Page 8 of Can't Be Love

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Liam flinch.

“But I told Lily to sleep in there,” Maddie admitted.

“Yeah, I noticed,” I said as I dug around in the cabinet where I knew Mom kept bottles of medicine, and finally found some aspirin. I also grabbed two bottles of water off the counter before squatting down to reach under the sink to acquire wipes, some carpet cleaner, and a trash bag.

Liam was shooting daggers at me and his hands were balled into fists at his side when I stood and faced him.

“Dude, that’s my sister,” he warned.

A shit-eating smirk crossed my face before I could rein it in. I wanted so badly to say,Yeah, well, you’re doing my sister, guess it’s my turn to do yours,but that was the cocky kid that still resided in me.

“Whatever you’re thinking, stop,” Patrick warned.

I smiled and shrugged. “Look, nothing happened,” I admitted. “I mean it was like sleeping with a three ton heater on my chest, but nothing happened. She crawled into bed in the wee hours of morning and passed out.”

“And you couldn’t just move her and do the right thing by leaving?” Liam challenged. The look he shot me would have made a lesser man quake in his boots.

I didn’t want to, I thought, but didn’t confess. Instead, I said, “I was asleep when she came in, and it barely even registered till this morning.” Yeah, that was a big fat lie.

“Where is she now?” Maddie asked.

“Taking a bath.” As Liam started to lunge towards me and Patrick moved to hold him back, I held up the aspirin bottle and shook it. “Think what you want, but even I’m not that big of a douche.”

Liam snorted, realizing I was telling him that she was hungover and I was trying to help. “To hear Lily talk you are,” he jabbed, and I tried not to let the pain it caused me show.

“Is Aunt Lily okay?” Oscar asked, sounding concerned.

I knelt to his level. “She’ll be fine. She just has a really bad headache and an upset tummy. We need to stay quiet so she can relax and she’ll be good as new in no time.”

“Promise?” he asked.

“I promise, Oscar.”

He wrapped his arms around my neck and hugged me tight. “Thanks for taking care of her, Uncle Thomas.”

I watched as the others all shared a look between them.

“I can take them up,” Maddie offered.

“Thanks. You going to clean up the puke in my closet, too?” I asked as I held up the cleaning supplies, and she scrunched her nose up in disgust.

“I don’t do puke,” she admitted.

“I’ll handle it,” Liam said with a huff as he passed the baby to my mom.

“Great,” I said, trying not to let my disappointment show. “I’ll run home and get cleaned up then.”

I headed for the front door. Liam was already at the top of the stairs, but Maddie hung back.

“I know Lily was completely wasted last night, Thomas. It’s honestly not like her at all. I’ve never seen her have more than two drinks at any one time. I’m not sure what’s going on with her, but thanks for taking care of her. I really appreciate it,” she said, surprising me when she hugged me.

I was the guy with the sharp comebacks, but this time I didn’t have one. I hugged my sister back. “It was nothing,” I finally said as I let her go. She started to climb the stairs to care for my mate. It should have been me, but if it couldn’t be, I was glad at least it was her. “Mad?” She stopped and turned to look at me. “I’m really glad you’re home.”

She had tears in her eyes as she nodded. I turned and quickly walked out the door. I needed to get home, make a really strong cup of coffee, then take a long cold shower, because the sight of Lily naked in my tub was not an image I would forget anytime soon.

Lily

Chapter 5

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