Page 58 of On the Slopes of Tahoe
“I heard that,” Willow bellows.
“Yeah, yeah,” I grumble. “We’ll be right there.”
“Rory’s here?” Willow’s voice brightens and Rory’s face does the same.
“I’m here, but I fell and need a second to get back up.” Rory hollers back to her.
“Okay, I’m going to go take a shower,” Willow yells, followed by the wet slap of her feet on the floor as she heads for the stairs.
I hold back from hauling Rory into my arms again when I pull her up, but her hand lingers in mine a second longer than necessary. Then she smiles and leaves me standing there in a daze. I take a minute to move her suitcases to the far side of the room, then I take a deep breath and resolve to figure out this whole roommate situation.
Rule number one is no more kissing.
When I hear Wes’s voice coming from Rory’s phone a few moments later, my determination to stop sleeping with his sister only solidifies.
“Where are you, baby sister?” he says as I walk into the living room.
She glances over her shoulder toward me. I’m not in the frame yet, so I shoot her a wink and a blush stains her cheeks—I did not kiss her just now like she wasanyone’sbaby sister.
“Well, uh…” She flounders.
Not one to beat around the bush, I move so he can see me too and jump straight to it. “This is our new place. You know how Willow and I extended our trip…?” Wes nods, still looking confused. “Well, Rory’s going to be staying with us.”
Wes’s eyes bulge, and he opens and closes his mouth a couple times.
“But why?” Joss’s voice comes from the background before she moves into the frame.
“I—” Rory tries again. “I needed to move out of the condo. Until I can find somewhere on my own, Breck offered for me to stay with him and Willow.”
I’m leaning over her slightly, my elbows on the back of the couch, just out of reach of her shoulders. If I lean forward any farther my chin will be resting on her head. That position would feel naturalifwe weren’t on the phone with her brother, or if we weren’t trying to keep our physical relationship in check.
Wes’s eyes lift from Rory to me and then flit back to her. “What happened with the condo?”
Rory tilts her head back and I give her an affirming nod when our eyes meet. She needs to tell him.
“Rory, seriously, what’s going on?”
“Mom and Dad were going to kick me out, so I left.” She lifts a shoulder, letting the sentence slide off her with feigned nonchalance.
“Theywhat? You—but what happened?” Wes’s face grows red and his brows pull down in the middle like confusion and anger and uncertainty are manifesting all at once. Joss squeezes in next to him, a similar look of concern etched across her brow.
“Breck and I—”
A coolness I’ve rarely heard in Wes’s voice fills the space. “You and Breck what?” His eyes are moving between the two of us at a rapid rate. Can he read in our body language what’s been happening here?
I see her roll her eyes through the screen and she continues with more confidence. “Oh, stop it, Wes. For god’s sake. Breck and I did that elopement, the one I sent the pictures from. He wants to help me get going with a business of my own. Mom and Dad don’t want me doing anything of the sort. They gave me an ultimatum and I called their bluff.”
“Wait, what? Why didn’t you tell me about any of this? How long has this been going on?”
Again, the question seems to address things Wes doesn’t even realize. A hint of guilt niggles my gut.
“What would you have done? You’re not here to handle them. You don’t understand what they’re like with me. How they’vealwaysbeen with me. You never have.”
“Rory.” His voice softens and there’s sadness in his eyes.
“No, it’s fine.” She waves a hand, dismissing whatever he wanted to say. “But working toward this with Breck is the most fulfilled I’ve felt in a long time. Maybe ever. I don’t—I don’t want to give that up.”
She’s come so far in the last few days. I smile broadly, hoping she can sense the pride I have for her in this moment.
