Relative Design

Her dress, after having spent the night on Adam’s floor, managed to remain fairly wrinkle free. Her hair was pulled back in tight ponytail since there was no salvaging that, her makeup wiped clean. She didn’t bother wearing her shoes again, keeping them in hand.

Adam drove her home in the morning, after fixing her eggs for breakfast, despite her insistence that she didn’t need any breakfast.

At eleven, after a kiss goodbye and a hesitant date booked for the coming weekend, Anabel stepped in the house and froze as her eyes landed on her brother, who had just stepped out of the sitting room. She vaguely wondered why she didn’t hear any barking then realized Eric must’ve taken Toby for a walk.

“Oh. Hey, Beckett.”

“Where have you been all night?”

She heard the anger in his voice, but couldn’t figure out the cause for it. “I was out.”

“Yeah, I see that. Where?”

“I had a date last night. What is your problem, Beckett?”

“My problem is that my baby sister just spent the entire night out and has the nerve to come home and mouth off to me after.”

Now her eyes narrowed as her jaw clenched. “Excuse me? I remember you spending the night elsewhere all the time when you were my age. Younger than me, actually.”

“Yeah, but—”

“But, what? You’re a man, so it’s okay? Don’t be a hypocrite, Beckett. I have to change.”

“I’m not done talking to you, Anabel!”

“You’re not talking, Beckett, you’re yelling. Come find me when you want to talk.”

“Did he at least drop you home?”

“Yes, dad, he did,” she snapped, going up the stairs to her room. Leave it to Beckett to ruin her mood.

When there was a knock at her door a couple of minutes later, she swore revenge if it was Beckett. Ready to fight, she threw open her door.

Eliza silently handed her the cup of coffee, eyes wide at her murderous expression. “He could not have been that bad.”

Anabel resisted for a second before laughing, shaking her head. “No, he wasn’t bad. At all, actually.”

“That can’t be true. No woman looks like that after sex if it was any good.”

“It was good, Eliza. Beckett just pissed me off.”

“Beckett? Why?”

“He’s throwing a bitch fit because I didn’t come home last night.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’ll talk to him. You were safe, right?”

“Oh, Jesus,” she scoffed, disgusted. “What is wrong with everyone in this house? We’ve had this talk, Eliza. Yes, I was safe.”

“Good.” She took a seat on the edge of her bed. “Now, spill.”

She laughed, getting her clothes together for a bath. “He really wasn’t bad, Eliza, if that’s what you’re trying to find out.”

“He wasn’t bad, or he was good?”

“I’m not having this conversation, Eliza.”

“Come on, don’t skip the good stuff! How good?”

She sighed, leaning against her dresser. “Really good. We’re probably seeing each other again this weekend.”

“Hm. You haven’t been seeing him for long.”

“I know. I guess I like him or something. I don’t know.”

“Like him how?”

“I don’t know. Just like him.”

“Whose idea was last night?”

“Mine. He just took me to dinner and…”

“And?” She pulled her legs up, crossed them. “Where did you go? What happened?”

“He took me to this country club like an hour away from here or something. We had dinner on the terrace, and then we drove around the city. He told me he lived around there and… since we were there, I asked him to show me where he lived.”

“And then you jumped his bones.”

Anabel laughed, shook her head. “I wouldn’t say it quite like that, but yes, exactly.”

“It isn’t even funny how much I envy you right now. You seem relaxed.”

“I am.” She turned, peered into the mirror over her dresser. Despite the disaster of her hair, she looked rested, relaxed as Eliza had said. With everything that had been going on the last few weeks, she hadn’t managed to look so good even with the help of makeup. Her sister, however, was the epitome of sexually frustrated. “How long has it been for you, Eliza?”

“I don’t even remember. Too long. Months. Forever.”

“You seemed to have been getting it on with Lips that one night.”

“I know. Then you showed up and ruined everything.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s a good thing, I guess,” she admitted begrudgingly. “With Beckett and everything. Besides, we’ve got an impressionable young boy in the house.”

Anabel froze, her wide eyes locking on her sister’s in the mirror. “Oh, god. Please tell me he doesn’t know I didn’t come home last night.”

“He has no idea, don’t worry. But you should sneak into the shower.”

“Got it. Thanks.”

“Sure. So. Being your sister, I get to be nosy.”

“Okay.”

“You said you liked him.”

“Yes.”

