Page 20 of Refusing Kendall

His face slides into the screen beside Lucas’ again, “Midnight,” is all he growls, but his eyes hold a promise of so much more.

I haven’t even had a chance to enjoy the moment before we’re interrupted by the doorbell ringing. Ryleigh jumps up from her seat and yells, “Sorry, boys! Kendall’s gotta go. That would be our entertainment for the evening.”

She reaches across the counter, and I am barely able to get out an I love you to Lucas before she swipes to end the call.

“They’re going to kill me,” I chuckle.

“Nope. They’re going to fuck you. You can thank me later. Wait, on second thought, please don’t,” she says with a shudder.

The doorbell rings again, and Ryleigh jumps up, “Oh shit, the pizza!”

I laugh at her dead sprinting across the kitchen as my phone vibrates in my hand.

Mav:She better be joking.

Me:You’re nuts if you think she wasn’t.

Mav:Ok, good. It would be a long ride, but I have no qualms about hopping right back on this plane to kick someone’s ass and flying right back, baby girl.

I roll my eyes at him.

Me:Stay there. She was only kidding to rile up T. ILY Mav…even if you are a cranky beast sometimes.

He sends me three different emojis back, and I know that’s his way of saying he loves me without using the words. Closing his window, I open Goose’s.

Me:I love you, Grant Michaels.

HisI love you backreply is almost instant, almost as if he was sitting there waiting on me. It makes my heart hurt with longing for them. Ugh, I wish it was Sunday already.

“Oh, no way,” Ryleigh cries, walking back into the kitchen carrying two pizza boxes. “You aren’t allowed to be all sad and shit on girls weekend. Especially when there’s pizza and hot boys.”

“You were joking about the strippers, right?” I ask cautiously.

She snorts, “Of course I was. You think I feel like dying today? Mav already probably thought about jumping on a plane to come back as it is.”

I laugh, because she hit the nail right on the head there.

“No strippers,” she says, “Unless you want to watch Magic Mike. There’s no harm in watching a movie. But, I was thinking maybe more along the lines of some superheroes in some sexy outfits.”

“Now that I can definitely get on board with,” I reply with a smile, following her up to her room.

Four hours into movies, I don’t even realize what time it is, until I yawn and glance at my phone. Only thirty minutes to go until T’s promised time. Ryleigh looks halfway to passing out, so I don’t feel too bad for leaving her. All I get in response to my telling her that I’m going to bed is a mumbled ‘Mmmkay.’

The guys have texted all night, and Mav called once, probably to make sure that we weren’t ogling strippers for real. Teagan is the only one who I haven’t heard from since his promise earlier. It’s weird being in his room without him. At least the Morgans aren’t home. That would be even more awkward. I’m not one hundred percent sure if they know about the relationship between the five of us. Lucas’ parents and brothers know, because my quad staked claim when the brothers tried to rile them up at our first meeting. I don’t know anything about Mav’s family, since he’s not big on sharing things about himself. A thing that we will have to soon rectify. And then there’s Goose. I’ve never met his dad, which makes sense now. It just goes to show to anyone that pays attention, money isn’t everything.

Pulling my night clothes out of the bag, a wicked thought crosses my mind. I walk over to T’s closet and flip on the light. He took a lot of clothes with him when we left, but I figure there’s bound to be something left behind, and I’m not disappointed. There are tons of dress shirts packed into the back corner, and I think about throwing one of those on, but then, hanging halfway in, his old football jersey from high school catches my eye.

I strip down and pull it over my head. Of course, it swallows me whole, and the little mesh parts make it completely see through in some spots. Perfect. I leave the light on in the closet and crack the door enough to just barely illuminate the room. Setting my bag and all my clothes over on his dresser, I take my phone and crawl into his bed. Well, jump is more like it, since his bed is set so high off the floor.

At midnight exactly, the phone vibrates with an incoming video chat from Teagan. I press to accept the call, and it’s a good thing that I’m already lying down. He’s laid back, shirtless on white sheets, propped up by three or four pillows. All of that long blonde hair spills out around his face. It’s enough to make even the strongest woman weak in the knees.

“Hello, sweets,” his voice comes out over the speaker.

“Hi, pumpkin,” I smile.

The nickname has the effect that I want, and he laughs, “Pumpkin?”

I shrug, “It’s only fair since you’ve taken to calling me sweets.”

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