Page 38 of Voices

He takes his slides off and climbs on. “This is a thousand times softer than that brick out there.” He leans back against the headboard facing the closet then looks at me as I climb in next to him.

“My TV is over there.”

“Why is it over there and not in front of your bed? Do you use a laptop to watch movies?”

I shake my head. “That’s where it’s bolted to the wall, so I can’t move it. This setup isn’t so bad though, because when I lay down I can see the entire TV without straining my neck.”

He thinks about that for a second. “I guess that makes sense. So how are we going to watch the movies? Sitting up against the wall?” he asks as he shifts around. His legs are so long that his feet hang off the edge of my full-sized mattress.

I snicker as I get the first Avatar movie started. I turn off the light and climb into bed next to him. He drapes two blanketsover our laps, leaving the other two off to the side. As the movie starts, he places his arm around my shoulders and pulls me until we’re connected. It feels right.

My head starts to get heavy before Jake even lands on Pandora. I put my head on Shane’s chest, right over the steady beat of his heart, and close my eyes. I fall asleep feeling safe and warm for the first time since I was a kid..

Chapter Twelve

Shane

Charlie falls asleep right as the movie starts to get good. I don’t know how he’s able to after he slept for like four hours earlier. I pull my phone from my pocket, seeing that it’s past eleven, and toss it towards the end of the bed as I adjust my position.

This isn’t relaxing at all. My lower back is on fire with the angle I’m sitting at along with Charlie’s added weight. I try sitting up but then Charlie’s head falls off my chest and slides down my stomach. I awkwardly catch him before he hits my lap. We’re sitting too close otherwise I’d lay him down like earlier, but this angle is weird.

I slowly slide out from under him and lay him down as I get off the bed. Walking around to the side, I maneuver him until he’s lying correctly, with his head on a pillow. I climb over him as gently as I can and sit down behind him. Grabbing the blankets, I drape them over us as I lay down. I turn so I’m looking at the back of his head and scoot as close to him as I can without cuddling him. He still has a faint scent of my body wash on him, and I unabashedly take in a long whiff.

Fucking perfect.

I can’t see the movie from back here, not that I care all that much, so I move in behind him until my chest hits his back. I bend my knees and bring them under his bent ones, keeping space between my pelvis and his ass. I slowly snake my right arm under his pillow and gently pull him to me.

He feels right in my arms.

I nuzzle the back of his neck before placing a small kiss at the base.

“Goodnight beautiful boy,” I whisper before closing my eyes.

‘All I want is a little of the good life. All I neeeeed-is to have a good time. Oh-oh-oh-uh-oh. The good life.’

I’m startled awake byThe Good Lifeby Three Days Grace blasting from somewhere. The song ends, but not thirty seconds later, it starts up again. I sit up and look around Charlie’s dark room. His TV is now off, making the only source of light coming from his phone screen, which is also what’s blaring the song.

I lean over Charlie to see who’s calling him in the middle of the night. I can’t see the screen since we’ve managed to move to the center of the bed, so I reach over him and use my fingertips to inch the phone off the flat charger and bring it closer. I grab it right before it falls into the crack between the bed and nightstand. The screen is so bright that I need to squint to get the image on the screen to focus. When I do, a picture of Benji and Charlie becomes clear. Benji is standing next to Charlie with his arm wrapped around his shoulders, smiling wide, while Charlie has a small, closed-lip smile.

The screen goes black when the song stops and a second later a message from Benji pops up. Only the first few words are visible but it’s enough for me to know it’s not an emergency, so I don’t have to wake Charlie.

Benji: Happy b-day to me!

It’s his-their birthday? Why didn’t Charlie say anything? I look at the time and date on his phone. Two thirty-one AM, October second. And why the hell did he text Happy Birthday to him and not Charlie? Was he celebrating his birthday on Friday at the frat house? I know Benji was being loud about his birthday coming up and was yelling for everyone to do twenty-one shots with him. I wish I knew Charlie was his brother so he wasn’t celebrating alone.

But why didn’t Benji invite him in or at the very least do a birthday shot with him?

Maybe they don’t have a good relationship. I look down at Charlie and wonder what was going through his head when Benji was heard throughout the house celebrating.

I’m about to put his phone back when it pings with another text message.

Lily: Happy Birthday Charlie Jax Alexander!! Twenty-one Shots! Shots! Shots!

Lily is such a firecracker. She’s a bit wild, but something tells me he needs that in his life. I don’t know much about her, but I can tell she cares about him.

I reach back over him to place his phone back on the charger and lay back down. He rolls over and snuggles into my side, burrowing his nose in my armpit and draping an arm over my chest. I place my hand on top of his and let out a sigh, kissing the top of his head and closing my eyes.

I wake up a few hours later to another Avatar movie playing. This one is on water instead of in the forest.

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