“And you stayed at his place for the night.”

“It wasn’t like that.”

“You never stay at a guy’s place after sex.”

It sounded so bad when she said it aloud. “I know. But it wasn’t like that. I was going to come home.”

“But you didn’t.” Her eyes widened. “Oh, my god. Did you fall asleep after?”

“Well, yes, but I only stayed because he asked me to.”

“He asked you to? And you agreed?”

“Well, yes—no. I mean—” She took a deep breath. “I really wasn’t going to stay, even though he asked me to. But then he kind of… persuaded me to.”

“Oh, really?”

“Okay, if you do that eyebrow thing, I’m not telling you anything else.”

“Sorry, sorry! Twice in one night, really?”

She flushed, dropping her gaze. “Three times, actually, if you count this morning.”

“Oh, morning sex is the best!”

“You are way too excited.”

“Oh, spare me your condescension.”

“Shut up. He called me a snob.” She knew she was pouting but couldn’t really help it.

“And you, what, slept with him as punishment?”

“Get out of my room.”

“Okay, sorry. I was kidding. Jeez.”

“I’m not a snob.”

“Except that you kind of are.”

“Eliza!”

“What? You are! What did you say to that?”

“I don’t know. I think I told him to shut up.”

“And then you had sex with him.”

“Shut up, Eliza! God. The sex was much later, okay?”

“Oh, that makes it better.”

She sighed, changing out of her dress and into a robe she’d stolen from Eliza. “I can’t explain it right, Eliza. He was kidding, and I got that. I wasn’t offended, because I knew he didn’t mean it that way. I don’t know. Like I said, I’m not explaining it right.”

Her eyes narrowed. “If I didn’t know you better, Anabel, I’d be worried.”

Which meant she was worried. “Well, don’t be. I’m just enjoying my summer. And now I’m going to enjoy it by showering. I’ll meet you downstairs.”

It took her thirty minutes, but that was where she found her eventually, in the hall by the front door, holding a pissing match with Beckett.

“Uh, guys?”

“Go to your room, Anabel.”

“Don’t you talk to her that way,” Eliza snapped, lightly hitting her older brother’s shoulder.

“Well, someone ought to, if she thinks it’s okay to—”

“It is okay, Beckett! God, you’re her brother, not her father!”

“And you’re her legal guardian so it shouldn’t be okay!”

“Oh, my god, dude! You’re being so obnoxious!”

“And you’re being irresponsible! How are you possibly so relaxed about this?”

“Because she’s eighteen. She’s a legal adult and I refuse to stand here and be a hypocrite, telling her she can’t do something I do, that I’m sure you’ve been doing while you were away. We don’t have double standards in this house, Beckett.”

He made a face, squirming. He did not need to know about his sisters and their sex lives. Knowing about one was enough, for the love of god. And he definitely didn’t want to be discussing his own sex life with said sisters. “But she’s a kid!”

“Oh, sure. I bet you won’t be pulling this shit when Eric doesn’t come home at night because he got it in.”

He visibly flinched. “What kind of girl are you? What woman talks like that?”

“A pissed off one, you moron!”

“Then stay calm and let Anabel and I—” He groaned, exasperated. “Man, what the fuck, Anabel?”

Suddenly Eric stormed in from the living room, fists clenched, and stopped before Beckett. “Don’t yell at her, asshole.”

The dog who’d followed him whimpered, slowly crawling forward on his stomach.

“Eric, just—”

“Don’t, I mean it. Stop yelling at her.”

Eliza stepped to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and pulling him gently to the side. “Let them get it out, kid. How come you don’t come charging to the rescue when he’s yelling at me?”

He kept his eyes on them, watching as Beckett apologized to her. “You scare him; she doesn’t.”

“Huh.” Eliza rocked on her heels, pleased with the information. “Okay, then. Now scram. This is adult stuff.” She waited until he’d left, taking Toby with him, to turn on Beckett. “You just got yelled at by a kid a fraction your age. Now start acting your actual age, please.”

Anabel, recovering from surprise at Eric’s defense, stepped in. “Okay, that’s enough. My life, my decisions. We’ve all pulled stuff like this before, so let’s just get over it already, okay? Besides, weren’t you the one standing up for me at breakfast that day?”

“That was before you decided to do the walk of shame. I want to meet him.”

She glared at Beckett. “Excuse me?”

“I want to meet him. Invite him to dinner or something.”

