“Thanks,” I croak as he begins to unbuckle his belt. “I’ll, uh . . . I’m going to go see if Makenna ever sent another text.” I dart out of the bathroom. Was he testing me? Probably. Did I fail? Most definitely. The confirmation of that comes from the low chuckle I hear echoing from the bathroom.
Running the brush through my hair, I go down the hall to his bedroom, where I left my phone. A missed call and two messages. I knew Wes’ message would really set her off.
Makenna: ‘Wes just sent me a message. What exactly is Shane supposed to fill me in on? He’s busy talking and I have to know!’
Makenna: ‘OMG. Seriously? Shane didn’t know all the details, but he knew the most important one. You and Wes? Okay, you’re joking with me again, right?’
I have a couple of minutes, so I decide to call her or she’ll never shut up. She picks up on the first ring.
“Callie! If this is another one of your stupid jokes, I swear I’m going to strangle you.”
I take a deep breath. “No, it’s not a joke. I took a deal with the devil himself. We added some benefits to our friendship.”
“How long has this been going on?”
“Well, it hasn’t officially started yet, but I suspect it will within an hour or two. He’s showering right now.” I sink into the chair by the bay window and look out at the pinpricks of twinkling light in the obsidian sky. The stars are so much clearer away from the city lights.
“Jeez, you make it sound more like a business transaction than anything else.” Shane laughs in the background. “I don’t get it, Callie. You just went through all that nonsense with Tanner, and you’re pretty much doing the same thing to yourself again. I love Wes to pieces, but I have to admit that I’m a little shocked. Don’t get yourself hurt.”
“Don’t worry about me, Makenna. Tanner was an idiot. At least Wes is honest about what he wants, and I can work with that. We’re both getting exactly what we want from this relationship, and there aren’t any other expectations. That’s the beauty of it.”
She groans. “You’re such a dude sometimes. Do you even like him?”
“I probably like him too much, to be honest, and it’s probably going to come back and bite me later. But I’m a big girl. I can deal with the consequences.”
“Suit yourself. I love you both, and I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“We’ll talk when I get home tomorrow. Goodnight.”
“Yeah, goodnight.”
I hang up and realize I don’t hear the shower anymore. “He’s fast,” I mumble under my breath.
“Because I’m not a shower hog.”
I turn to find Wes leaned against the doorway of his room. “Maybe not, but you’re an eavesdropper.”
“I’ll neither confirm nor deny that statement.” He straightens and approaches me. “What do you want to do? I can make us a snack. We can watch a movie. Play cards. Whatever you want.”
“I need a drink.”
He grabs my hand and drags me out of the chair. “Me, too.”
Once in the kitchen, he starts his spiel of every possible fluid he has in the house to drink, but I cut him off. “Whiskey.”
He cocks his head to the side and raises an eyebrow. “The hard stuff, huh? Am I that bad that you have to drink yourself into it?”
“Not at all. I was just hoping to make things less weird. Easy. Like it was the night of your party.”
“Ah,” he sighs. “You mean when I was drunk and depressed.”
I take the whiskey bottle from him and pour a little into two glasses. “I thought you were kinda adorable.” Before I lose my nerve, I pick one up and shoot it, feeling my eyes water as the liquid fire runs down the back of my throat. “God, that’s disgusting,” I choke out.
He follows suit and shrugs. “It’s not that bad. More?”
“Hell, no,” I say, wiping the tears from my eyes.
“Okay, then. Now what?”
I can’t take this little game anymore. It’s like we’re circling each other in a wrestling ring, waiting for the other one to lunge first. “What are we waiting for?”
Wes leans his hip against the counter and crosses his arms over his chest. “I’m waiting for you to act like you’re not scared of me. You’re the one that said you wanted this, but ever since you did, you’ve been quiet and acting freaked out. I thought if we just chilled for a bit, you’d relax and realize nothing is different between us.”
Oh, but it is. “I’m not scared of you, Wes. I know what this is. I know your limitations. I know it will inevitably end. It’s not a matter of if . . . it’s when. And I’ve decided that it’s better to get it out of our systems and go on with our lives after it’s over, instead of acting like the attraction isn’t there. Then you can stop acting like an ass because you want me and can’t have me, and I can stop pretending that I don’t want it as much as you do.”