His gaze drifts to me, then he self-consciously drops his hands, which makes me feel like an asshole. Not a feeling I’m used to.
I want to apologize, but I don’t know exactly what for.Sorry for thinking that an amazing girl I don’t have any claim over liked you over me?My apology should be that I made him feel guilty in the first place…or that he doesn’t have a right to love her like I do. Experience, and if I’m honest, heaping amounts of insecurity, keep my mouth shut, because really, if a girl has a choice, why would she choose me? With how low I feel at this moment, I half expect to see one of the doors open with a blinding light. Fortunately, the door decides to mind its own damn business.
Unaware of my spectacular mood swings, Callie sighs as she stares up at the ceiling. “No. It’s fine. I’d rather you laughed than feel sorry for me.” She turns her head to give Nolan a hard look. “If you ever pity me, I will punch you. Donovan taught me how.”
“When did you become so violent?” he scolds, tsking and shaking his head with a smirk pulling at his lips. “You’re spending way too much time with D.” He then gives me a conspiring wink before lamenting, “Well, she did insist. Come on Felix, our warrior witch has decreed she’s going upstairs.”
“Warrior?” is all Callie manages to utter before Nolan dips down and lifts her up over his shoulder, her upper body hanging down his back. As he treks in exaggerated steps toward the staircase, through fits of giggles she complains, “This wasn’t what I meant! I can do it by myself!”
“What?” he shouts like we’re among a noisy crowd instead of in a silent room. “This is exactly what I meant? Nolan can do it?”
“That’s what I heard,” I add, grinning at Callie as she smacks Nolan’s back, and follow them up the stairs.
“You’re both ridiculous!” she says with a huff, but she’s laughing instead of white-knuckling the banister, so as far as I’m concerned, Nolan’s tactic worked.
“We’re both fantastic?” Nolan echoes incorrectly, while dropping her on the bed with a bounce. “That’s nice of you to say. Isn’t that nice?”
“Very nice,” I answer, playing along as I settle myself on the other side of the bed.
She throws her hands up in the air and laughs. “Fine, fine. Be weird. I vote ‘not it’ for deciding the movie. You two choose while I change into PJs.”
“Callie is way behind on her superhero flicks,” I declare, while actively trying not to think about her changing in Nolan’s bathroom only ten feet away. One thing I will miss about being a ghost—no embarrassing hard-ons.
“Marvel movie playlist?” Nolan suggests, flicking through menus on his giant eighty inch TV.
“Always good to start with the classics,” I agree when the firstIron Manpops up on the screen.
He nods, pauses the movie, and then places the remote on the nightstand before heading into his huge closet, closing the door behind him.
Because why the hell not, I also change my clothes to pajamas, and Callie laughs when she walks out dressed in her red flannel pants and matching thermal shirt. I’m wearing golden yellow pants that have mini Iron Mans flying around with a black shirt showcasing a bright blue reactor core, matching the one in Tony Stark’s chest.
“You know,” she says as she crawls over the bed, climbing under the covers next to me. “This is technically my first birthday sleepover.”
“Callie,” I groan. “You need to tell us these things beforehand, so we can make your firsts special.”
Realizing what I just said, I slap a hand over my mouth and nearly fall through the bed.I did not just use the word ‘we’ when talking about Callie’s ‘firsts.’ I did not just casually talk about Callie’s firsts.
Fortunately, she’s oblivious to what other ‘firsts’ I could possibly be talking about, merely whining, “Sorry. I didn’t think it was a big deal.”
Yeah, that phrasing is not helping.
Nolan is also not helping when he returns in nothing but a pair of black pajama bottoms and teases, “Everyone knows how important your first time...s are.”
Evil. My friend is made up of pure evil.
“Well, I didn’t,” she grumbles, leaning back against the maroon pillows with her arms crossed over her chest. “It’s not like it was going to be the first time we all slept together.”
“Callie, if I wasn’t already dead, you’d be killing me here,” I mutter, not realizing I said it out loud until she groans and covers her face by pulling the blanket up over her head.
“You know what I meant,” she mumbles, her words muffled by the comforter.
Nolan howls with laughter, holding his middle and gasping for breath.
“You’re both horrible people,” she complains, burrowing further under the blankets. “I don’t know why I hang out with you.”
“Alicia’s cooking,” I offer up, chuckling at the pouting lump next to me.
Callie’s head pops out from the covers, and in mock outrage, she shouts, “That’s why you invited me over that first day! You plied me with her delicious foods so I would stay.”