“I’m not going to do that.”

“Anabel—”

“And that is entirely her prerogative,” Eliza interjected, crossing her arms as she thought back to Eric’s words. Honestly, best compliment ever. “Now leave her alone, Beckett. I mean it.”

“You’re crazy. All the women in this family are nuts.”

“Be that as it may.”

When he stormed away the two sisters looked at each other, shrugging. He’d get over it, eventually.

Monday afternoon, Anabel dropped onto the seat on the other side of her brother’s desk from where he sat, lightly kicking him under the table and frowning when he still refused to speak to her.

“You know, I always wonder why people in this family decide to deal with conflicts in silence rather than resolve them.” A moment later, when he still refused to speak, she kicked him again. “Hey, family outing tonight. You coming?” Still nothing. “Okay, you can explain to Eric why you didn’t come tonight, then.”

“Where are you going?”

There we go, she thought smugly, sitting back and stretching her legs out, kicking at his legs until he moved enough so she could spread out. “That Bryant Park movie thing.”

“You’re taking him to that?”

“Figured he may enjoy it. It’s about time he saw a bit of New York.”

“Don’t lose him. What time are we leaving?”

She rolled her eyes at his patronizing manner. “Four. We’ll get there around five and hopefully get decent seats.”

They didn’t, of course. The park was packed, the tables taken and the floor littered with picnic blankets.

“I guess we didn’t get here early enough,” Beckett said, just to state the obvious and annoy his sister.

“Really, smartass? Never would’ve guessed.”

Eric snickered, momentarily forgetting to complain about Anabel holding his hand. It wasn’t that bad, really. She had cool, smooth hands that weren’t sticky or sweaty or gross, but he wasn’t a baby. “I don’t get why I have to watch some dumb movie—”

“Because it’s a New York thing and you live here now.”

“But—”

“Don’t you start. Beckett, do you see any spots? Eliza should be here soon and—” She broke off when someone bumped into her, hard enough to move her a whole foot forward. Jaw set, she turned, glare already set in place.

“Shit, I’m—Oh, Anabel. I’m always doing this to you, aren’t I?”

“You really always are,” she snapped at Adam, hating when he pressed his lips together to hold back a smile. “What are you doing here?”

“Watching the movie. Where are you sitting?”

“We’re still figuring that out.”

He glanced around her, saw her holding the boy’s hand and Beckett hovering around her protectively. “Is it just you three?”

“Eliza’s on her way.”

“Why don’t you guys sit with us?”

“Oh, no, that’s—”

“Why don’t we, Anabel?” Beckett asked, recognizing him from the first night he’d come home.

“But—”

“Yeah, follow me.” He moved to Anabel, whispering, “And if there isn’t enough space, you can always sit in my lap.”

“You keep wishing, Adam,” she retorted as she started following him through the crowd. He stopped somewhere in the middle, relatively close to the front.

“You know Zoe and Chris,” he said, pointing, “and that dude’s Jack, but you probably forgot him. I usually do.” He grinned when Jack lazily flipped him the finger. “Guys, Anabel, and her brothers Beckett and Eric. They couldn’t find seats and I accidentally almost knocked Anabel over.”

“Hey!” Zoe exclaimed, jumping to her feet and hugging Anabel. “What are you doing here?”

“Family outing. What are you doing here?”

“Chris and them were going so he invited me along.”

“Oh, that’s cool. Sorry to crash like—”

“We don’t care about that,” Jack interrupted, “but please sit before people start yelling at us.”

It no longer surprised her when she ended up beside Adam, Eric on her other side, and Beckett beside him, though it did surprise her when he casually took her hand, playing with her fingers while speaking to Jack and Chris. Zoe caught her eye, raising an eyebrow, and Anabel shrugged.

“Adam,” she whispered when he glanced at her, “thanks for letting us—”

“Anabel, honestly. You don’t have to thank me.”

“Well, still. It was nice of you.”

“It wasn’t a problem. We’ll all just move over or something when Eliza gets here.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

It was thanks to his brilliant moving around idea that she ended up placed on the floor between his legs, leaning back against his chest. He watched the movie with his chin resting on the top of her head, his arms around her, holding her to him.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, thank you. Are you?”

“Sure.” It had to be the smell of her that drove him nuts. “Do you think you’ll be able to get away after? We could go get coffee, or food?”

“I doubt it. But I could try.”

