Page 58 of Bagging the Blueliner
A strange look crossed his face before he coaxed my head to rest on his chest once more. “Duly noted.”
Regardless of my half-naked state, I was content to lie in his arms. For some reason, we fit together. I couldn’t figure out why.
I was half asleep when Cal broke the silence. “Can I ask you something?”
Sleepily, I mumbled, “Mmhmm.”
“Do the girls know about us?”
That was a loaded question. I wasn’t sure whatuswas.
Pushing off his chest, I sat up. “I tell the girls everything.”
Cal nodded. “So, let me get this straight. You can tell the girls, but I can’t tell anyone?”
“Who has more to lose here?”
He knew it was him. “I’m very aware that what we are doing here is against the rules. Shouldn’t that mean neither of us tells anyone?”
“If you’re worried about my best friends spilling the beans, you can get that right out of your head. You have no idea the depth of the secrets we keep for each other.” He gave me a skeptical look, so I challenged him, “When did you find out about Charlie?”
That stunned him for a moment. “When Jaxon dragged me along to get the tattoo of her footprints on his chest.”
I did the mental math on that timeline. “Okay, she was around one month old. I knew five months before she was born. Jaxon is your best friend, like Natalie is mine. Why do you think I knew and you didn’t?”
Game, set, match.
I gave myself a mental high-five.
It was important that he understood the dynamic I had with my girlfriends. “What we have is a classic case of the inner circle versus the outer circle.”
Cal’s forehead wrinkled in confusion. “What are you talking about?”
“Jaxon, Liam, and Preston all learned the hard way that we work together and protect each other’s secrets at all costs. There’s a level of trust the four of us share. It would be catastrophic for all of us if someone spilled. Kinda like an ‘if I go down, you’re coming with me’ deal. Don’t feel bad. You’re just in the outer circle with them. Accept it, embrace it, and don’t let it get you down.”
“So, what you’re saying is, my life rests in the hands of a bunch of women?”
“You’re not any worse off than the rest of the men. They’ve all been at our mercy at one point or another. Now, it’s your turn. They all came out the other side, and you will too.”
“Now you’ve got me wondering what kinds of secrets those other women have,” he mused.
I winked at him. “You’ll never know.”
“Stay the night?” Cal asked, changing the topic.
If he was looking to shock me, that did it. “You want me to stay?” Why did it feel like I would be disappointed if he said no?
“I’m the one who asked, wasn’t I?”
Nervous laughter left my lips. “Oh. Right. Yeah, I guess. But I’m borrowing some of your clothes. Can’t be walking around half naked.”
Leaning forward, he nipped at my lower lip. “You won’t hear me complaining, but you can help yourself to anything you want.”
So, now we were fuck buddies who spent the night and allowed closet-raiding privileges? Interesting.
Chapter 15
Cal
