2B or Not 2B (Roomies Series) (15 page)

"Cover me for a whole night with the parents
, and tell me I'm right to want to lose my virginity with a guy I love." All pretenses were forgotten suddenly, and she let me see her vulnerability. Losing your virginity is not like ordering a coffee. Losing your virginity for a girl is losing a part of yourself that you could never have back. She was going to discover a new side of herself, and she was going to let in someone else with the power to awaken it. It was frightening no matter the amount of preparation beforehand.

I really looked at Sydney and saw everything that I was afraid of ever seeing in her. I would never be the one to push her away
, and if she was really in love and trusted the younger Davis, then I would be there for her. I took a deep breath, ignored my chest constricting, and steeled my resolve.

"It'll be hard for the parents, but if you think he's special enough to give him something so important, then go for it. But don't forget to be on the pill and use a condom."

She squealed, showing me at this moment how young she was, and hugged me so tightly that I could barely breathe. "Thank you, London. You're the best big sister anybody could ever dream of. And don't worry, I'm already on the pill."

"Since when?"

"It's to help me with my periods. It's always wonky, so last year mom took me to her ob-gyn and put me on the pill." She fished her cell phone from her bag and kissed me on the cheek. "I have to go. Melissa's here."

And before I could say another word, she ran out, startling both Byron and Eliott in the living room as they were still working the list of whom to invite. They watched her fast retreat before their gaze went back to me.

I narrowed my eyes on my roommate and pointed at him. "Your punk of a little brother is dating my sister!"

Byron's blue eyes bugged out. "What?"

"And my sister asked me to cover for her with our parents to have sex with him!" My voice was getting louder as my scowl wrinkled up my face. I'll be wrinkled way too young.

"Are you shitting me?" His grumble of a voice rumbled throughout our place. He wasn't thrilled either
, and he didn't look like he knew about his little brother's love and sex life. Though, it still felt weird to think that my little sister was about to sleep with the brother of a guy I had crazy hot sex with. And that made me ill.

"When did they meet?" Eliott asked me, knowing full well that Byron wouldn't be of any use now that he was
angrily muttering something about "keeping it in his pants" and other things.

I calmed down
, walked to the couch and sat next to Eliott. "A few weeks ago. Sydney was here for a book, and Logan came early for the family dinner." I thought back to that day and looked over Eliott's shoulders at Byron. "I hope he's genuine with her, or he's going to be sorry he ever met the Reed sisters."

Byron nodded, grabbed his cell phone
, and dialed a number. Eliott and I exchanged a look, questions unvoiced hanging between us.

"Are you really dating Bridge's little sister?" Byron's voice snapped without a hi or anything remotely polite.

Eliott put a hand on my knee and squeezed softly. I glanced at him, and he nodded his head at his best friend. If he wanted me to calm Lord down, he could wait. We weren't even on speaking terms!

"I don't fucking care if you're in love or some other shit, Logan. Are you still enrolling?" His voice was frighteningly cold. All his body was wrung tight, ready to explode. His muscles were playing on his arms as his left hand was forming a tight fist and the other one was holding
the cell phone so hard that his knuckles were turning white. "Then don't date her!" he yelled and hung up before throwing his cell on the coffee table. He put so much strength in it that it skipped over the surface and landed on the floor.

"I'm going to break his neck."

Eliott tapped him on his broad back and chuckled, gleaning him a dark look from Byron. "Calm down, Davis."

"I'm not even surprised that the little brother is
like you and just wants to have some sex,’’ I said somberly. I stood up and started walking to the kitchen when a hand on my shoulders stopped me.

I turned around and faced an angry Byron whose eyes were
burning silver. "He's not like me, Bridge. He's the soft side of me, just like your little sister is your soft side." His low voice hit me to my core, making me shiver.

"It has nothing to do with us, Byron."

"No? Then why are you always looking at me with so much disgust these days? Why are you so mad that your sister is going to have sex with my brother?"

