Slowly We Trust (Fall and Rise #3)(34)
Author: Chelsea M. Cameron

“I’ll be right back.” And then she was out the door.

I sighed and sat down on her bed before picking up her towel and using it to dry my hair. I loved how it smelled now.

My phone buzzed with a new text.

I know what you did last night, you virtue stealer.

Of course it was from my sister and of course she knew what I’d done last night. She knew everything, just like I knew everything about her.

There was no virtue stealing, Lot. Calm your shit down.

I could visualize her glaring at me through the phone and furiously typing a response.

What the hell are you talking about? You totally had sex with Aud.

This really wasn’t the kind of thing I wanted to talk about via text, or at all, but I knew Lot wouldn’t let it go until we’d hashed this out.

Are we really going to do this via text?

Her response was so quick, it was like she’d anticipated what I’d say and had pre-typed it.

Nope. I’m standing outside Aud’s building waiting for someone to let me in.

Of course she was. Because she was my sister and it was her mission in life to ruin mine.

I’m walking up the stairs . . .

I ran to the door and flicked the lock, but I knew it would only be a matter of time before Lottie found a way in. She was obsessed with roofs, and I could picture her rappelling down the side of the building and coming in through the window.

I stood by the door and waited. I could sense her coming closer, even though I couldn’t hear footsteps.

“I can hear you out there, Lot,” I said through the seam of the door.

“You’re such a liar. Let me in,” she said after a few seconds of silence.

“This twindar thing works both ways. You can try to use it against me all you want, but you forget that I have it too.” I knew the look she was giving me, and probably the finger as well.

“Will. Just let me in.”

“Why? What business is it of yours?” I knew the answer to the question even before the words left my mouth.

“You’re being an idiot. Open the damn door.” Audrey would be back fairly soon, and it would be weird for her to find Lottie here, but I didn’t think Lottie was going to take no for an answer. So I flicked the lock and opened the door.

“Seriously? You’re in a towel?” She motioned to my attire.

“I took a shower and didn’t want to put my clothes back on. Aud’s gone to get me some more.”

Lottie smacked me in the chest, hard.

“You have sex with her and then make her get you clothes? Are you trying to be an ass**le?” I grabbed her arm, dragged her into the room and shut the door so the entire hallway couldn’t hear her ream me out.

“Look, you should probably slow your roll and stop judging before you know the entire situation.” I put my hands up and backed up until I sat down on the spare bed. The other one was still messed up from last night. Did that seriously happen? I still couldn’t believe it.

Flashes of how Audrey had looked arched above me, riding me until . . .

“You’re sick, you know that?” Lottie snapped her fingers in front of my face. “I’m ashamed to be related to you.”

“How about you shut up for a second and listen?” I turned toward her as she crossed her arms and glared at me.

“Not that I should even be telling you this, but Aud’s not a virgin. She let you think that, but she’s not. And whatever we did, which is none of your business, was consensual. Do you really think she’d let me take advantage of her?”

“Well, no. But you have ways, Will. You’re very convincing.”

“Are you f**king serious right now?” At first she’d been irritating but now she was pissing me off. And wasn’t she the one who wanted us together in the first place?

“What is your deal? This clearly isn’t about me and Aud.”

Her anger faltered for a second.

“I was just thinking about what happens if you two get together and it doesn’t work out. I mean, I did a week of trying to go between you two and it sucked ass. She’s my friend and you’re my brother and I love you both and I couldn’t deal with you breaking up and I’m just scared that it’s going to end.” I knew it had nothing to do with me supposedly taking Aud’s “virtue”.

“Dude, you gotta calm down. You’re going to give yourself an ulcer.” I worried about her excessive worrying. Which was pretty sick, if you thought about it.

“Don’t call me dude,” she sniped, just as the door opened.

“Oh, hey, Lottie.” Audrey set my backpack down on the floor. “What are you doing here?”

“I think I’m going to go change and give you two a minute,” I said, getting up and going to get my backpack. I was a little tired of being the only one wearing a towel.

“Don’t run away. You know I can find you,” Lottie said, pointing at me.

“Yeah, yeah,” I said, waving my hand as I opened the door and headed for the bathroom.

The short walk up the hill to get Will’s clothes hadn’t done much to clear my head. Then again, a two-hour walk probably wouldn’t clear my head right now. All I could think of when I let my mind wander was Will. On top of me, under me, with his head between my legs, on his knees . . .

I couldn’t stop myself from blushing every time I thought about it. Who was that girl who’d been so free with her body? I’d felt like a completely different person last night. At the same time, I’d felt more myself than I had in a long time. Was it possible that a side of me I hadn’t known existed had been dormant and just awakened?

I looked down at my hands. They didn’t look different. I clenched them both into fists. The memory of Will’s hot skin lingered on them. I’d showered, but I swore I could still smell him.

Madness. This was madness.

I kept walking and used Will’s card to get into his building and then headed down the hall to his room, praying Simon was indeed, gone. I didn’t think I could face anyone right now. I needed to understand how I felt about the situation before I tried to explain it to anyone else.

The door was locked, and I knocked just to be sure, but the room was empty. I’d only been in here a few times. Normally I tried to stay as far from Will’s room as possible. Being around all his things made it much harder to think and see reason.

Of course his side of the room was a wreck. Clothes everywhere, notebooks, pens, a few soda bottles. Will wasn’t dirty, he was just, what would be the best word? Messy. Haphazard. Simon’s side of the room looked like it was arranged by a professional organizer. Or at least some diligent house elves. Everything was in clear plastic tubs that had labels. Their new entertainment center took up most of the far end of the room.