Chapter Twenty-Eight
Colin “Where the fuck did you take her last night?” I asked Keith when he came home later that day. “She caught me here when she came home early, and I had no idea what she was talking about.”
“I took her to the club. That club.” His grin told me all I needed to know about which club he’d taken Celia to last night. Well, that and what she’d said. I’d suspected it was the club, but I wanted to be sure and couldn’t exactly ask her, now could I?
“You need to tell us this stuff, Keith. It’s my day today, I needed to know what you did last night. Luckily, she kind of told me herself but if she hadn’t, I would have been clueless. Then she’d have figured out something was wrong.”
“Relax, Colin, I was going to tell you, I just didn’t have time to yet. By the way, she’s into it if you were wondering.” He had that smirk on his face, the one that made me want to punch him sometimes but this was good news. It meant we could tell her our secret when we were ready and maybe she wouldn’t freak out so much.
“The guilt is starting to get to me, Keith. I haven’t felt this before.” Grant came in then and sat down at the small table.
“It’s getting to you too, huh?” he asked and looked at us with an exhausted face. His gray eyes, so like mine and Keith’s, were dark and troubled. “I feel like shit, but it’s more than just a cold. She deserves better than to be lied to so much.”
“I agree. But how do we tell her, and when?” Colin asked and I leaned back against the fridge, not sure about the when part.
“I think we’ll just have to sit her down and explain it to her. Once she’s calmed down from the fact that there are three of us, then she’ll listen.” I said, but still, there was no idea of when even though we all wanted to tell her, I knew that we wanted to avoid it too. This little nugget of truth might send her running away.
“But when? When do we tell her?” Grant asked just as a sneeze exploded from him. Keith handed him a napkin and I waited to make sure he was done before I spoke again. I had a plan I hadn’t told either of them about.
“I’m surprised that she hasn’t found out already. Thank goodness for her not having any friends. I mean if she did, then she would know by now for sure,” I said relieved about the fact that we’ve lied to Celia this long and managed to get away with it. As if it was something to be proud of. “Halloween. I think we tell her then. We’ll all rent the same costume, take her out and when we come home, we reveal the truth.”
“That’s not too far away. You sure about this?” Keith asked, and that’s when I pulled the paper out of the pocket of the jeans I’d changed into once Celia left. “Yes, I’ve already rented the costumes for us.”
The paper was a receipt for three pirate costumes, the only things left in the store that would fit us all.
“Argh, ahoy matey!” Keith growled when he saw what I’d rented.
“No, seriously? Fucking pirates? Fucking hell. My head hurt already and that makes it worse.”
“Take some medicine and go back to bed,” I told him and picked the paper back up. “Don’t let her hear you coughing and sneezing either. In fact, you may need to go up to the third floor until you’re over that shit.”
“You’re right, even if that is a long climb. I’ll move some stuff and fill the fridge up there. Make it a little homier.”
“I’ll help you,” Keith volunteered, and I had to smile. There was nothing like a little brotherly cooperation, and Celia had inspired us all.
“That’s sweet, dude. Or are you just trying to get him out of the way faster?” I laughed at his face and patted his shoulder. “I’m only teasing, man. Let’s get him situated.”
We worked fast and by the time Celia got home, there was no sign of Grant at all on the first two floors. He was on the other side of the house too, so she wouldn’t hear his footsteps. It was my night, so I had dinner ready for her when she walked in, tired from walking so much today. And our little tryst earlier, I had to guess.
“Hi, babe. Glad you’re home.” I took her into my arms and gave her a bear hug. She sank into me and moaned with relief.
“Thank goodness the day is over.” She put her hand on my chest, pushed away to kiss me, then went to sit in a chair.
“Bad was it?” I filled her plate with spaghetti and sauce and then did my own. I went back for garlic bread and then sat down.
She poured red wine from the bottle into two glasses and took a sip. Wow, she must have had a rough day.
“Just long.” She didn’t touch her food, just sipped at the wine that she technically wasn’t supposed to have. It was my house, though, and if she wanted wine, I’d give it to her.
“Well, eat and then you can have a long bath and I’ll give you a massage to work some of those aches away.”
“That sounds like heaven. I think I’m coming down with a cold, too.” She sniffled to prove her point and I wondered if she had the same thing as Grant. Probably, I thought with a silent chuckle.
She was tired, so I left her to read a book in the bath and cleaned up. When she came out, we watched a movie in bed. Before the movie had even finished, she was asleep curled up on my chest.
I was certain I wanted this to last and even more certain that I might even fall in love with this girl. Or maybe I already had. She was smart, funny, and so vulnerable, but at the same time, she had a strength that so many people lacked in the world today. She would survive almost anything I was confident because she had a will to persevere and reach her goals. Nothing could get in the way of that.
I just hoped that when we finally revealed our secret that we didn’t break her too much. I expected shock, anger, maybe even disgust, but I knew her and knew that what she felt for us, all of us, was real. She adored each of us for a different reason and when she added those things up, it made us perfect. I just hope she realized that when the time was at hand. She needed all of us, not just one of us.