Page 10 of Careless
Felicity
What had just happened? Seriously. What the hell had just happened?
Why had Callum Ashford been at my door after dinner just to check on me? He could have called. Could have texted. Could have done anything. Instead, he showed up.
I frowned, tapping my foot against the carpet. Maybe he had only done it because, once again, he needed to take care of Rune’s baby sister. But I wasn’t a baby. Though, with the way that Rune treated me, maybe everybody was always going to think that.
I pulled my hair out of its bun and made my way to the shower. I hadn’t been lying. I was going to shower and then cuddle up into a blanket with a book. There wasn’t much out there that could compete with how amazing that idea was.
My phone buzzed, and I looked down at it, a bright smile on my face.
I answered, the video call coming in brightly, and the background sounds a little obnoxious. My brother’s smiling face, including a lovely black eye and a cut on his chin, filled the screen.
“Atlas! What the hell happened? Are you okay?”
In answer, my brother glared. “What the hell are you wearing? Are you out in public in that? Go put some clothes on.”
“If you’re really going to talk about what I’m wearing, let’s talk about the girl that was sitting on your lap in that photo that just hit the internet. Huh? What was she wearing? And frankly, I’m glad she was wearing that. Because she’s allowed to wear whatever the fuck she wants. She’s an adult. At least, I hope to hell she was over eighteen. So if she’s an adult, she could do whatever she wants, and you can’t judge. I’m not going to judge her. So step off.”
Atlas merely blinked at me. “The circular reasoning of that, in which how I’m suddenly a bad guy and creeper, confuses me. And I don’t know who that girl was.”
I rolled my eyes as he flipped me off. Yay for big brothers. “You have so many women on your lap that you don’t even know who she was?”
“No. She just showed up at the restaurant we were at. It wasn’t even a dive bar or anything. She showed up and ended up on my lap. I tried to shove her off and then realized shoving off somebody so they hit the floor was probably not the best idea, so I put my hand around her waist to help her stand up. She giggled, said it was for a dare, then kissed my cheek. That was it.”
“Oh, brother of mine. What are we going to do with you?”
“She didn’t find out, did she?” he asked, his voice low.
I winced, knowing show she was. It seemed that whenever anybody tried to leave Ashford Creek, you couldn’t truly do so. The past was always there to bite you in the ass. Or at least haunt you when you weren’t expecting it.
“Probably. She does have a phone with social media on it. And knowing the town busybody baker, it’s probably going to be in the town bulletin.”
“Fuck. I’m not an asshole.”
“I know you aren’t. You’re my favorite big brother who happens to play hockey.”
“I’m your only big brother who happens to play hockey. And seriously, what are you wearing?”
“I’m wearing random clothes that I left here last time I was staying at Rune’s because I was just cleaning up after the four Ls.”
Atlas cringed. “Are they still there?”
“You don’t need to keep the disgust in your voice when you talk about my friends from college.”
“I do when they treat you like shit.”
“They don’t,” I argued for what felt like the twentieth time.
“They use you.”
“What could they possibly use me for? It’s not like they’re using me to get to you or Rune. You guys wouldn’t touch my friends like that.” Atlas’s jaw tightened, and I gasped. “Which one?”
“None of them. But each of them has come onto me. It was awkward as hell. And I didn’t like it. Despite what the press says, I don’t like it when women constantly fawn over me. I’m not a lecher.”
“I’m going to write that on your tombstone,” I grumbled. Of course, the four Ls had hit on Atlas. They were doing so with Rune and Callum the night before. I hadn’t missed it when Laurel had sidled up to Rune and rubbed her body all over him. Then Laura had tried to do the same to Callum. It had taken all within me not to pull them by their hair and scream about how Ashford Creek was mine.
I wasn’t too territorial about my brother because, hello, he was an adult who could do what he wanted with his dick. And frankly, I shouldn’t be territorial at all when it came to Callum.