“Try.” He lightly bit her ear, tightening his hold on her when she shivered against him.

“Not here.”

“No?”

“No. Not in front of…”

He kissed her temple and sat back.

She sighed, briefly entertained the idea of sneaking off with him, dismissed it, and shifted around uncomfortably. She’d been just fine until he’d started using his mouth, dammit.

“Anabel? Quit moving. Please.”

The strain in his voice had her apologizing even as she tried stifling a giggle.

He groaned in response, resting his chin on her shoulder, his five o’clock shadow rubbing the sensitive skin there.

“Anabel?” Zoe whispered, leaning forward and waiting until Anabel scooted towards her to continue whispering, in her ear this time. “The sexual tension between the two of you is driving even me crazy. I can cover for you, if you wanted to…”

Anabel laughed uncomfortably and sincerely wished she hadn’t offered. Turning it down was much harder than she would have suspected. “Not this time, thanks.” Sitting back, she leaned towards her sister. “Hey, do you think I’ll be able to get away after the movie?”

“With Beckett around? I doubt it.”

“Please, Eliza? Can’t you, I don’t know—”

“I’ll try. Just don’t get your hopes up.”

She tried not to, but it was so much harder to do when she was so wound up. Adam didn’t help any, with his sporadic kisses and nibbling. By the time the movie ended, she just wanted to go find a dark corner with him.

“That was lame,” Eric announced when the movie ended, stretching, even though it was pretty cool. But how uncool would he be if he said that? “I’m hungry.”

“Me too, man. You wanna grab a bite?” Adam asked, with enough ease to have Anabel turning to him in surprise.

“Maybe,” he answered suspiciously, eyes narrowed. “You gonna come get dinner with us?”

“Well, I was thinking we could ditch your sister—” he broke off when Anabel elbowed him, grinning innocently at her. “Oops?”

Eric smirked, wondered if he’d been wrong about the guy. But the jury was still out. “What kind of food d’you want?”

“There’s a burger joint down the block.” Oh, he’d definitely been wrong. “Great fries too, if your stomach can handle it.”

“You’re on. Ten bucks?”

“Shit, I feel bad taking money from a puny kid like yourself.”

“But you’re ugly enough that it doesn’t bother us. You’re gonna lose, kid,” Anabel said, ruffling his hair and making him sneer.

“Easiest twenty I’ll ever make.”

Beckett, a lot less angry after seeing Anabel’s boy toy interact with Anabel and Eric, still had his role to play. He kicked into gear as they walked to the burger restaurant. “So, Adam, what do you do?”

Oh, Jesus, was all Anabel could think, trying to focus on her conversation with Zoe and Adam’s friends while eavesdropping.

“I’m in a band.”

“A famous one?” Eric asked, looking up at him with wide eyes.

“We do all right. Eliza signed us.”

“Cool,” he said, shrugging. “How much further?”

“Only a block.”

“’Kay.”

Adam turned back to Beckett as Eric went to Anabel. “Sorry about that.”

“Sure. Eliza, you signed him?”

“I did.”

“Must be decent then.”

“We like to think so,” Adam responded, wondering why he felt like he was going to dinner with Anabel’s father.

“They are,” Eliza defended, wondering what she was defending—his music or her career.

“Ah. I don’t appreciate you keeping my sister out all—”

“Beckett!” Anabel screeched, breaking off mid sentence and rounding on him.

Zoe, confused, wondered what just happened, shrugging when Chris and Jack looked at her for an explanation.

“Dammit, shut up.”

“Well, he—”

“I don’t give a fuck,” she seethed, and Adam placed a hand on her shoulder, shaking his head at her.

“Go inside,” he said softly when they reached the place he had in mind. “I want to talk to Beckett for a second.”

“No, he—”

“Go inside, Anabel.” He lightly kissed her then nudged her in, smiling. “Trust me.”

She huffed but led everyone inside, fuming.

“What was that about?” Zoe asked curiously as they took their seat.

“Nothing. My brother’s just being a colossal moron.”

It had to be only a minute later that Eliza stepped in, looking just as angry as her younger sister. “Assholes sent me away too.”

“Do you think we’re supposed to stand up for the one we know?” Jack asked Chris conversationally, trying to make the girls relax. When Anabel laughed, he grinned knowingly at her.

“Probably, but I don’t want to.”

The answer had Eliza smiling. “I like these two best.”

