“Hey, I may eat healthy, but I’m not a saint!” I reply once I’ve regained my composure. “I’m surprised to see you here.”
Kyler raises one shoulder in a lazy shrug. “I may be a loner, but I don’t lack all social skills,” he says, mimicking the style of my response. “Besides, Jude said this party was your housewarming, so here I am, welcoming you to the house.”
“Well, I appreciate it. Maybe you could even push the boat out and join us for dinner one day this week?”
“Don’t push your luck.” He smiles and reaches around me to grab one of the bottles of water on the counter behind me.
“Hey babe, what’s taking you so long?” Adam says behind me as he loops his arms around my waist and pulls me toward him. I look at Kyler and immediately see his guard is back up as tension rolls off his body. His shoulders are hunched tautly, and one hand is fisted by his side, while the other holds the bottle of water tightly.
“Oh hey,” Adam continues. “I’m Adam, and you are . . .?”
Kyler doesn’t offer an introduction, so I step in, trying to dispel the awkward tension steadily arising. “This is Kyler, my fourth roommate. Kyler’s also on the team with Jude and the others. Kyler, this is Adam, my boyfriend from back home.”
As soon as I mention the word boyfriend, Kyler’s jaw starts ticking and I immediately know I’ve lost the glimpse of the playful, social Kyler who was just starting to appear from his cocoon. He nods once in Adam’s direction before replying.
“Good to meet you. Excuse me, I’ve gotta go make a call.” He turns around abruptly and almost marches out of the kitchen toward the stairs, running up them two at a time.
“Nice guy,” Adam says sarcastically, and I don’t blame him. Kyler’s given him nothing but standoffish vibes, even though I know there’s a different, more caring side to him under the layer of attitude he’s suddenly developed.
“He’s got a lot going on,” I say, already making excuses for his behavior.
“Not an excuse to be rude. He looks familiar; have I met him before?”
“I don’t think so. I mean, he’s on the team, so you’ve likely seen him when we watched one of Jude’s matches last year?” I reply. I know for certain, until I moved here, I’d never been introduced to Kyler before. I would have remembered a brooding, scowling face, and an unpredictable, monosyllabic personality like his for sure.
“Huh. There’s something weirdly familiar about him I can’t place.”
“I think you’re getting mixed up with all those brooding lead characters you like to watch on Netflix, babe.” I tease him, because we both know it was me who used to watch all the teen dramas and Adam would quietly put up with them, while secretly following the storylines.
“Maybe. Come on, let’s go find your brother. I hear there’s a beer pong table set up outside and I need to win back my title from him.”
Adam takes my hand and walks toward the back door, pulling me gently behind him. I turn around to grab my drink and notice a dark shadow lurking in the corner leaning against the wall, hands stuffed in his pockets, and a scowl etched deeply on his face. Kyler has his walls back up and I know it’ll take a lot more for me to start breaking them down again.
Six
Kyler
When Jude toldme about the party for Thea, I thought he was out of his mind. Who needs a party welcoming them to college? It’s college for fuck’s sake—there are parties every weekend, and most of them are themed just for freshman and transfers. I digress though, it’s an excuse to hang out with her, even though I should steer clear of her. I pick up my phone and open my photos. Like a stalker, I stole one of the pictures Jude has posted on his social media, cropped him out, and added it to her contact page on my phone. I’m ashamed to admit, it’s a picture from over the summer when he went home for a couple of weeks, and they were at the beach. A very beautiful, tanned, bikini-wearing Thea stares at me—well the camera—but sometimes a guy has to pretend to boost his ego. I clear the photo away, open my texting app, and type her name in. My thumb hovers over the keyboard while my mind races for what to say. I want to tell her I think she’s pretty, and I’m happy she’s living here. I want to remind her to watch out for dirtbag guys, like myself, and to always be aware of her surroundings. All things I should’ve said to my sister when she started coming home late at night. Most of all, I want to tell Thea how much it means to me that she leaves me dinner. I know my mom and sister care about me, but not the way Thea seems to.
I close the app, set my phone aside and cover my eyes with my arm. I need to get this—whatever the hell it is—out of my system because Thea is off limits. Jude is one of my best friends and I would never cross this line with him. There’s an unspoken agreement among friends—you don’t fuck around with their baby sisters. Even the older ones are off limits.
But I can’t help but think about her at night when I’m lying here and she’s one floor above me. I don’t think she realizes her room is directly above mine and I can hear every sound she makes. I know when she’s up and walking around because she can’t sleep at night. I hear her open her window and I imagine she’s leaning out and looking at the stars. I know her alarm goes off at six in the morning and when she comes down the first flight of stairs, she pauses at my door. A time or two since she’s moved in, I’ve heard her tap on my door and call my name. I pretend I’m sleeping, even though I haven’t had a full night’s sleep since the first night I ran into her in the kitchen. I’ve done everything I can to avoid her because of the way she makes me feel. I’ve never felt such an urge to push someone up against a wall and make them mine. I get why women enjoy vampire novels so much. The animalistic nature is addicting.
Right now, the object of my desires is in her room with her friend Millie. They’re giggling and having a good time. I’ve seen Millie around campus. She went to a few games last year and we had a class together where she referred to me as an enigma. I don’t get it. I like to be alone and do my own thing. Being quiet doesn’t make me a mystery. If I thought she was worthy of my time, I’d give it to her, and right now I’d like to give some to Thea. Although, she doesn’t fit into my world, and I wouldn’t want to subject her to the life I live outside of this house.
I look at the time on my phone and sigh. I regret not going to work tonight, but the idea of having a party, where Thea is going to front and present, was too appealing to pass up. I’ll be the guy in the back, lurking. The one making sure her drink is safe, and no one takes advantage of her. Some dumb-ass guy is going to forget about her brother and then I’ll step in. No one wants to mess with me.
There’s a banging on my door. Jude hollers, “Can you tap the keg?”
“I’ll be right down,” I tell him. The benefit of living with a bartender: I can tap a keg, mix drinks, and break up any fights. I don’t mind if the guys depend on me. This way, they know it’s done right and some guy who thinks he knows everything won’t fuck shit up. Before I head downstairs, I think about changing out of my black shirt, but decide to keep it on. I got the impression the other night Thea likes me in black. I adjust the sleeves of my T-shirt, rolling them over my biceps. I run my hand through my unruly hair and glance at the tattoo on my bicep. It’s somewhat new, from over the summer, and something I couldn’t afford. When I went into my friend’s shop, I told him I needed something mean and he drew a massive lion’s head with a full mane, and when I flex, his mouth opens. It’s a bad-ass piece of art and mixes well with my shoulder piece.
Downstairs, the music is thumping. Devon and Nolan are in the kitchen stacking slices of pizza and Solo cups. The keg and makeshift bar are in the corner with a sign saying, “Don’t fucking break anything.” The message will fall on deaf ears, but the effort is nice. As soon as I’m done tapping the keg, my phone chimes. I pull it from my pocket and see a text from my sister:
Ally Rose: Can you take Lacey tonight?
Why?
Ally Rose: I want to go out