ie

“Mmmmmhmmmm,” she says, raising and lowering her brows over and over.

“My god, you’re painful.”

“I’m your sister, I’m allowed to be. Come on, we better get back out there before Calvin torments Roman.”

We both burst out laughing.

Yep, this should be a good night.

CHAPTER 10

“Oh, my god, let’s do it!” Matilda squeals, running at me.

“There is no way I can lift you.” I laugh. “No way.”

“Come on,” she pleads. “It’s ... like ... epic!”

“Go on,” Roman urges. “Do it. I’ll film it.”

“Gah!” I giggle. “Okay. Let’s do it. But I’m laying on the ground for it, there is no way I can lift you.”

“I’ll play the song,” Calvin says.

He goes over to the speakers and plays around with the phone for a minute, then “Time of Your Life” from the movie, Dirty Dancing, comes on. I run out onto the grass and lie on my back, and in slow motion, Matilda runs over and throws herself on me. I lift her with my hands and legs, holding her in the air. We’re all laughing so hard I don’t know how I don’t drop her.

“Oh, my god,” I giggle, letting her down. She flops down beside me on the grass. “That was amazing.”

“I think we did it way better than the movie,” she chuckles.

“You two are fucking crazy,” Roman says, huge grin on his face.

“Have you ever seen an egg roll?” I ask him.

His brows go up. “No.”

“Do you want to?”

He nods, holding up his phone again.

Matilda and I both sit up, bringing our knees to our chest and wrapping our arms around them, then we let our bodies roll back. The position is meant to make you roll like an egg, but we kind of just splat onto the ground.

“Pretty sure that’s not how an egg rolls,” Roman snorts. “Loser.”

“Hey,” I say, trying again. “Don’t be a hater.”

“You’re embarrassing yourself, it makes me feel sorry for you.”

I flip him the bird, and try again. Flopping backwards again. “My God! I suck.”

“Could have told you that,” Roman adds.

I stand up and charge over to him, punching him in the arm. He roars with laughter. “You’re such a tosser.”

“You love it.”

I grin at him, and we both turn to see Matilda and Calvin climbing the fence. It’s a really high fence, but one side is easier than the other to get over. They hop down onto the other side and we can hear their laughter.

“Ten bucks says he’s copping a feel,” I say to Roman.

“He’s copping a feel all right. I just want to see them get back over the fence.”

We both sit down, taking a beer, and we watch as Calvin lifts Matilda back over the fence. She climbs over, cheeks red, big smile on her face. Yep, she was getting felt up.

“I don’t think Calvin will get back over that fence, the ground is lower on the other side, he’ll never be able to jump that high. Maybe this will be the moment he looks like shit. He can’t be that perfect,” I whisper to Roman.

“Yep, no way he can get over that. We’re going to watch him fall. And it’s going to be fucking hilarious. It’ll make me feel better about his perfection.”

Grinning, Roman and I watch, waiting. Effortlessly, Calvin launches and lands on the top of the fence like it was no effort at all. Then he gracefully slides off the other side and lands on his feet. My mouth drops open and I look to Roman. Our eyes meet, and at the same time, we both roll them.

Dammit.

He’s perfect.

The jerk.

“Let’s go and get some food,” Roman huffs, standing.

We both move inside to the kitchen.

“Can you believe his perfection?” I say, opening the fridge and pulling out a steak.

“It’s ridiculous.”

I turn with the steaks in my hand, and Roman is standing in the kitchen, staring down at me. He grins, and his eyes are soft. It’s the first time I’ve really seen him with his guard down. He holds it up so tightly every other time, it’s nice to see him at ease. He stretches his hand out and gently moves a lock of hair off my face.

My heart does something strange. It flutters.

I redirect my eyes and smile, handing him the steak, because I honestly don’t know what else to do. It threw me. I mean, sure, I’ve felt a stirring for Roman, but I didn’t think it was the same for him. That was one of the nicest, simplest gestures any man has ever done to me. I felt it. Right down to my heart.

We just had a moment.

And I didn’t see it coming.

~*~*~*~

I flop down onto my bed and Roman lands on his back beside me, both of us lying side by side. It doesn’t feel weird, or awkward, or even wrong. It feels nice lying beside him, he’s a comfort I never realised I needed until now. I’ve missed having someone around who could make me laugh and enjoy life without any pressure.

“That was the funniest night,” I say, staring at the ceiling. “Matilda is smitten with Calvin.”

Roman snorts. “Well, it’s not a wonder. That kind of perfection should be illegal.”

“True, but he has the personality of a sponge.”

“Yep. Only so far looks will take you.”

“Here here.”

I roll to my side and stare at him; he does the same. Up close, his eyes are lighter than they first appear. They’re almost milk chocolate in their appearance. He reaches over and takes hold of my hand, curling it in his. Neither of us says anything. I’m not entirely sure what’s happening, but it feels nice.

“I think Matilda thinks we’re weird.” I laugh.

He grins. “Yep. Who cares anyway. At least we have fun.”

“I think we laughed more than they did, honestly, I’m not sure people get our sense of humour sometimes.”

“I don’t get our sense of humour sometimes.”

“Tell me a funny story,” I say, rolling over onto my back again.

“What kind of story?” he asks, putting his arms behind his head.

“A sex story.”

He snorts. “Of course you’d want a sex story.”

I laugh. “You’re getting to know me. You’ll get used to it.”