I brush my teeth and get ready for bed.
Harper and Luca have been in their bedroom with Zeke for the past hour. He’s crashing with them tonight.
Every so often, I hear him startle awake, screaming, and then he’s lulled back to sleep.
I climb under the covers and text Bristol.
You awake?
She immediately video calls me, and I answer right away.
“Hey, trouble. How’s the storm by you?” Bristol asks in a flirty tone.
I smile, not hating her new little nickname for me. It doesn’t come anywhere close to the one that I gave her, firebreather, but it’s cute that she’s trying.
“Still going strong.” Thunder rumbles in the distance.
For a few minutes, the storm slowed down long enough for Moreno to lug the suitcase to their SUV. I wasn’t sure it would ever stop raining tonight or that they’d leave.
It’s nearly midnight, but I’m not that tired; considering what happened tonight, it shouldn’t be a huge surprise.
Every night, before bed, Bristol and I have been talking, catching one another up on our days and saying goodnight.
It’s a definite change of pace from the cruel banter that I’m accustomed to with her.
“How was your day?” I ask, settling down on my pillow, making myself comfortable. I fight back a yawn.
“Boring. Nothing overly interesting here. What about you? How was hockey practice?”
“Practice was good, but you know how much I prefer the real thing.”
Bristol snorts with laughter. “Are you talking about hockey or sex?”
The two of us still haven’t hooked up yet. The last time I saw her was a couple of days ago, when she spent the weekend with me on campus.
It’s beginning to feel like a lifetime ago.
Dare I say I actually miss her.
Fuck, I’m falling fast.
“Am I going to see you this weekend?” Bristol quips before I even have time to answer her previous question.
“I would like that. I’ve been thinking about our first date.”
“You mean when you forced me to go to the emergency room? Can we not do that again, Liam?”
A smile plays on my lips while I stare at her through the phone.
Her annoyance is sexy as hell, but I agree, I don’t like seeing her sick. “That wasn’t a real date, Bristol. That was me taking care of you because you wouldn’t take care of yourself.”
Her bottom lip juts out in a pout, and she glares at me. “I’m hanging up now?—”
“Wait.” I stop her from ending the call on a bad note.
Bristol glares at me, one eyebrow raised higher as she waits for me to say something.
“Sushi, Italian, Thai—what kind of food do you like?”