“Hell, so do—”

Eric neatly cut Anabel off when he saw the two enter, looking much friendlier than they did before. “Do we havta wait for ’em to eat?”

“Let’s not—oh, they’re here. Next time, kid.” Anabel noticed it too, the sudden chumminess of the two, and marveled. “What was that about?” She whispered to Adam when he took a seat beside her.

“Just guy stuff. Did you order yet?”

“No, we were waiting for your stupid asses,” Jack said easily. “Dinner’s on you, douche.”

“Okay.” He turned to Eric. “Almost time to pay up, kid.”

“You wish.”

“Burger and fries for you, then? There’s still time to back out.”

“Yeah, right. I could use your money.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Come with me?” he asked Anabel, after getting everyone’s orders.

She nodded, getting up and going to the counter with him. “You’re good with Eric.”

“I have a few cousins around his age. I don’t go around calling them ugly, but they call me fat so I guess it’s kind of the same.”

She laughed as he started placing the large order, waited until he had finished to respond. “They call you fat?”

“Like every other time I speak to them. I either lost weight or I got fat. It’s always switching between those two.”

She laughed, finding the thought of the whole thing so endearing she reached up to kiss his cheek, her arm going around his waist. When he immediately put his arm around her shoulders, she stepped to his side, settled there. “Is this cousin a girl?”

“She is. How’d you know?”

“I just do. Any male cousins?”

“A few. They don’t call me fat.”

He just sounded so cute, she couldn’t help but lean up and kiss him again. “Don’t you worry, you aren’t fat at all. Just beefy.”

“Hey!” he exclaimed, eyes wide, poking her side.

She squealed and jumped, her laughter stopping when she saw the mischievous glint in his eyes. “No, seriously, don’t you dare.”

“Well, if I don’t dare…” he held her tighter when she tried edging away and mercilessly ticked her sides.

“How old are you?” she managed between fits of laughter, trying to push his hands away from her. “We’re not twelve! Stop!”

Just then, thankfully, their order was called and she used the moment of distraction to hurry back to the table, leaving him to get the food.

“Thanks for all your help, Anabel.”

“Oh, sure,” she answered, grabbing a burger when Adam put the tray down and passing it off to Eric.

“I was being sarcastic.”

“Why? I totally kept you entertained while we were waiting.”

“Oh, well, yeah, of course.” He passed an order of fries to Eric before passing everyone else their food. “How could I forget that?”

“Now, don’t be a smartass. No one likes one of those.”

He turned to stare blankly at her. “You of all people are saying this?”

“Oh, shut up.” Since he refused to pass her burger to her, she snagged his and took a bite. “This is really good.”

“That was mine.”

“Guess you should’ve given me my burger then.”

He sighed and shook his head, but sat and started on her burger.

Eric was the first to finish, though he just barely managed to get through the fries. He sat back, grabbed Beckett’s drink and took a long sip. “Done.”

Adam, who could never finish both his burger and fries, stared at him openmouthed. “Seriously?”

“Should’ve known better than to bet against the bottomless pit,” Anabel grumbled, sighing heavily. “Add that twenty to my tab, brat.”

He jerked a shoulder, grinning. “Can we get dessert?”

“Maybe. If you decide to forget about that twenty.”

“Get real.”

“Then no dessert.”

He turned to Beckett. “Yo, ice cream?”

“I’m down.”

“Don’t undermine me!” Anabel exclaimed, just barely holding back her grin.

Though Eliza wanted desperately to laugh, she wisely kept her mouth shut and eyes downcast even as everyone else at the table enjoyed the show.

“But I want dessert.”

“Fatass.”

He shrugged, eating a fry. “So?”

She scoffed, then let it go as Adam distracted her by placing his hand on her knee under the table, squeezed lightly. When she didn’t push his hand off, he tested them both by moving his hand higher up on her thigh. Upon realizing he had no intentions of stopping his journey up her leg, she grabbed his hand, squeezed it tightly. He simply laced their fingers together in response.

Eliza came through for her, which shouldn’t have surprised her.

“How did you get here?” Adam asked as he guided Anabel towards his car.

“Subway. We didn’t want to deal with traffic.”

“Ah. Smart.” He pulled out his keys, unlocked an Audi R8 GT Spyder, much to Anabel’s amazement.

“That cannot be yours.”

