Page 39 of It's Just You

“You’re looking good. What have you been up to? I haven’t seen you dressed like this in… forever,” he remarked.

Of course he had to see me like this. Just my luck. “I was hiking, actually. That’s why I borrowed some of Sam’s clothes. I don’t have anything suitable with me. Don’t get used to it.”

“It suits you. You might want to wear clothes like that more often.”

I groaned. “Dad, you know better. That’s not me, so stop it. It’s just that even I know that hiking in tight jeans isn’t a good idea. It doesn’t mean I’m suddenly going to dress all sports-casual.”

He smiled at me, a little ruefully. “I’m sorry. That wasn’t fair of me. I think I promised you I’d shut up about it.” He paused, then asked, “How was hiking? Were you with Sam?”

I shook my head. “Nah. His brother Kane took me.” Sam would’ve been a much better idea.

“Ah. I haven’t had much contact with him, but he seems nice enough. We sometimes run into each other around town.”

Why did it feel strange that he knew Kane? But then, they’d known of each other from when we’d last lived here, so it was just normal they might strike up a conversation here and there.

“He’s nice, yes.” I hesitated. “Was there anything you wanted? I’d like to take a shower, to be honest. And maybe a nap. It was pretty exhausting.” I suppressed a yawn.

“No, go on. I was just curious to see what you’ve been up to, especially so early in the morning. You aren’t here much.”

I shook my head. “Not really, sorry. But I’ve been catching up with Sam. We haven’t seen each other in ages.”

He nodded. “I know. I wasn’t complaining, just stating the facts. I’m very aware that spending time with your parents isn’t fun.”

I smiled at him, even though smiling was the last thing I felt like doing. “Sorry, Dad. I’ll try to do better.” I had no intentions of trying, but, well. It was what you said, wasn’t it?

“Thanks. We enjoy having you here, you know? Now go off to take a shower and nap.”

I grinned sheepishly, then hurried up the stairs. Hanging out with them really wasn’t fun at all, and it was something I tried to avoid — especially Dad, who always seemed to find something to criticize me over.

I instantly ran the shower, waiting for it to turn warm before stepping under the spray. I needed it, more to wash off the events of the day from my skin than because I was truly filthy.

I stood there for a long time, but it didn’t work. I could still feel his lips on mine, could taste him, could feel him hold me. And I wanted more, even though I knew it was just gonna end messy. So, no. I couldn’t do that to myself.

I was beyond exhausted by the time I turned off the water. Without bothering to dress again, I crawled into bed. I wasn’t that tired physically — okay, I was; I’d gotten up fucking early to go hiking, for fuck’s sake — but I was definitely mentally drained. I needed a few hours to rest and sort through my feelings.

And then… I had no idea. I wanted Kane, but on the other hand, I didn’t. Even if things were different, what would we do when the summer vacation was over?

I reached over to the side table, grabbing for my phone, only to realize I must’ve left it in the pocket of my pants — which were in the bathroom. Damn.

Cursing quietly, I forced myself to get up again, collected my phone, then went back under the covers. I stared at the display, wanting to see a message while dreading it at the same time. But nothing was there.

I opened the app and looked for Micah’s number. He wasn’t a relationship expert by any means, but he tended to look at things from a different perspective than other people. He might have some ideas about what to do, or just listen to me ramble, which he was quite good at. Or maybe it was that he never could get a word in, but I preferred to think he just liked listening to me.

“Hey.” Awesome greeting, but I couldn’t get myself to write anything else.

“Hey, how are you?” Micah answered a moment later.

I smiled, even though it wasn’t a really happy one. But knowing Micah was there made me feel a little better, even though it didn’t make any sense. I needed a moment to figure out what to tell him.

Considering I didn’t even know how I felt or what I was thinking, I had a lot of trouble trying to put it into a message. And since I knew Micah wasn’t too fond of phone calls, I wasn’t going to force him to listen to me ramble. Plus, it meant voicing my doubts and everything else, which sounded even worse than typing it out.

I rolled onto my stomach. “I’ve spent a lot of time catching up with Sam, an old friend. I never expected him to be just the way we’d been a few years ago, and it’s really nice not being alone here. We hit off like we’d never moved away, so there’s that.” I paused and hit send.

“I sense a but in there.” Micah was way too sharp sometimes.

“Yep. The but is his older brother. Straight, not so straight brother. And I might’ve… Hell, we kissed.”

There, I said it.

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