"I would be mad no matter whom she t
old me she's in love with and is planning to have sex with." I looked him up and down and lost myself in the ridges of his muscles, in his deathly looking scar that gave him so much sex appeal for some reason. I lost myself in his eyes, those eyes of a blue so penetrating, laced with molten silver that made me weak in the knees. And yet, he was the guy who slept with me then with another woman a few days later without any care in the world. "You're just my roommate. I don't even know who you are."

I turned around and went back to my room. They could make their list alone for the party.

"You know more than most," he whispered to my back, letting me be the only one to hear him. Even Eliott couldn't have been able to hear that.

I had to fight everything in me to not turn around. I held on and walked back to my room. My heart was in a frenzy in my chest
, and my breathing was louder than what was acceptable. Byron was messing with me, and I wasn't sure if I hated it or loved it. And in the meantime, my little sister was planning to have sex with Logan. Why was the Davis charm working so much on us Reed girls?

Chapter Seventeen

DAY 45

"No, Mom, I'm not inviting Syd to stay for her to party and drink with older guys," I sighed in the phone. Though, I was covering for her to lose her virginity
, which I didn't think that was much better. I couldn't shake the uneasiness of this fucked up plan, but I've always been the one to whom Sydney turned to. I wouldn't back out now and play the no fun big sis' act. I was too young for that.

"Don't talk to me that way, London," she admonished me sternly. In the background I could hear noises like someone was moving plates and bumping them together. When my mother was having people over for di
nner, it was well known in our household to go hide, and come back down at the very last second, or else hell would be a nice place in comparison. She'd welcome the president, and it wouldn't be worse. Or maybe it would be. I shuddered.

"Talk how?" I asked distractedly, thinking about ways my mom could kill me and make it look like an accident if she ever discovered that I played a big part in Sydney's virginity gone
missing. With some luck that day wouldn't come before Syd was happily married, and then, maybe, it wouldn't matter anymore.

"Like I'm an idiot." She sighed in the phone
, and it made a weird robotic sound down the line. "I'm your mother, and I know Sydney. She's not like you, and I don't want her to—“

"To be like me?" I bit back, stopping her before she could go farther and hurt me for good. She always saw me like some devil's spawn, like the reckless girl that would end up knocked up before she could even afford her own rent. And it hurt. Despite my bravado, it hurt to have proofs that your own mother had little respect and trust in you. I knew she loved me with all her heart, but sometimes love wasn't enough.

"I was about to say that I don't want her to try to prove something just because she thinks she's old enough now. She's still a baby."

I chuckled and shook my head. A baby about to have sex. "She's a teenager, not a baby, but I get your point, Mom. You can come and get her tomorrow morning early if it makes you feel better."

She clacked her tongue on the roof of her mouth, just like every time she's frustrated, which was whenever someone wasn't doing something she wanted them to do. In other words, she made this sound every day, at least ten times a day.

"I'll be there by eight. I hope she won't be h
ungover, London, or I swear to God that—“

"You'll tell Dad
, which would do nothing, because contrary to you, he doesn't judge everything I do or say."

"Your Dad still sees you as his little girl
, running naked in the house with her pigtails flying away in her wake."

I couldn't stomach this picture. I gagged in the phone, but managed to hide it by clearing my throat. "Sydney should be here any minute."

"So don't make her drink and keep an eye on her."

"We'll go see a movie
. I'll hydrate my sister with water, or if we dare to do so, she'll have a Pepsi."

"I hate it when you use sarcasm. We raised you better," she said with mild annoyance
, tainted by a resignation imposed after years of trying to model me like the perfect boring daughter she had dreamed of.

"You and Dad raised me to be able to use these amazing things called brain cells. That's what I'm doing."

She mumbled something and hung up. I finally took a really deep breath. These dumb things we do for family. Or a guy. I ran a hand in my pixie cut hair and left my room. Everything wasn't all a lie. After all, I was really expecting Sydney at any moment. Her friend Melissa was driving her here, and then Logan would pick her up to go to some hotel.

