Crickets chirp in the distance.
“You have someone,” he murmurs.
My brows pinch.
He glances at my face. “You have me.”
When we get home later that night to find our parents already in bed. Kaiden and I go to our rooms, but before I can even change into my pajamas, Kaiden is at my door.
He looks around the room, his hands tucked away in the pockets of his jeans.
“What’s up?”
I want to ask him why he gave me his room, but I don’t. It seems like there are limits as to how much he’s willing to reveal. Baby steps.
“Want to watch a movie?”
A movie?
Glancing at the time on my alarm clock, I give him a curious look. “Usually you’re…”
A small smirk quirks his lips. “Gone?”
Blushing, I say, “Yeah.”
It isn’t like I actively wait to catch him sneaking out, but I can’t help it when insomnia plagues me after a long day of napping from fatigue. It’s better than watching the neighbor’s cat lick itself in their lawn, or the stray dog down the road sniff around for food.
“Don’t feel like going out.”
I just nod.
“So?” He pushes off the frame. “Movie?”
Surprisingly, I’m not tired. The headache that likes to grace me with its presence hasn’t bugged me in almost two days, and besides a little hip pain, I feel decent.
“Can I change first?” I don’t feel like watching a movie in my scratchy jeans, and even though I’m toasty warm in my sweatshirt, the drawstrings will probably choke me to death if I fall asleep in it.
He tells me he’ll grab his laptop while I change, so I quickly grab a pair of gray Hollister sweatpants and a long sleeve white shirt before washing up and getting ready for bed. Not bothering to run a brush through my staticky hair, I give myself a quick onceover in the mirror to make sure my face isn’t too red. It isn’t like I care what Kaiden thinks but having someone close to you with a lupus rash on your cheeks and nose is like them getting to see your acne breakout close up. It’s embarrassing.
Noticing some blood on the toilet paper after finishing my business, I realize I must have somehow forgotten my birth control pill at some point this week. Grandma took me to get the pill two years ago to regulate my period and I take it religiously along with my other meds, so it’s odd to have forgotten after all this time. Hoping I won’t get a second period for the month since they like to trigger flares, I finish up and head back into my room.
Kaiden has made himself comfortable on my bed. His black shorts look more like exercise wear than something to sleep in, but he looks comfortable, and the tight blue tank shows off muscular arms I didn’t quite know he had. It shouldn’t surprise me. I hear Rachel and her posse drone on about how much time the jocks spend in the weight room after school.
“What do you want to watch?”
I’m hesitant to climb onto the empty spot beside him. He’s already sprawled across the usual side I sleep on, and he looks like he has no plans on moving any time soon. He’s scrolling through Netflix and waiting for a reply, which has yet to come as I stare.
“Well, Mouse?”
“Can you not call me that?”
“It’s fitting. Plus, you like it.”
I do. “Not really,” I murmur.
He pats the bed. “Come on, I could call you far worse. I’m sure you have plenty of nicknames for me.”
My face heats over some of the choice words my mind conjures. He snickers when he sees me, knowing exactly what I’m thinking. It doesn’t seem to bother him, so I force myself on the bed and sit cross legged.
“None of that Disney shit,” he warns, passing me the laptop.
It looks old. The letters are worn down, some of them not even visible anymore on the keys. There are scratches on the screen, an area on the bottom right that looks like held a few different stickers, and a missing key off to the side of the board.
“I’ve had it for a while.” My eyes meet his, but his are trained on the laptop that I have draped on my lap.
My fingers run across the sticker residue. It looks like it’s shaped a certain way, so it can’t be the branding the company uses on display models.
Kaiden clears his throat. “Used to have Power Rangers stickers on there. Like I said, it’s fucking old.”
“Why not get a new one?”
He pauses. “My dad got it for me.”
“Oh.” Instead of dwelling, I start searching through the different categories. It always takes longer to find something to watch than it does to actually watch it.
I point toward a comedy. “What about this one? It has Adam Sandler in it.”
I’m not sure what he likes, but he didn’t specify about preference. He just nods and has me start it, then rests it between us and angles the worn screen so there’s no glare.
For the first twenty minutes, I’m fine staying seated with my legs crossed. After thirty passes by, I can’t feel either ankle and need to stretch out my legs.
Kaiden cusses and moves the laptop out of the way before turning his attention to me. “I can’t keep watching you fidget. It’s distracting me from this borderline awful movie.”
“You could pick something else.”
“I’m invested now.”
Rolling my eyes, I wince as my stiff knees crack and extend out. They feel better once straightened, so I stack a couple pillows behind me and scoot back against them.
“Are you finally comfortable?”
“Not when you’re in here,” I mutter, not really meaning to say the words out loud.
He chuckles. “Don’t worry, Mouse. I don’t do virgins.”
I gape at him. “Wh…how…you can’t just say stuff like that! And what does that even mean? That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”
Now he’s full on laughing, leaning back and shaking the mattress with his rumbles.
I smack his chest. “You’re going to wake up our parents. Be quiet.”
“What?” he muses, grinning. “Are you afraid they’re going to find us alone in your room together? What will Daddy Dearest think?”
He’s making fun of me.
I reach for his laptop and start to close it, but he stops me with a heavy sigh. “Would you relax? They don’t care. It isn’t like I’m some random guy in your bed.”
My brows go up to say, aren’t you?
He bumps my arm with his elbow. “I already told you, I’m not going to ravish you. You’re not my type, Mouse.”
My eye twitches. “I’m sure.”
Restarting the movie, I go to focus solely on that when he pauses it again. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“What?”
“You look pissed.”
“I’m not—”
“Don’t bullshit me.”
I sigh loudly. “All I’m saying is that I’ve heard the rumors at school. You’re the man whore sports star who can get any girl he wants. I’m not surprised I’m not that kind of girl.”
“Because…？”
Is he kidding me? “For one, I’m your stepsister. For another, I don’t look anything like the girls I see you flirting with. Oh, and regardless of you insisting you don’t hate me, you’re not the friendliest person to me either.”