“And yet…”

She stood in silent awe as he held open the door for her before shaking her head and getting in, looking around while he circled the car and got in the driver’s seat. She held her breath in anticipation as he turned on the engine, pulled out into traffic.

She smiled faintly, and he saw her run a finger along the leather upholstery. “Do you ever drive with the top down?”

He glanced at her wrists, looking for a line of black and found it on her right wrist. “You may want to tie your hair up,” he said, pulling over and putting the top down.

“Oh, you didn’t have to—”

“I prefer it,” he said easily, smiling as she tied her dark locks up. He gave the end of her ponytail a light tug before placing his hand on her thigh. “You want coffee or something? Anyplace you wanna go?”

“Your place.”

He glanced at her, eyebrows raised. “The least you could do is agree to coffee first.”

“I hate you sometimes.”

“That’s what happens when you work blue.”

She couldn’t help but laugh with him, shaking her hair out of her face. “I wasn’t working blue!”

“Sure you weren’t.” He pulled onto the highway, glancing at the wide grin on her lips, her bright, excited eyes. “Having fun?”

“I don’t know how you ever drive with the top up. This is incredible!”

“I always thought so.”

“Can we turn the radio on, play some music or something?”

“You don’t need to ask. Go for it.”

She spent the rest of the ride fiddling with the stereo, singing along to songs she liked and complaining about the ones she didn’t as she changed stations. When Adam’s band came on, she smirked at him, laughing good-naturedly when he shook his head and changed the station.

He found parking down the block, and they walked into the building hand in hand. Adam greeted the doorman before following Anabel into the elevator. “You in a hurry?”

“Yeah.” She fused her lips to his, let him press her against the wall of the elevator. When the doors reopened, Adam groaned in annoyance, tugged her out. The second they were in his apartment, she jumped on him, wrapping her legs around his waist, her arms around his shoulders, and threw her head back when his lips latched themselves on her neck.

Anabel wiggled around until Adam set her down again so she could kick her shoes off while he tugged her shirt off, unbuttoned her jeans.

He pulled away, stared down at her pants. “What is wrong with these?”

She laughed breathlessly, holding onto his shoulders for support. “They’re skinnies. You kind of just… peel them off.”

He gave up for the moment, brought his lips to hers before pulling her down to the ground where they stood.

They never made it to his bedroom. Anabel grunted, shoved at Adam’s shoulder.

“Get off, you’re heavy.”

“Give me a minute.”

“Seriously, Adam. I can’t breathe. And these floors are cold.”

He groaned, managed to roll over. If he’d needed two glasses of water the last time, he needed a gallon this time.

“Thanks.”

“Yeah. You still cold? We could get off the floor.”

She laughed, inching closer to Adam, hoping to steal some of his body heat. “Yeah, I need a minute.”

“You take that minute. I’ll get you water.”

He managed to get to his feet and went to get the water while Anabel forced herself to sit up. When she did, the only thing she noticed were their clothes, thrown carelessly everywhere. One of her shoes was by the door, the other by the entrance of his kitchen. Her jeans were next to her, her shirt thrown across the room. Her bra was in the opposite corner of the room.

Adam stepped out of the kitchen, surveyed the room as he handed her the water. His shirt hung on the doorknob, his jeans on the floor by the closet, his boxers peeking out from under the sofa. Hell if he knew where his socks were. “We made quite a mess.”

“Yeah.” She handed him the empty glass, much to his amusement. “Sorry about that.”

“If I recall correctly, I was just as much at fault.” Putting the glass down, he reached for her, helped her up.

“I’ll help you clean up.”

“I’ll take care of it tomorrow.”

“Okay. Uhm, I can’t stay.”

“This again?”

“No, really. Beckett’ll throw another hissy fit if I don’t go home tonight.”

“Okay, I’ll drop you. Do you have to leave now?”

“Kind of.”

He nodded, pressing a kiss to her shoulder. “Okay, sure.”

“I’m sorry about this,” she began, redressing herself. “You know, the whole running out thing after.”

“Guess you’ll just have to make it up to me.”

She spared him a single glance. “Make it up?”

“Yeah. Go out with me on a real date one of these days.”

“Real date?”

“Are you just going to be repeating everything I say for the rest of the night?”

“Shut up.”

He laughed as he tugged on his jeans, watching as she trekked across his apartment, picking up garments of clothing and putting them on as she went. “Yes, a real date.”

She picked up his shirt off the ground and tossed it to him. “Okay, this weekend?”

