You Make Me (Blurred Lines #1)(48)
Author: Erin McCarthy

Damn it. I couldn’t let him know why I was curious. Brian would find a way to use it against me. “If you needed to borrow twenty bucks from me, then clearly you’re not working, right?” I hit the door to outside and jogged down the stairs, cramming my free hand in my pocket. It had been a mistake to call him. I had no strategy, no tactical plan. Just an overwhelming need to prove to Ethan and myself that there was nothing out of line going on, that Heath didn’t keep secrets from me or feed my brother booze.

“Working is for suckers.” He yawned. “What do you want, Cat?”

“I’m just calling to check on you,” I lied. “I don’t want you getting yourself into trouble you can’t handle.”

He snorted. “Well, that’s touching. Thanks, little sis. I promise not to get swept up in a life of crime and street drugs. Honestly, that all just sounds like a lot of work, so no worries.”

“Good. Glad to hear it.”

“Can I go back to sleep?”

“Want to hang out later?” I asked out of pure desperation. I didn’t want to end the call without getting the information I wanted. Without him knowing I was getting information.

He gave a startled laugh, which turned into a choking cough. “Are you kidding me? No. I don’t want to hang out later, but thanks for asking.”

I ground my teeth in frustration. “Okay, well, take care of yourself.”

“Sure. You, too. Tell Heath thanks.”

I came to a stop. The person behind me bumped into me. “Sorry,” I murmured. Then to Brian, “For what?”

“Just thanks.”

So it was probably true. Heath was letting Brian drink at the bar. That didn’t make any sense at all. It really didn’t. But otherwise why would he ask me to relay that message? How would he even know that I was in touch with Heath? I certainly hadn’t told Brian. “Sure. Okay.”

“He’s not a bad guy, you know. Feel kind of bad now about what happened.”

“What happened?” I asked quietly. People moved around me, jostling me, some glancing at me, most totally ignoring me. There was a light dusting of snow on the ground and I ran my foot back and forth in it.

“What?” Brian coughed again. “Shit, Kitty Cat, the girlfriend’s calling me. Gotta go.”

“Wait, Bri-

He hung up.

I stood there on the sidewalk, biting my lip and wondering what exactly was going on and if I dared ask.

Or if I really wanted to know.

Chapter Eighteen

“How was your date?” I asked Aubrey as I sat on her bed. There was still an odd tension between us, but after talking to Ethan and Brian, I had gone to Aubrey, wanting things to be normal, familiar. But they weren’t.

I could feel Ethan between us. Even Heath between us, after her comments about being attracted to his type.

“It was amazing, I’m not going to lie. It turns out he plays lacrosse, which explains the hot body, and he is a media major, which explains the stellar smile and clear interest in teeth whitening.”

It was such an Aubrey assessment of someone, I had to smile. “Cool. So you had fun?”

She was painting her toenails, not looking at me. “Yes. We talked non-stop for two hours. Then we made out and I really, really wanted to have sex, but I controlled myself. I couldn’t help it though, I allowed a little dry humping. People don’t dry hump enough anymore. It’s underrated.”

There really wasn’t a proper response to that other than laughter. “I love your philosophy. Bring back the dry hump.”

“Let’s make T-shirts.”

“So how was he, size wise? Obviously you felt it.” It seemed an appropriate question to ask. Something she would make me tell her. And I wanted her to understand that I was interested in her life, that I supported her.

“Bueno.” She paused in brushing to look up and give me a grin. “There was no patting around, trying to find it. Bam. It was right there.”

We’d always had an unspoken agreement that she shared anything and everything about her sex life and I shared nothing. Zero. Because, well, the only guy I had ever had sex with was her brother and that would be a totally creeper conversation to have. She didn’t want to know anything about her brother and I didn’t want to tell her anything about her brother.

But now it seemed all bets were off. Because she casually asked, “Is Heath hung?”

“Aubrey!” I was caught off guard and I could actually feel myself blushing.

“What? You asked me about Jared. Though Heath just looks like he would be. He’s too angry to have a small penis.”

“There is absolutely zero logic in what you just said.” I raised my knees up and propped my chin on them. “I don’t know why angry men can’t have small penises. You think men with small penises would be angry. But either way, Heath is not angry.” I wasn’t going to tell her anything about his penis, which was damn nice.

“Oh, the hell he isn’t. He can’t even flirt without sounding pissed off. It’s a talent.”

She spoke casually, but something about that statement gave me pause. “What would you know about him flirting?”

“Because he was flirting with me when you were still with Ethan.”

“Bullshit,” I blurted before I could stop myself.

Aubrey capped her nail polish and made a face at me. “Why, because no guy would flirt with me?”

“Of course guys flirt with you.” I dropped my knees and sat up straighter, annoyed. “But Heath came here to see me. He wouldn’t flirt with my best friend.”

“He asked for my number. He texted me a few times.” She inspected her pedicure. “It’s not a big deal. You were with Ethan. It meant nothing. I didn’t give him any encouragement because I knew you’d be upset.”

“So why are you telling me now?”

“It’s not a big deal,” she repeated.

There was a sour taste in my mouth, and I felt hot, ill. “Why do I feel like you’re just trying to hurt me?”

“Why would I do that? Of course not.”

“I don’t know. I really don’t know.” I wasn’t even sure I believed her that Heath had been texting her. I suddenly felt like if anyone had been flirting it had been Aubrey. She was clearly jealous of the interest he had in me.

Something was brewing beneath the surface, something I didn’t understand and was afraid of, something ugly and unpleasant.