Page 78 of Off Limits

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

Simon

I shut the door of the house quietly, listening for the telltale signs of Cal while I finger the phone in my pocket, considering whether I should call Ellie, the sight of her stumbling away in tears fresh in my mind. It had taken everything in me not to stop her, go after her, call her name and get her to turn around. I’d almost shouted with happiness when she told me she’d finally stood up to her parents and declared a major she wanted. I wanted to ask a thousand questions, most specifically had her dad cut her off?

But I didn’t do any of that. I stood there, stoic and unfeeling, letting her say all that she came to say. When she said she wanted to take me out on a date, I’d almost blurted out,I love you.But I wrestled the words back. Because even if I’d said them, then what? Then she’d say, oh, I like you a lot, but I’m not sure I’m there yet. And the recent wound is too fresh for my poor battered heart to take that.

And I also don’t know how I feel about her sudden change of heart, anyway. Now that we’re over, now that I’ve removed myself from her life,nowshe’s suddenly okay with her brother knowing about us? The only way to get her to take my feelings into consideration is with that level of consequences? What would that mean going forward?

“So you and Ellie.”

My head jerks up to find Cal standing in the doorway to the kitchen, arms crossed, his shoulder propped against the wall.

I lift a shoulder in a shrug. “It’s run its course.” The words want to stick in my throat, because has it really? She doesn’t want it to be over based on what she said today. I don’t really either, if I’m being honest. Am I being too hard on her? Too protective of myself? I accused her of being a coward, but am I just doing the same thing?

Cal straightens, his face turning red again, his fists clenching at his sides. “Are you fucking kidding me?” His voice is deadly quiet.

I blink at him in surprise. I actually thought he’d be happier to know that Ellie and I are over.

He takes a step toward me, pointing a shaking finger at me. Ellie shakes sometimes too, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen her shake with rage like Cal is. “Are you fucking kidding me?” he repeats, his voice louder. “What? Was she just a game to you? See how long you can fuck her, get her all attached to you, and dump her as soon as you see how far she’ll go to stroke your ego?”

“What? No.”

But my denial doesn’t make it through to him. He stalks even closer, closing the distance between us until his finger is right under my nose. “What the fuck, man? Of all people, I figuredyouwouldn’t fuck her over. I get home and calm down and tell myself that if any of my friends had to get involved with my sister, at least it was you. You don’t fuck around, you’re smart, you might seem a little standoffish, but you’re a good guy. And now you get home and tell me that it’s run its fucking course? Right after she shoved her relationship with you in my face? What. The. Fuck.”

I hold my hands up in surrender. “Dude. Calm down.”

“I will not calm down,” he hisses. “She came there to see you. She said you weren’t taking her calls anymore. What happened? What did you do to her?”

“Cal. Enough.” I ease out from between him and the door and head to my room. He follows behind me, which isn’t a surprise, but makes me sigh anyway. “What happened is between Ellie and me. You don’t need to involve yourself. I promise, she’s perfectly capable of making her own decisions.”

His shoulders visibly sag. “She’s my little sister, man.” He sounds defeated. “I know what kind of assholes are on the team. I know how guys are. I don’t want her getting hurt.”

Shaking my head, I drop onto my bed. “You can’t protect her from life, man. And the way you’ve been acting with her, you’re just making her life harder.” He bristles, and I sigh again. “Dude. Anytime she shows up anywhere, you try to run her off. If you want to protect her, don’t you think keeping an eye on her and her friend at a party would be an easier way to accomplish that than pushing her to go to a party you’re not at? And I promise you, sheknowsyou don’t want her around. She thinks you hate her.”

“What?” He straightens up, getting that bluster and bravado back. “I don’t hate her. Why would you even say that? You think I’d be all up in your face if I hated my sister?”

My eyes practically bug out of my head. “Dude. Did you hear what I just said? You run her off if she’s around. That night at the beginning of the semester when she crashed on our couch? She’d gotten locked out of her room and didn’t have anywhere else to go, but she was worried about coming here because she knows you don’t want her here. Don’t want her around your friend. Don’t want to see her on campus. She goes out of her way to avoid you.”

“Football players are dicks,” he says with his brows knitted together in confusion. “That’s why I don’t want her around my friends.”

“Present company excluded?”

He shakes his head, crossing his arms. “Nope. I meant exactly what I said. You’re a dick. I’m a dick. Martinez and Johnson and Wilson andespeciallyKilpatrick—all dicks. Don’t pretend like you don’t know what I’m talking about.”

I grunt, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

Sighing, he pulls my desk chair out and sinks into it. “Ellie hates me?” he asks in a small voice.

I tilt my head to one side. “She doesn’t hate you, but she’s definitely not your biggest fan. And who can blame her?”

He nods, his face thoughtful. “I guess that makes sense.” We sit in silence for several long moments while Cal mulls over these new revelations, and I once again pull out my phone and consider texting Ellie.

But what would I say? Would she even want to hear from me?

“What did she want to talk to you about?” he asks. “And why aren’t you answering her calls?”

With another sigh, I shake my head, but before I can answer, he all but whispers, “Is it because of me? Am I the reason you broke my sister’s heart?”

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