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“There’s no one there,” the voice called, turning to go back in the room.
Neither of us dared to speak until the door clicked shut with finality.
It was Lucy that broke the silence.
“Holy shit! What the hell is Liam doing in my sister’s room?”
Lucy
“What are youdoing?” Jake and I hoofed it to my room which was conveniently only five doors down from E’s. I was slightly out of breath from the adrenaline, but Jake was cool as a cucumber.
“I’m FaceTiming her. We’re going to catch them!” I squealed. “And you are going to text Liam. Stand off to the side so she doesn’t see you,” I instructed. Jake wore a look that was equal parts amusement and compliant. “What?” I quipped as the ringtone droned on.
He shook his head, suppressing a laugh. “Nothing. It’s just that we’ve gone from Mission Impossible to Ding Dong Ditch and now what are we doing? Fishing?” He made an effort to mime a cast and reeling in a big one.
Before I could answer him, E picked up. “Uh, hi Lucy. What’s up? Did you need something?” She was in her robe, making a determined attempt to cover her chest. Her signature red lipstick had worn off, leaving her lips pink and smudged.
“Oh nothing…wait. Did you just wake up from a nap?” This was my ace in the hole question.
An elegant hand smoothed down her ebony strands. “Yeah…it was a long day,” she exhaled. “What did you need?” Quite obvious, she darted her eyes to her right, imploring Liam to stay quiet.
I plopped down on my bed as Jake casually leaned against the wall, retrieving his phone from his back pocket. He began texting.
“Oh. Right. I wanted your opinion on an outfit.” I hadn’t thought as far as what I was going to say if she had in fact picked up.
The screen shifted and E was now in the bathroom. “For what? Are you and Jake going on a hot date?”
At the mention of his name, Jake’s eyes cut to me. I had to keep my focus on E, but his grin was easy enough to make out.
“Yeah. Yes. So, do you think I should wear this,” I blurted, panning the phone over my torso, “or something nicer?”
E sighed impatiently. “Does it matter? Jake likes you for you. Wear what you want.”
Oh. My hair was down and suddenly it felt like a fire had been lit at the nape of my neck. Jake continued to type away, but at E’s blunt comment, I heard him whisper “It’s true.”
I had to veer this conversation back to my attempted relationship unveiling.
“I’m sorry, did I catch you at a bad time? You seem…I don’t know,” I flitted my free hand about, “preoccupied.” And then, channeling my best impression of her, I pinned her with a stare that should’ve made her quake in her boots. Or robe at least.
“Lucy. I’m tired. Wear whatever you feel confident in. Goodnight.”
The screen went blank and I looked to Jake incredulously. “She hung up on me.”
“To be honest, I’m surprised she stayed on as long as she did. Or even answered for that matter…” he reasoned.
I had obviously caught E in the middle of sexy time with Liam. There was no other explanation.
“Did you see that?! She said I had woken her up from a nap!” I exclaimed, raising my arms in the air. “She was wearing arobe! And it’s after eleven o’clock!”
Jake looked at me skeptically. “A lot of people take naps, Luce…” It was the first time he used the shortened form of my name. I liked it. A lot.
“Right,” I pressed on, hoping he’d use the nickname more, “but the thing is, is E is a terrible napper! Self-proclaimed in fact. We caught them!” I was pleased as punch with our findings.
Jake came and sat on the edge of the bed. We weren’t touching, but he was close enough that I could feel the heat radiating from his body.
“Wait. What did you text Liam?”
Jake held up his phone, shaking it triumphantly. “Caught him covering up his whereabouts.” I sprang to my knees, jostling the bed. Jake hardly moved, but my knees were now pressed against the side of his thigh.
