“Hey, I want to run by the cafe, do you want anything?” I ask Jack some six hours later. We are in the waiting room outside the operating room where Ben’s mother is still in surgery. While Ben brought me along, Ashton brought Jack.Ms. Lockwood has been in surgery for more than four hours now. We got here two hours ago at around nine in the morning after a two-hour flight. Ben’s two sisters were already here. A few minutes ago, an OR nurse came by and said they were running out of Ms.Lockwood’s blood type, O-, and if one of the siblings could donate. It turned out that only Ashton is compatible. Ben accompanied Ashton to do the transfusion. Now, it’s just Jack and me and the two sisters in the waiting room. Nobody knows how the operation is going, but knowing that Ms. Lockwood has lost so much blood doesn’t sound good. “I’ll come with you,” Jack says, jumping to his feet as if he is dying to get out of here. We take the elevator down to the hospital’s first floor, where the cafete
Two days after I get home, the door to my room–or rather, my hideout, since I’ve hardly left it since I got back–bursts open and Jared appears.A retort is ready on my lips to ask him to get lost when he beats me to it. “Your sister is in the hospital.”I blink at him, and then push myself up from my lying position on the bed. “What?”“She developed a migraine in class and passed out on her way to the infirmary. The school called an ambulance…your mother couldn’t reach you on your phone. So she called me.”Fuck. I get out of bed and look around for a pair of pants. Jared throws one at me, and then a t-shirt.“Is she okay?”“Looks like she needs to get that surgery asap,” he tells me.Shit. She was supposed to have one more month. We haven’t yet put together enough money, and–“I sold the truck,” Jared says.“What?”“I got six grand for it. I would have informed you earlier if you were taking visitors or, I don’t know, taking calls.” He is annoyed, and he isn’t hiding it. He walks past
I sigh and turn away from him “Let’s not drag this any further, please.”“Ash and I have not had that kind of relationship for five years now,” he says. “And when we did, it only lasted for a few months before I realised what a huge mistake it was and put an end to it. He has tried to revive it many times, but I’ve long made it clear that my affections for him only go as far as being his brother. I know, I’ve given him way too much leeway than most siblings would. Allowed him to affect who I could and could not get close to. But I drew the line at you.”He pauses for a moment, and then continues,“You must have seen him kiss me, and you also must have not stayed long enough after. Because if you had, you would know that I pushed him away, and I assured him that I’d always be there for him as his brother, but to not ask more of me.”I stay rooted to the spot even when I feel him move closer.“And,” he continues, “like I did two months ago, I told him that I’m in love with you, and I wa
This night is shit, I think as I shove my phone back into my pocket. I have no idea why I thought coming to this party would be a good idea. I should be on my way home right now, where I’m needed.
“Fine,” I tell him. “I will tell you.”He blinks as if he wasn’t expecting me to give in. “Seriously?”I nod, then go back to leaning against the wall. With my eyes set on the back door of the house, where kids keep streaming in and out, I say, “Staying away from you was the only way I could… Well, stay away from you.”Ben positions himself against the wall too, but on his side so that he is facing me. “What does that even mean?” he asks. From my peripheral, I see him reach into his jacket pocket and pull something out, then stick it in his mouth. I look at him just as he retrieves a lighter from another pocket.I arch my eyebrow at the cigarette in his mouth. “I’m not going to stay here and talk to you if all I get back is second-hand smoke.”His mouth grins around the stick between his lips. “You want one?” he asks, reaching into his pocket and presenting me with a cigarette.“I don’t smoke,” I tell him, even though I’m pretty sure he already knows that.“Really?” he asks, putting i
“What are we doing here?” I ask when Ben brings his motorcycle to a stop in front of a massive mansion. A mansion in an area that, by the looks of it, is probably inhabited by the wealthiest people you can find around.“I brought us to a proper party,” he says, strapping the helmets to the passenger seat. He nods towards the house. “Let’s go.”“Who’s throwing this party?” I ask, keeping up with him and giving our surroundings a look. It looks like one of those mansions many lust after but only a few can afford.“My brother,” he says, leading the way to the front door.“You have a brother?”“And two sisters,” he replies. When we get to the door, he punches in a code and pushes it open. The loud thrum of music welcomes us, as so do two girls making out against what looks like a coat closet. Oh well…“So is this your family home?” I ask.“Nope. This is my brother’s,” he replies.His brother’s. I’m trying to wrap my head around the fact that, Ben, who I’ve known to constantly stay at his
“I can’t believe you have a room in a million-dollar mansion but choose to live in a two-bedroom apartment while occasionally moonlighting as a barista,” I note as I take in Ben’s room. It’s huge—it can fit his friend’s apartment in it—and has a balcony overlooking the backyard. It’s been about an hour since we got here, and he offered to show me his room. To be honest, I was more than willing to get away from the crowd and be alone with him. “My brother isn’t my favourite person to live with,” he says as he walks over and joins me on the balcony. “Plus, do you see how huge it is? Wait until the crowd leaves and you’ll get a taste of how much it feels like a ghost town with just a couple of people in here.” “So, what’s the story between you, your brother, and his girlfriend?” When he gives me a raised brow, I shift to the edge of the balcony and lean on the railing. I swear I wasn’t going to ask that. Not out loud, anyway, because it has been jumping around my mind since we met th
“You’re so bad at this. Let’s just stop.”“Once more. I’ll beat you this time, I swear.”“That’s what you said the last three times.”“For real this time.”“That’s what you said last time.”Ben groans and drops his controller on the coffee table. “You’re just too good. I’m not as bad as I used to be. I beat Jo the last time we played.”“She probably let you win.”“She didn’t.”“She did. There’s no way you can beat her with the kind of skill you have. You have a long way to go, buddy.”“Buddy?” he grumbles. “Now I’m buddy?”I turn off the console and turn to him. “What do you want to be?”“Something that rhymes with that.”I work my brain a little…what the fuck?I roll my eyes. “In your dreams.”He narrows his eyes. “You know, people who have a thing for bad boys have one thing in common.”“What’s that?”“They like it rough.”I can only stare at him.He leans in. “And do you know what people who like being manhandled in bed have in common? Many have a da—”I press my hand to his mouth.