Page 2 of Count On Me

She wiggles a little and I can’t help the groan that escapes my lips. Or the way my dick twitches. If we don’t do something soon, she’s going to feel just how excited I am to see her.

I cover the groan with a cough, which seems to bring her to her senses, and she wiggles some more to try to free herself from my grasp.

“Babe, you keep wiggling like that and we’re gonna have a problem. A big problem.” Opting for a bit of humour to break the tension, I wiggle my eyebrows at her and she slaps my shoulder.

“Put me down then so you can take care of your little problem, douche.”

I laugh as I place her on the floor and instantly miss the feel of her in my arms. “Hey, I said big problem. And I should never have taught you that word.”

She glances down at my grey sweats and looks back at my face with an eyebrow raised. “Really?” She cackles as I frown at her and slaps my shoulder again. I’m not complaining though, I’ll take any contact I can get.

“And you deserved that. You scared the life out of me. Sorry I jumped all over you. Probably broke your back lifting all this.” She glides her hands over her body and looks away from me, a pink blush covering her cheeks.

“Hey, Edie, don’t do that. You’re fucking beautiful. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, including yourself. Your body is banging. And anytime you want me to carry you anywhere, justask. You can always count on me, you know that.” I only call her Edie when I’m being serious and I seriously want to pick her back up and kiss the self-doubt away. I want to show her just how much she turns me on. Given the opportunity, I’d worship her over and over again. But that’s boyfriend territory, and I’m not living in that zip code.

Jetlag is annoying. I can’t sleep and I’m restless, but I don’t want to go downstairs in case I wake Erin or Eddie up, so I just stare at the ceiling like I’ve been doing for the past hour. My phone vibrates against the nightstand and I frown at it, wondering who the hell is texting me in the middle of the night. I grab it, expecting to see one of my brothers’ names, but I’m pleasantly surprised to see Eddie’s name glaring back at me.My Eddie. She’s across the hall, why’s she texting me?

Eddie

Are you asleep? I had a nightmare. I can’t go back to sleep.

Instead of texting, I press the green button to call her. I know I could walk across the hall and talk to her, but this is our thing—she calls and we talk until she falls asleep on me.

“Did I wake you up?” She whispers through the phone, and I grin knowing if she spoke up just a little bit, we wouldn’t even need the phones.

“Nah, I can’t sleep. What was the nightmare about this time?” I place my arm behind my head and wait for her to fill me in.

“Same old crap. Will you talk to me until I fall asleep?” Her voice is timid, and I hate that. She shouldn’t be uncomfortable around me, but this is new. Normally I’m across the Atlantic, not in the same house as her. I can’t ignore the confidence that buffer seems to give her. I can only hope one day she won’t need any buffers between us. Someday. Just, not today.

“Of course I will. Just because I’m a big shot soccer player, wait, sorry, footballer now doesn’t mean I don’t have time for you.” I chuckle when she mutters ‘idiot’. “Want me to sing?” I smile when she doesn’t even hesitate to say yes. “You pick the song. I picked last time.”

“Erm, ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow?’ If you don’t know the words I can pick another one.”

I suppress a laugh. “Eddie, you’ve made me watch that film how many times now? I think I know the words. You ready?”

She whispers ‘yes’ and I can picture her laying in her bed, grinning widely while her freckles twinkle in the moonlight. I take a deep breath and start to sing, relishing in her contented sighing. I know when she’s fallen asleep by her deep breathing. Whispering, “Night,myEddie,” I end the call, close my eyes, and drift off with images of Edie sleeping soundly next to me. Maybe one day.

3

EDIE

This has been the worst day of my entire life. The humiliation runs deep, and all I want to do is go to my room, lie on my bed, and bury my head in the pillows.

Fucking Angie. I never should have listened to her. Angie is normally one of my favourite people in the world, but today she is the devil incarnate. I should have listened to the little doubt in my head instead of being swayed by her beautiful self. Angie, the naturally stunning, barely wears make-up, flawless-skinned, blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty I call my other best friend. I hate her as well as love her today.

Normally she’s got the best advice, but telling me I need to up my flirting game wasn’t the greatest. Setting me up in the student bar to flirt with a random guy wasn’t a good idea. Especially because I froze, giggled nervously, turned bright red, and fled to the bathroom all in a matter of minutes. Epic fail.

To top it off, I couldn’t even leave through a back door and avoid him completely. No, I had to retrieve my bag from the bar where he was sitting and overheard him telling his friend about ‘the chunky ginger bird’ who tried to chat him up. Mortification level? A million.

I’ve ignored all of Angie’s phone calls and texts since. I’m an idiot. Men don’t want the nerdy, ginger girl. They want the Angies of the world. Tall, blonde and beautiful.

I fling the door open, and as it crashes into the wall on the other side I shout, “Fuck!” Then I freeze when I realise what I’ve said. “Erm, Mum? Are you in?”

A deep baritone chuckle emerges from the kitchen area and a calm settles over me. Jaxy. “You’re cool, Eddie. It’s just me here. Curse away.”

My shitty day is already fading away thanks to his laughter and soothing tone.

“Fuck! Shit! Bollocks! Wanker! Prick! Thanks,” I call back and take my shoes off.

---