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Silas grinned, walking around to the kitchen again and coming back with two sodas and a water bottle. He passed one of the sodas to his father. Silas tried to walk around me to sit on the side further from his father, but I moved over, patting the spot on my left. He took the spot and I breathed a sigh, relieved. He felt like a shield. Not that I thought his father would do anything. He seemed nice and fun, but it was a little overwhelming. I thought maybe it was my stepmother’s influence. I couldn’t erase years of paranoid whispers overnight.

I opened the water bottle, taking a gulp as Silas opened four of the food containers. My stomach started to growl smelling warm meats and a mix of spices I wasn’t familiar with. My eyes widened as Silas prepped the four containers in front of us.

“I wasn’t sure what you’d like,” he said. “So I tried to get a little of everything.”

“You haven’t taken her out for Greek food yet?” Charlie asked between bites.

“I just got her some here,” Silas said, sounding agitated.

Charlie looked to me. “Where’s he been taking you?”

“Uh...” I said, unsure how to respond. “Well, we’ve been to the mall, swimming...mostly he comes to my house.”

Silas shot me a look I didn’t understand. Well that’s what you get when you let me answer the questions, dum-dum.

“He’s met your parents already?” Charlie asked, sounding impressed.

“Y...yes,” I said quietly.

Silas grunted, opening his soda.

Charlie laughed. “Going kind of fast with this one, aren’t you Silas? When were you going to tell me she was your girlfriend?”

Silas rolled his eyes and then focused on me, pointing out the different dishes in front of us. “There’s gyros, shawarma, moussaka, kibbi...” he said. “Try some. Tell me what you like.”

I bit my lip, leaning forward and feeling awkward, but speared a piece of gyro with a fork and ate it. A blend of onion and garlic melted with the meat in my mouth. It was heavenly. When I swallowed, I asked, “What’s a gyro?”

“Lamb,” Silas said, forking his own piece and eating it.

I swallowed again, my eyes wide. Baby sheep? Why not full grown sheep? Why sheep?

Silas smirked. “Good?”

I nodded. I couldn’t lie. It was great. I pushed the idea of baby sheep out of my mind. “What’s shawarma?” I asked, spearing a piece but holding it before he told me it was kitten or puppy.

“Chicken,” he said.

I ate it. It was good, different, but I liked the gyro better, which I hated to admit.

Silas remained patient with me, explaining the different foods and what was in them. After every new bite, his eyes remained on me, as if trying to figure out which were my favorites based on my facial expressions. In the end, I knew gyros were my favorite, and there was a delicious cream sauce that went with it that I liked.

After I ate, I curled up against Silas, my arms around my stomach as I felt too full to move. Charlie found a sports channel and watched the news recap of events of the day and talking about the upcoming games. The lull of people talking along with Silas’s warmth caused me to start to nod off. To wake myself up, I sat up and stretched, but a yawn escaped me.

Silas grinned at me. “That sounds like a plan.”

“She’s sleeping here?” Charlie asked.

My eyes bugged out at Silas. He didn’t know? That made sense, I supposed, considering he seemed surprised earlier to see me at all. I wasn’t going to let him make me answer this one.

“Yup,” Silas said, ignoring me and squaring off with Charlie. “Problem?”

I held my breath.

Charlie didn’t answer, but he grinned in a way that sent a chill through my spine.

“Shut up,” Silas said, starting to pick up leftover containers. I got up to help, wanting to be useful and also not wanting to be alone with Charlie anymore. He was sweet but that knowing grin made my heart go into full panic. I couldn’t think. This wasn’t normal for a lot of parents, and I shoved a hand over my cheeks, pretending to rub it while hiding my blushing.

I rushed behind Silas into the kitchen where he stuffed the leftovers into the fridge, already packed with other takeout containers.

“You cook awesome,” I said.

Silas smirked at me, closing the fridge and poking me in the stomach. “Get your ass moving.”

I laughed.

He nudged me toward the second hallway and to his bedroom. My heart tripped over itself at this. His dad knew I was there, and was okay with me sleeping there...and in his room. That alone was scary.

As we approached his bedroom, a door further down the dark hallway opened. Out stepped a figure, a skinny, tall shadow that I could tell was male. The thin veil of smoke I’d smelled earlier increased a hundredfold now. I swallowed to keep myself from coughing.

Silas stiffened behind me, and stared down the figure in the doorway. I looked at him, trying to spot details, but it was too dark. The person stepped backward into his room again, closing the door.

“Silas,” I whispered.

“Forget it,” he said, opening his bedroom door for me.

“But who was it?” I asked, stepping in the room and turning around to look at him.

“My brother,” Silas said.

My eyes widened. “Oh.” Was he home the whole time? “Is he hungry? Should we tell him there’s leftovers?”

“He’ll eat if he wants,” Silas said. He huffed, but shook it off, smiling at me. “Don’t worry about him. He’s a big boy. He can take care of himself.”

I pursed my lips, following his lead, but wondering why his brother didn’t greet Silas or come out. Was he shy?

And why did it feel like Silas didn’t want me to know about him?

Boyfriends and Girlfriends

Silas found a large cotton baseball jersey for me to sleep in. I changed in the bathroom up the hallway, taking my time to brush my teeth and wash my face. Sleeping in Silas’s room had my insides rattling again. This was no longer a tease on the couch. This was something more. Intimate. This was something Charlie grinned about and might cause North to watch, wanting to hit the emergency button.

As it was, I was wearing just the shirt he gave me, and a pair of dark blue satin panties. The only comfortable shorts I had to sleep in were still wet. The jersey covered me enough that it would have covered shorts anyway. It looked like I wasn’t wearing any, but looking like I wasn’t wearing shorts and actually not wearing them were two very different things.

I peeked out of the bath

room, wanting to avoid colliding with Charlie or Silas’s brother. I tiptoed barefoot to Silas’s room, slipping inside and quickly shutting the door behind me.

Silas was still dressed. The room was cleaned up a little, our phones sitting on the nightstand together. He was fixing the bed, straightening the blanket on top. He turned when I dropped the book bag by the door. His eyes slipped over me in the shirt. He paused in his movements and his lips parted.

My cheeks heated up, and I pressed my thighs together where I stood.

He straightened, pointing to the bed. “Hop in.”

My heart was thumping so hard, I could have fallen over. I shuffled across the floor until I was near the bed. I double-checked with him, and he jerked his head toward the pillows: a second one had been added. I climbed on, knee walking over until I was on one side. I took the side furthest from the door, holding the blanket away and slipping in underneath.

As I got in, the shirt I was wearing slid up my hips. I threw the blanket over myself at the same time for some cover, bringing it up over my shoulder and settling in. When I put my head down, I forgot I was wearing the hair clip, so I sat up and took it out. I shook my head to let my hair fall over my shoulders, leaning over to put the clip on the nightstand.

Silas watched me the entire time like he was waiting for me to settle. I did, eventually, put my head to the pillow and waited. He moved to his bedroom door, throwing the lock and hitting the light switch by the door, casting us into the dark.

There was a glow from a streetlight outside shining into the room, acting like a dull night light and letting me adjust my sight quickly. Silas approached the bed, yanked his shirt up over his body and tossed it to the floor.

And then he turned slightly away from me and slowly stripped off his jeans.

My heart tripped over itself. It was dark, so I mostly got outlines, but I was wondering why he turned away like he did.

Silas in his boxers. I shouldn’t have been too intimidated. I’d seen Nathan and slept in the bed next to him while he wore only boxers. Silas did the same, but the other boys had been around. Right now, though, this was his bedroom, and we were alone.

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