“Sure. Ready?”

“Almost.” She gathered her hair in her fist and after several flicks of the wrist had her hair up in some bun type thing.

“That’s cute.”

“Thanks,” she muttered, distracted as she put on her shoes. “Ready. Are we taking the Spyder again?”

He glanced at her, wondered why he was surprised that she knew his car. “Yeah, if that’s okay with you?”

“More than. Thanks for the ride home.”

“Absolutely.”

The roads ended up being mostly empty, leaving them free to speed to Anabel’s. When he stopped in front of her house, she leaned over and kissed him on impulse, smiling.

“Thank you, really. I love the car.”

“I was hoping you would. Good night, Anabel.”

“Bye!” She quickly climbed out, waving when she reached her door before slipping inside. Seeing Will, she froze, eyes wide.

“Sh, sh, sh!” he exclaimed, placing a finger on his lips. “Please don’t scream or something. Beckett will flip if he finds out I was here.”

“What the hell are you doing snooping around like this?”

“I was about to leave. I made sure the dog was with Eric then you had to ruin my excellent sneak out.” He paused, considered. “I won’t tell him I caught you if you don’t tell him you caught me.”

She held out a hand. “Deal.”

He shook, grinning. “Thanks, Anabel.”

“Sure, now hurry up and go before we’re both busted. And you better call Eliza later.”

“Oh, I plan to,” he said easily, sneaking out.

She locked the door behind him before rushing up the stairs to Eliza’s room and barging in, finger outstretched and pointing at her. “You had sex!”

“Shut up. And so did you!”

“Yeah, but I’ve been having sex!”

“How did you even know?”

“I caught him sneaking out.”

“While you were sneaking in?”

“Maybe.” Anabel shrugged. “My turn to interrogate you. How was it?”

She stretched out the way only a satisfied woman could. “Wonderful.”

“You look good.”

“I feel better. Oh, my god, Anabel, that was like the best sex I’ve ever had.”

She leaned back against the door, grinning. “Really?”

“Seriously. Who’s the best you’ve ever had?”

She flushed and shook her head.

“Okay, fine. Just picture that, but better.”

“I can’t picture better, but I think I get the point. Are you guys, like, seeing each other now…?”

“I think so. I hope so. We didn’t really get much talking done.”

“I didn’t suspect otherwise,” she teased, catching the pillow Eliza tossed at her. “Now, now, you don’t have an excuse for bitchy behavior anymore. Guess that means you’ll have to start playing nice now.”

“Get out.”

“Not yet.” She stepped to the bed and dropped onto it by her legs, still holding the pillow. “So, what happened?”

“I got his number from Beckett’s phone—”

“Sneaky.”

“I try. And called him earlier—”

“What’d you say?”

“Nothing. I just said hi and told him my name—”

“That’s all?”

“Yeah, and he sounded all happy to hear from me—”

“So you told him to come over?”

“Of course not. I told him to meet me—”

“Outside? Did you guys finish what you started on the grass?”

“I’m not that much an exhibitionist—”

“That much.”

“Anyway, so we met up at that café you like so much—”

“That place has plenty of nooks and crannies you could—”

“We didn’t have sex in public, Anabel!”

“Oh.”

She shook her head. “Idiot. As I was saying, we met for coffee—”

“Is that what you’re calling it these days?”

“Oh, my god, would you stop doing that already?” she exclaimed in exasperation, hitting Anabel’s shoulder with another pillow.

“Doing what?” Anabel asked innocently, holding back a grin.

“You do that on purpose,” Eliza grumbled, frowning.

“Of course. Nothing gets to you quite as easily. It’s out of my system now. Continue.”

“So we met for coffee, and one thing just led to another. Then I was sneaking him up here and…” She shrugged.

“Look at you, putting out on the first date.”

“Fuck you.”

Anabel laughed, getting to her feet. “Must not have been good, if your mood’s still so—”

“You know I hate you, right?”

“Love you too. I’m gonna go shower now.”

“Of course you are, smelly. Go away.”

Anabel rolled her eyes at her sister, closing the door behind her as she let herself out. After a brief shower, Anabel stepped into her room, stopping short when she saw Eric on the floor by her bed. “Uhm, hey. What’re you doing?”

“Waiting for you. You tired?”

“I’m okay, I guess, why?”

