Page 69 of These Family Ties
I love you. You’re safe. I’m sorry.
***
“Cal?” I blink awake, my brain trying to catch up with the events of last night. “Cal!”
The door flies open, smacking the wall, and I scream, pulling the blankets up around my neck.
“What?” He barrels into the room and onto the bed, wrapping me in his arms, and Aaron is right on his heels, wearing nothing but –
“Why is he naked?” I ask, averting my gaze from his… two, four… holy fuck, he was hiding so many abs under his shirt.
“It’s a towel.” He looks around the room. “And forgive me for not stopping for pants when you were screaming like someone was skinning you alive in here. Still having night terrors?”
“Yeah.” I lean forward, pulling a scrunchie from my wrist, and tie up my hair, letting Cal rub the knots from my neck.
“Grab a pair of pants from the closet, man,” Calden tells him, and Aaron reaches in, takes out the first pair he sees, and steps into them.
“I’m sorry,” I breathe. “I didn’t mean to sound so fucking harsh.”
“Don’t worry about it.” He walks over and sits on the edge of the bed. “I get that I’m navigating blind on a lot of things here, but what I do know is that your bond is special and created not only out of love but through necessity. You two have been through some shit and can share as much or as little as you want. Just know that I’m not here to judge you.”
“Well, that’s vague.” I pull my knees to my chest, wrapping my arms around them. He knows. He has to fucking know. Fuck me. “You stayed the night?”
“Yeah, after Calden carried you to bed, we stayed up for a while and talked.”
“I’m glad you did.” I pick at the blanket, wondering what they discussed. I don’t begrudge them their man time, but I really hope I wasn’t the topic of conversation.
“You are?” They ask at the same time, and I snort a laugh.
“Neither of you stoners had any business behind the wheel of the vehicle.”
“The audacity.” Aaron points at Calden. “He’s a horrible influence.”
“Whatever, asshole. You love me.” Cal pulls the scrunchy out of my hair and flings it at Aaron.
“With the passion of a million burning suns.” He snatches it out of the hair and pulls it over his hand and onto his wrist.
“Why are the three of you in bed together?” My father asks from the doorway like a totally sober fucking asshole. It would be great if we could find a balance where he wasn’t a drunk but also wasn’t fucking everything up constantly with his shit attitude and judgy eyes.
“This is why we have doors.” I pinch both of their legs. “We should use them far more often.”
“Thanks for making our morning weird, sir.” Aaron salutes my father without standing, and he sneers, walking down the hall into the front of the house. “Good talk.”
“That was fun.” I lift up the blanket and peek under, checking my clothes. “Pants?”
“Here.” Aaron scoops something off the bedroom floor.
“Okay?” I wait for one of them to fill in the blanks.
“You threw them at me in the middle of the night.” Aaron blushes, and Calden’s shoulders bounce, trying to hide his laughter.
“He crashed on the floor to hide from your father, only to be assaulted by your pants in the middle of the night.”
“I don’t remember any of that.” I stand, pulling on my oversized lounge pants. “But I believe you. Every time I sleep in them, I wake up tangled in the legs.”
“Duly noted.” Aaron stands, offering me his hand, and I take it, jumping down. “So, what do you two typically do on a Saturday morning?”
Cal and I look at each other, and he gives me a look that screams not to say a word, but I shut the door, closing the three of us inside.