Page 29 of Only One Bed: Anthology Vol. 1
The knob turns, the salt-rusted hinges creak, and as the door shoves open, my best friend steps into the room.
My limbs won’t work, shock freezing them in place. Which means I lay sprawled, nude, in the bed, using his naked little sister as a blanket.
Tim’s face slides to confusion then sudden, horrified realization.
The sound he makes is some strange combination of a yell and a scream, the volume of it shocking Olive awake. She rolls off of me and straight onto the floor, leaving my half-hard dick on full display. Not to mention, Tim now gets to see his sister’s bare front in addition to her ass.
“My eyes!” He yells, slapping his hands over his face and swinging around toward the exit. Only, he misjudges the distance and runs straight into the doorjamb. As he moans in pain, Caroline appears in the doorway.
“Babe? I heard you scream! What—” Her question cuts off when she sees me. Face scorching red, her gaze jumps away, only to find a nude Olive struggling to sit up. “Oh god!”
“What’s going on?” A new voice asks.
You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.
“Let me out of this hell!” Tim yells, still trying to find the exit with his eyes closed, but his way is blocked by Mrs. Buchanan.
I’ve just gathered enough of my wits to throw the bed sheet over Olive when a loud bark sounds from the hallway.
“Mom!” Olive shouts. “Did you let Cooper downstairs?”
The answer comes in the form of black bundle of fur weaving through legs, aiming straight for the twin bed Jezebel lounges on. With a shriek, the feline seeks an escape almost as desperately as Tim.
Not finding a clear route out, Jezebel goes up.
Up Tim that is.
Letting out terrified wails as it goes, the one-eyed cat scales the man, using every claw it has to latch onto his scalp.
Mayhem commences.
The next fifteen minutes consist of Olive chasing after her brother, trying to dislodge her pet, all while wearing nothing but a bed sheet. With only a beach towel wrapped around my waist, I follow the family upstairs, feeling useless as the drama continues.
Tim curses, Caroline fights to shove Cooper outside, Olive uses one hand to hold up her toga dress and the other to peel the cat off, and Mrs. Buchanan pours herself and her husband some OJ before adding a liberal amount of vodka to both glasses. The patriarch of the family raised an eyebrow when the parade of insanity reached the top floor, but he’s been kind enough to sip his mimosa and not comment on what clearly went on between his daughter and me last night.
“There!” Olive sets Jezebel on the ground, and the cat streaks back downstairs. “Now stop flailing and sit. I need to clean your cuts.” She uses a calm commanding voice that probably serves her well in the ER.
“She tried to flay me alive!” Tim wails, flopping down onto the couch.
Olive rolls her eyes at me before hitching her sheet higher and moving to the kitchen sink. As her daughter fills a bowl with soapy water, Mrs. Buchanan sidles up to me, her face slightly flushed. I wonder if the color is from the drama or her morning booze.
“We’re all pretty relaxed here, but maybe you want to go put some shorts on?” The woman pats my shoulder with a kind smile.
“Uh. Yeah. Okay.”
Fuck. This is not how I planned to do this.
But, to be fair, I had no plan. When Olive showed up at my door, I shut my brain off. No thoughts of consequences or the future.
I just wanted her.
After pulling on some shorts and a T-Shirt, I grab the pajama set I stripped off Olive last night and carry it up the two flights of stairs.
“Here, hold these to the cuts and keep pressure on them. The bleeding should stop in a second.” Olive is instructing Caroline when I approach. She gives me a grateful smile when I offer the clothes, taking them from my grasp and heading into the bathroom.
Which leaves me alone with her family.
Suddenly, I feel like all four sets of eyes are boring into me.