“Wanted to talk to you.” He watched her through clouded eyes, studying her movements as she combed through her wet hair. She looked relaxed, a little sleepy. “Did you have sex with that guy?”

Anabel’s heart had never skipped a beat before but she was sure it did now as she coughed, seeming to choke on air. The hairbrush fell from her hands as she whirled to face him. “What?”

“That guy, Adam, right? Did you have sex with him?”

“How do you—what are—you’re ten!”

“I know.”

She sighed, rubbing her forehead. “Okay, come on, get up.”

“Where am I going?” he asked, getting up, poised to run.

“You’re going to sit here, next to me,” Anabel said simply, taking a seat on the edge of her bed. “Next time you wait for me, you don’t have to wait on the floor. Come on, sit.” She waited until he did, trying to gather her thoughts. She’d had the sex talk with Eliza the summer before her freshman year, and she tried to remember what her sister had told her then.

Of course, the only thing she remembered was the lack of mentioning birds and bees.

“So?” Eric asked. “Did you?”

“I—look, sex is—”

“I know what it is. I’m asking if you did it.”

She bit her lip, considered lying.

“You did, didn’t you? I can tell.”

“Honey,” she sighed, turning to face him fully, “can you tell me how you know about sex? Or what?” she clarified when he hesitated.

“It’s what you do in the dark,” he said simply, refusing to dig into the memories of whatever else he knew about it.

“Okay. Ah,” she nervously ran her hand through her hair, made herself keep her eyes on his. “Okay.”

“My mom used to do it lots,” he whispered, glancing in the mirror above her dresser, into the eyes that were pale blue around the center, like Anabel’s. “She’d look like you do, kind of sleepy and… I don’t know what to call it.”

Anabel bit her bottom lip, wondered how far to push, how to keep him talking. “She’d… while you were around?”

He shrugged. “There were a lot of guys. I’d hear stuff.” See stuff too, but he didn’t want to tell her that. Didn’t want her looking at him like the kids in his class had, like his teachers had, with pity and a little disgust that he felt in his bones.

He certainly wouldn’t tell her of the way they’d crowd into his space sometimes, touch his hair and shoulders in ways that wouldn’t be creepy if it were well intentioned.

Oh, god. Oh, god. She fought to keep herself together, to not reach over and pull him to her and hold him, to keep her eyes from closing at the images her mind drew up. “I—”

The stench of it was what he hated the most, the stench she’d wear on her all the time. “Do you have a lot of men?”

“No, Eric, I don’t. I did sleep with Adam,” Anabel admitted, going with her gut and staying honest. “But there… sex isn’t the same with—it isn’t the same for everyone. What Adam and I do isn’t like—it’s not—”

“Do you love him?”

She sighed. “No, I don’t.”

He tried to keep the disgust off his face but couldn’t quite manage it. She was the same, the same as—

“Eric, sex isn’t always the same. It’s not a way to have control or power, and it isn’t ugly. It definitely isn’t something you should know about at your age. But since you do, I—I don’t love Adam, but I feel something for him, and that’s why I—why we decided to make love.” She tried not to cringe at the term, but it was the only way she could figure out to differentiate fucking, the kind she suspected he knew, and sex, the only kind she’d been fortunate enough to know.

“Okay. Does he—is he nice to you?”

“Yes, he is.”

“I’m sorry, if I—”

“Don’t, Eric. It’s okay.”

“Are you angry?”

Her breath caught. Angry? “No, sweetie, I’m not angry. Can you—will you tell me more about your mother?”

“She was cheap and dirty.” He shrugged. “She walked around like she was all that, like in her mind she was equal to you, but you’re… I dunno, what’s that word Chris said earlier? Class?”

“Classier,” she corrected softly.

“Yeah, that.”

“How did Beckett find you?”

His eyes widened in surprise, and something pulled at the edges of her memory. “He didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

He shook his head. “I can’t. Sorry. He’ll have to tell you.”

Male solidarity. There was no getting past that, and trying would be a wasted effort. It was something she understood well. “Okay, all right.” She hesitated. “Are we okay, Eric?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. Do you want some ice cream?”

He glanced at her, eyebrows raised. “You never eat this late. Especially not ice cream.”

“I’ll make an exception, if you promise to brush your teeth before bed.”

“Deal.”

She returned his grin, placing a hand on his shoulder as they went down to the kitchen. She’d put it out of her mind for now, while she was with him. Right now, she’d just be with him. They both could use that.