Page 21 of Just Breathe

Callum

Ilaid in bed, waiting for my alarm to go off. We were meeting Jane to go hiking today, and I was nervous for once about seeing a girl. Well, not a girl but a woman, with those curves, that shy smile and the sadness that bled through her eyes when she thought no one was looking. I honestly don’t know why her sadness was calling out to me. I’ve met plenty of sad, damaged girls. It’s just something about her I couldn’t get out of my head.

The sky was looking pink from the sun coming over the horizon. It slowly brightened up my room just as my alarm went off. I silenced it right away, continuing to just lay in bed, regretting not sleeping. I usually only got a few hours of sleep, but no sleep was going to make me sloppy today, and I hated that. Someone knocked on my door.

“I hope you didn’t hit snooze. You need to wake up to look pretty today.” Aiden laughed.

“Fuck you, I’m awake and I’m not the one who needs to look pretty today.” I smiled because we all agreed, over some beers yesterday that we were attracted to Jane.

“You’re right, I better go make sure Nathan is getting pretty. He definitely needs all the time he can get.” I laughed because out of all of us, he probably was the most good-looking. I heard him walk down the hall and knock on Nathan’s door.

I walked into the ensuite smiling, not holding back for once. I always felt like I needed to be on guard when I was around other people because people always exploited your weakness to gain something. I’ve never known kindness to have no strings attached except with my brothers.

We weren’t related by blood, but we sure knew what family was all about without being related. I trusted them with my life and so much more. It was blood in and blood out. I think that’s why we had such a hard time letting people in, why none of us had girlfriends. People screwed us over enough to know that you don’t just trust anyone.

I quickly showered, but before getting out, I rubbed one out before seeing Jane. All I had to do was picture her spread out for me and it didn’t take me long to groan my satisfaction. I washed off again and got out to change into some hiking gear. Nathan walked by, flipping me off as I laced up my hiking boots. I went into my closet, grabbing my hiking backpack, and looking through it, making sure everything was there and nothing needed replacing. I walked out of my room to the kitchen to get some coffee and maybe eat. Our dog Tango brushed against my leg, walking with me.

“Here.” Nate handed me a cup of coffee as I entered the kitchen. I tried not to smirk as I walked in, taking the cup. They always babied me in the morning, like they thought I was about to have a fit or something. I’d only ever had a fit in the morningtwice. TWO TIMES. I just flow with it now because they leave me alone and give me coffee, so win-win for me.

“Are we going to Angel Falls?” I asked, taking a sip of the coffee that Nate always got right.

“Yeah, I figured it would be a good hike,” Aiden said as he was looking at the weather report for the day. “We could have lunch up there, too.”

I was a shit cook, so I was glad I didn’t have to worry about it. “What’s for lunch and what do I owe you?”

“I figured we’d be simple and just do hamburgers. I’m bringing stuff for fries and maybe some fruit. No need man, I got it,” Nathan said as he packed a cooler full of things. I swear the only reason I eat was because of him and Aiden or else I would starve. You’d think growing up with no money to buy food, I would have learned to cook the basic cheap stuff, but I was useless.

“Nothing is simple with you.” Aiden chuckled, and I agreed. Everything he did always had something extra in it that was far from simple. He always marinated the meats and put god knows what in it to make it taste delicious. “Two coolers of food, your cast iron, and another pan is not what I would call simple.”

“I mean, I could make steaks or maybe some steak tartar.” Nathan shrugged like he was proving a point that this was a simple meal. “She’s also vegetarian, so I’m not familiar with what I can cook for her.”

“We could go old school and just do PB & J’s,” I suggested, thinking burgers weren’t vegetarian.

Nathan looked really disturbed while Aiden just laughed. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that.” Nathan continued packing the cooler.

I chuckled, knowing my suggestion offended him. Sometimes it was just too easy to pass up, making him disgusted with my food choices, but it still confused me he was doing burgers, when she was vegetarian. I didn’t cook, so I didn’t think to point it out and, knowing Nathan, he had it covered. We drank coffee in silence while Nathan finished up. Aiden made sure the weather was going to be nice and I checked the local park ranger reports to see if there were any animal sightings close to where we were going, as I petted Tango absentmindedly.

“Is she coming here?” Nathan asked as he closed his cooler.

“Yeah.” Aiden checked his watch. “She should be….”

Knocking interrupted Aiden, and we all looked at each other for a moment. We had never done this with a girl. I think this was the exact thought we all had at the same time. None of us made the move to the door, and it was like we were all a little afraid of what might happen or what this meant.

“I’ll get it.” Tango followed me to the door, and I held up a fist to signal Tango to sit down before I opened the door.

She knocked again impatiently. I opened the door to find her hands full.

“Oh, thank God! I decided it would be smart to carry all this shit at once.” She carried two big brown bags.

“What the hell did you bring?” I took one bag from her arm and then the other one as well.

“I didn’t know what you guys liked to eat, so I brought a variety of stuff and I also brought things for lunch, too.” She looked at me like it wasn’t a big deal that she bought two bags full of food. I smelled something sweet and noticed some eggs.

“We aren’t that picky.” I led her inside the house, to the kitchen. “Tango!” I called so he would follow.

“Hey cutie! Is it ok if I pet him?” She leaned down, waiting for me to respond. “You’re so handsome.”

“Uh yeah, he’s trained very well,” I said, expecting her just to pat his head, but she knelt and gave him love. He licked her face, making her giggle. Most of the women we brought home weren’t big fans of Tango, and that always bothered me.

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