"Uh
…" I moaned walking into the living room, morphing into a perfect picture of a college keg party with the couch pushed against one wall, the TV locked in Byron's room, the plastic cups piled on the coffee table and the kitchen counter with three big bags of ice.

Eliott and Byron glanced up before putting down the big keg of cheap beer in the far corner of the living room. Byron hadn’t been
home much the last few days, and I didn't know if it was because of a girl―or several girls―but it made me uneasy to be alone here. After all, this place wasn't mine. I was just renting a room. He turned around and took care of the keg, ignoring me.

Eliott walked to me, his easy-going smile never leaving his face. "What's going on?" he asked me with his low voice that could be perfect on air in a radio station. Girls would dig it big time. I did too, even if I preferred a certain gruffly, grumbling voice that I should hate above everything.

"I was on the phone with my mother. I can't believe I lied to her to let my sister have sex with Logan. It's like I'm stuck in a weird world, not spinning at all."

He gave me a side hug with one big arm before he grabbed two big bags of ice and walked back to my roommate. "Logan is a good kid
, and we all lied to our parents as teenagers if it was to get some action."

I started opening the bags of chips, cookies and other stuff I didn't pay any attention to.
"My sister is supposed to be the innocent one, the good girl. And she's too young," I replied stubbornly like a petulant child. I never thought it would bother me so much the day she'd have sex.

"How old were you your first time?" Byron asked me, looking straight at me. His blue eyes froze me just before I poured the cookies into a big green bowl. His voice wasn't one you would expect in such a laid-back talk. His voice was tensed and cold. He was challenging me
, and I didn't know what to do.

"Fifteen," I mumbled before looking away as Eliott's eyebrows shot upward. Byron wasn't surprised one bit. After all, if there was one who knew how brazen I could be, it was him. In fact, he was the only one
, knowing fully how brazen I could be. With Ryan, I was just trying to please him, forgetting my own needs. With Byron … no, I shouldn't even go there. Dangerous territory with red flags everywhere.

Byron snorted and got busy again with the keg, turning his back to me. Before I could lash out because of his poor attitude
―who was he kidding? He was the one sleeping around―soft knocks at the door distracted me. My heart hammered in my chest just as if I was the one about to do naughty things for the first time.

I scowled one last
time at Byron's back and walked to the door with a chuckling Eliott getting cursed at by my lovely roommate. I opened the door and faced Sydney making goggly eyes with Logan, who looked as taken as she was. At least, this bit of proof untangled one of many knots in my belly. That was strange, seeing a little replica―softer looking―of my roomy being so whipped. Both of them were in their own bubble, not even talking. They were horribly cute, and that was too much for me. I cleared my throat and startled them both. Sydney's cheeks turned red, and Logan game me a cute embarrassed smile and a dimple appeared. I heard Sydney sigh as I rolled my eyes. She was even worse than I thought.

He brought a hand to her hip and pulled her against him, tightly so. For the first time since Sydney was born, I was jealous of her
, not about her good looks, her figure or her relationship per se. I was jealous because she had something I never had; someone who cared about her and protected her, not as a family or best friend would do, but like a lover would. And she had the little touches that I used to crave when I was seeing Ryan. I never had those.

"I thought Melissa would drop you
off," I said evenly, all warmth slowly deserting me. I moved aside to let them in, and they exchanged a long look that told me everything; they wanted to be alone as soon as possible. Walking in the apartment wasn't in their plan.

"She did and Logan was already waiting for me in the parking lot," she beamed at me, looking more happy and buoyant than I'd ever seen her
. It frightened me. She was far more gone than I thought, and the heartbreak was going to be awful when Logan enrolled in the army. I broke into a sweat and mustered a poor excuse of a smile for them.

"Logan," Byron called from the inside
. The younger Davis lost his smile, and his dimple disappeared. Even his easy and relaxed stance vanished. "Inside. Now."

