Page 129 of Trust Me

I set the phone on the bedside table and pulled a chair up beside him. He used the remote to sit the bed up straighter, and I helped him adjust the pillow until he was comfortable.

“This damned doctor says I have to stay here until tomorrow,” he grumbled.

“And that’s what you’ll do.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

I smiled as the book started. Propping my feet beside his on the bed, I tipped my head back to stare at the ceiling. We sat like that for a while, just taking in the story together. When I heard footsteps, I looked over at the doorway.

Oli grimaced and held up the fries. “Am I interrupting?”

Before I could respond, Dad looked at him. “Of course not. You haven’t missed too much, but we can start it over.”

“No need. I’ve read this one.”

“You have?” I asked.

He rolled his lips, then shrugged. “I heard you listening in the shower and grabbed it from the library.”

“Weird.”

He dragged a chair over next to me, then held a bag out to my dad, whose eyes lit up. The smell of the fries filled the room, and even though I’d told him to eat something better, I was just glad to see him happy like this.

Eventually, my mom joined us, then my brother. We all stayed quiet, just listening to the story. It was a peaceful moment that calmed something inside of me that had awoken as soon as I got that call from my mom. Despite what the doctors said, I hadn’t been able to get rid of my fear that something would change. Finally, I could draw in a breath that didn’t feel like it was full of glass.

I rested my elbow on the armrest of my chair, then Oli did the same. With our arms pressed together, I had to hold back my smile so I didn’t give myself away to the other people in the room.

In that moment, I decided that I would tell them. Not today. There was too much going on still. But when we were all settled at the house, I was going to shed this skin that had me sneaking touches and holding back.

Oli didn’t deserve to be hidden away. He didn’t have a family of his own, and I knew that if mine learned how I felt about him, they’d treat him like he was a part of ours.

That was enough motivation for me to make the easiest decision of my life. Fuck how early it was or how my stomach fluttered with nerves.

Fuck everything but me and him.

*****

“Mom’s staying at the hospital,” Blake said when we got to the house. He tossed his keys on the entry table and stretched. “I was going sleep here, but I can get a hotel if your friend needs a room.”

I glanced at Oli, who was wandering around, looking at everything. “I can sleep on the couch or something.”

Blake shrugged. “If you want.”

He started toward the room, but I grabbed his arm. “Actually . . .”

“What is it?”

“We’re going stay in the same room.”

Blake snorted. “We’re grown men, D. I’m not sleeping in a bed with you.”

“No, I mean me and Oli.”

Silence met my statement, and his eyes bored into me. It was impossible to figure out what was in his expression. I thought it’d be confusion or maybe even amusement while he processed it. Maybe he hadn’t picked up on what I was actually saying yet.

Oli was watching me from the kitchen. There was no hint of uncertainty or the lack of confidence that sometimes came around when things got real. He was just assessing.

“Well, if that’s what you want to do,” Blake finally said.