Page 62 of It's Just You

“That’s great to hear.” She paused. “Listen, we’re going away for the weekend on an extended trip with some old friends. Your dad misses them, especially his coworkers. You’ll be fine here alone, won’t you?” She even looked anxious, like she really thought I’d have a problem being here by myself. It would be bliss.

“Mom, I’ve been living on my own for a few years now, and I haven’t managed to poison or kill myself. I’ll be fine, and I won’t be scared to death in the house. If that’s what you’re worrying about?” I quirked a brow.

She breathed out a sigh of relief. “Well, partially. You can invite a friend if you want. Maybe Sam wants to stay over and keep you company?”

It hit me then that this meant I’d have the house to myself for an entire weekend. I could ask Kane to come over. We could spend the night with each other, not worrying about any parents or siblings hearing us or anything like that. Damn, this was perfect!

I suppressed my smile so I wouldn’t give away my excitement. “Sounds good. Not sure if he’ll want to be here the whole time, but I can ask. Or I’ll ask his brother. In any case, you don’t have to worry about me. I’ll be fine.”

Relief washed over her face. “That’s great to hear. We’ll be leaving on Friday afternoon and should be back sometime Tuesday.”

That was quite a long weekend, but I wasn’t going to complain. “Sounds good to me.”

With that, I excused myself to go to my room, where I texted Kane to let him know the house would be empty for the entire weekend. I was beyond nervous to invite him over, but nothing would happen if I didn’t. It wasn’t like he was going to invite himself, after all.

Kane didn’t reply immediately, so I went back to the kitchen to try to find something edible. I made myself a sandwich, which was about the only option considering the choices in the fridge, then headed back to my room. It would’ve been nice to have parents who cooked, but they relied heavily on takeout and simple things.

After I closed the door behind me, I picked up my phone and looked at the screen. I had a new text.

“Sure, I’d love to stay over. I’ll have to check my work hours so I don’t have to leave before dawn, and I need to arrange help for Dad, but I’ll figure that out.”

I cringed. Right, his dad was an issue too, and I doubted Sam would be willing to help out right about now. Then again, surely even he wasn’t that selfish, was he?

“Sorry, I didn’t even think about that. We can wait, or just leave it. I’m totally fine with staying at your place too if that helps. Or if you want me to.”It took me until then to realize he might not want my company, but I was so desperate to spend time with him when I had a reasonable excuse.

Kane didn’t immediately answer, making me think I’d totally fucked up. How much more selfish could I get? I was an idiot sometimes. Just because I wanted to have more time with Kane didn’t mean I should forget what kind of pressure he was under. I’d have to be a real asshole to insist on anything if he couldn’t figure something out.

My phone finally pinged again. “Sam’s going to help Dad. Things are pretty tense here anyway. My parents are pissed at me for telling Sam, and Sam’s pissed at them and me, so I wouldn’t mind getting out of the house. Sam informed me he’s still mad at me for hooking up with you, but he said he’s going to try to step it up and find a way for me to have some free time.”

I stared at the text Kane had just sent me, not sure I believed it.

“I have no idea what he’s planning, but he seems determined to make them let him help. I’m honestly surprised. I never really thought it’d make a difference if he knew.”

I read the message twice, then managed to type out a reply. “Can I call you?”

Instead of a popup notification of a text reply, my phone lit up to signal an incoming call. I tapped the screen to accept it. “Hey.”

“Hey.”

Silence settled over us for a moment, then we both spoke at the same time. “Am I—” he asked, just as I asked, “How are—”

We both laughed, then I said, “You first.”

“Okay. Am I interrupting anything?”

I chuckled. “I asked to call you. You’re the one who kind of had two bombs dropped on him today, so… whatever I could be doing wouldn’t be as important.”

He was quiet for a moment before murmuring, “Oh. Well. Still.”

“Talk to me, Kane. Please. What exactly happened with Sam?” After this afternoon, I figured we could talk openly without having to talk my way around the issue.

“Well, like I said, Sam is mad as hell because he was kept in the dark. Apparently, he noticed something was off, but he thought we’d tell him if there was anything to worry about. Or he says that now, anyway. I don’t know. But yeah, he’s pissed, but now he’s decided he’s going to be a good son and help out,” Kane filled me in.

I was left speechless. I knew he wasn’t a bad guy, by any means, but he’d never seemed to be quite that determined to help his family. “That’s… nice of him?”

Kane snorted. “He can damn well do something, after letting this go for so long. I still think he should’ve asked, but I still think my parents should’ve told him, too. Anyway, it looks like I’ll have some more free time for the next few weeks…”

I grinned, liking that thought very much. “I guess I have a chance to convince you to spend more time with me then.”

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