I made a face and walked back inside with the
lovebirds on my heels. Eliott bumped Logan's shoulder, and he took Sydney's hand to shake it, his amused smile making her blush again. We all knew what they had planned. She didn’t like that the guys knew, but it was the price to pay if she wanted me to play along. Though, I wasn't about to let Byron ruin their night by being his asshole self. What a mess.

The brothers faced each other
while Sydney stood next to me, her hands finding mine and clasping them. I smiled at her reassuringly even though I had no idea at all if Byron would be calm. With him, I could never know and Eliott either. He was keeping an eye on him while sorting out a way to keep the keg cold.

"What do you want?" Logan asked, looking at his big brother in the eyes, not caring one bit about how short
a fuse he had or how big he looked. Either he was dumb or brave. Maybe a little of both.

Byron kn
eaded his neck, probably to ease the tension. Sydney's hand squeezed mine some more, shaking slightly. Eliott's movements stopped, and we all waited for his next move or words.

"I told you not to go after her." His jaw ticked, but he managed to sound quite in control.

"You don't understand."

"That's right. I don't understand how you could put someone in this position
, knowing you'll leave in a few months," he bit back harshly. His frown deepened, his fists closed tightly, and he took a step closer to his brother.

Logan met him half way, not ready to back down. "You don't understand because you've never been in love."

Byron narrowed his eyes on him before he lifted them to me for just a blink of an eye, but enough to make me suck in my breath. I felt my stomach flutter, and I scrunched up my nose at my body’s response to him. I was acting like an idiot all over again.

"Stop it. Both of you," I interrupted, pulling away from Sydney
, and waved at

Logan to come get his girl. "You should go before I change my mind. And Logan, bring Syd back by seven. Our mother won't wait past eight to come get her."

He nodded at me and tried to smile, but it wasn't that convincing. Their perfect night wasn't starting that perfectly. I turned back to Byron whose breathing was loud and too fast to be normal. He was barely able to stay calm.

I opened the door and let them leave without showing Sydney how difficult it was for me to not grab her and lock her in my bedroom for the rest of her life. Though, I prided myself to be more realistic and down to earth. Sometimes.

She smiled at me and mouthed "thank you". At least at the moment I was doing the right thing, but it didn't mean that it would still be the right thing down the road.

Byron went back to his room and closed the door loudly, just like whenever he was frustrated or mad. I shrugged
, and Eliott and I finished working in silence.

* * *

DAY 45

I'm not going to make it, Baby. I'm with Ty for a hot study session. M xo

I couldn't believe it! Macon texted me to tell me he wouldn't be here tonight. And it was because he was with the guy he claimed was the right one. He was studying with him, or studying him if everything went according to his plan. I was still dumbstruck by this. I couldn't remember a time when he didn't go to a party if he was invited or if he heard about it. That only meant one thing; he was truly serious about this guy, and I couldn't wait to meet him.

In the meantime, I didn't have my wingman with me
, and I was getting bored very fast. I gulped another solo cup of beer somberly, feeling more and more sorry for myself. My sister was in love and happy with her boyfriend, and my best friend was working toward this end while I was still sulking and thinking about the amazing sex I had with my roommate, ruining our building friendship.

I glanced around the packed living room and saw Byron at one of the windows
. He was looking outside without paying attention to the girls trying to catch his eyes by almost stripping from their already skimpy clothes. Eliott wasn't far, but he was talking to guys and laughing loudly.

I walked to the keg, refilled my third cup and didn't think twice before going up to Byron. Maybe I should talk with him about our siblings. Thinking about them made me nauseous, but above everything, I was worried sick. And
second-guessing myself.

"Don't you feel weirded out know
ing our siblings are probably going at it right now?" I said as soon as I was leaning against the wall next to his shoulder.

He choked on his beer and shook his head at me, his frown never easing out. "I really don't want to think about my brother taking away your sister's virginity. It's too disturbing." He made a disgusted face and traced his scar with his pointer finger.

"I never thought we would have both slept with guys in the same family." What was that? Sometimes missing filters when talking wasn't that great.