“I’m well aware of what happened.” Samantha absently rubbed her side, her injuries still healing. “I was there, remember?”
“What is it then?” Amanda reached over to squeeze her hand. “Something else is wrong, I can feel it. Talk to me.”
That was the problem with friendship. There’s no protocol for telling your best friend that you’ve been having crazy monkey-sex with her older brother. History told her there was no point in hiding it. As Amanda had said, things like this always came back to bite them in the ass. It was one of the reasons they’d made a pact, long ago, to always be honest with each other. No matter what.
“I slept with your brother.”
Amanda released her hand and fell back into her chair, the air rushing from her lungs with a whistle. “You slept with Alec?”
She kicked Amanda under the table. What? Why would she think that? Jesus. “No.”
“Oh.” Amanda’s eyes widened. “Oh.” Narrowed. “Oh.”
“It was completely unexpected.” Samantha rushed to explain, not wanting Amanda to have time to think about it. “He just showed up at the bar that night and dragged me out. I don’t even know how he found me at that place. I’d never been there before and I’d bet money I’d never find it again. It had been a long week. I needed to blow off some steam and this guy I’ve hung out with a few times asked if I wanted to go…”
She was rambling, but couldn’t make herself quit. “None of that is important. Caleb came and got me and then someone took a few shots at us. Caleb got us out of there and took me back to his place and helped me clean up and, well, one thing led to another and … you know how these things go.”
Amanda held her palm out. “Stop. I don’t want to hear any more. You know what this means, right? This means you can’t ever, ever talk to me about sex again. There are some things a girl just doesn’t need to know.” Amanda batted her eyelashes and her lips twisted into a wry smile before downing half her drink. “Call me a prude, but I don’t need to hear about what you’re doing with my brother. Freaks me out.” She frowned into her coffee. “Makes me wish for some Kahlua or Bailey’s or something.”
Relief washed over her.
“You’re not upset?” Samantha hadn’t realized how important Amanda’s opinion of her–of whatever this was with Caleb–was until this moment.
“The only people who’d be surprised are you and Caleb. The rest of us knew it would happen eventually.” Her shock must have shown, because Amanda continued, “Oh, please. Do you honestly think Caleb would watch out for you if he didn’t care?”
Her heart skipped a beat. “He cares about you and Alec. You guys care about me. He does it out of love for you.”
Amanda’s gaze sharpened. “You’ve slept with him and you still believe that?”
Samantha sipped her coffee. “Don’t get all righteous on me. I’m hardly the first person he’s slept with. I’m sure I won’t be the last.”
She choked on the realization that she wanted to be the last.
“Is that what you’ve been telling yourself? That you’re both just passing the time? Forced proximity, so why not?” There was no venom in her words, only sadness. “How easy that must make things for you.”
This conversation was spiraling out of control. Samantha sat forward, her elbows biting into the table. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Amanda finished her drink in one gulp and gently placed her glass back on the table. “It means you can tell yourself whatever you want if it helps you sleep better at night. It means that you’re too chicken-shit to fight for something you want instead of fighting for other people all the time. Caleb cares about you, Sam. If you’d stop running for five seconds, you’d see it for yourself.”
Samantha watched, speechless, as Amanda pushed back her chair and stood.
“And it means our little talk is finished. I love you, Samantha, but I won’t sit here and listen to you spew about my brother being just another random fuck. We both know better. Caleb cares about you, and I know how you feel about him. I always have.”
“Amanda. I…” How could she explain how she felt when she didn’t understand it herself?
Amanda’s sigh was loud and heavy, filled with frustration. “Caleb is not your father, Samantha. If you can’t realize that, let him go. And I mean for good. Let him go before it destroys both of you.”
* * *
A rush of satisfaction washed over him. He couldn’t believe his luck. Months of waiting, planning, watching were about to pay off. His lip twitched as the damaged muscles in his face tried to form a grin.