kodiak and I had a discussion.” This is not untrue.

“What happened to your friend?”

“He went home.”

BJ frowns and strokes his beard. “Huh.”

“Huh, what?”

“Nothing. I must’ve been in the bathroom or something when he left.” He makes a dismissive gesture and crosses one leg over the other. “Anyway, tell me about this discussion.”

“Kodiak was a douche, I called him out, we exchanged a bunch of words, and now we’re figuring things out.”

“What does that mean? Figuring things out how?”

“It’s complicated.”

“It’s really not, though. It’s always been simple, and you two just make it complicated.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

He laces his hands behind his head. “He’s been in love with you since you were kids. He just didn’t know how to love you without taking over your entire world, or letting you take over his. He needed you to be strong enough to put him in his place, and you are, which means things are finally going to be as they should.”

I stare at him for a few long seconds, waiting to see if he’s going to continue or not. “Have you been reading the Tao of Pooh again or something?”