Our lips meet, soft and warm and perfect. When I tilt my head, Micah follows, tentatively deepening the contact. I can feel his hands wander from my sides to my hips, one aiming for my front, wanting to make sure he’ll get there before—
Something vibrates against my leg. Micah's head snaps up. He looks at me in question, but I’m too dazed to make sense of it until he sticks his hand into the front pocket of my pants.
“Ah, and here I thought you were just that happy to see me,” he snorts, holding up my vibrating cell phone.
“Oh for…just, press it away. I'll text—”
“Yeah, just…oh shit!” He suddenly holds the cell out toward me, and I only catch a glimpse of the screen, reading my sister's name. The call is already connected.
“I…yeah? Hi?” I quickly snatch my phone against my ear. My other hand covers my mouth to stifle a laugh when I see Micah's panicked face.
He ducks his head against my shoulder, snickering.It tickles and now I'm really pressed not to start giggling.
“Hey, lil bro, sounds like you're having a good day,” Aspen says on the other end of the line. She sounds cheerful, but I immediately detect the strain in her voice. I briefly check the time on my screen, since she has two kids and another on the way, nine p.m. might be a different time to her altogether.
“Yeah, you know, college life,” I reply, chewing on my lower lip. Turning my head, I look to where Micah's chin is propped up on my shoulder, his eyes now shining with humor.
“Tell me about it,”she prompts.
“We were at the beach the other day,” I start recounting the first thing that jumps into my head. “Had a beach volleyball tournament, well, I mean, likekinda. But it was fun! I won, sorta, and uhm…yeah, it was fun.” There’s another notable thing that happened, but I bite my tongue—especially as Micah wiggles his brows. I put my hand over his face, playfully pushing him away.
“Olli, one of my roommates, found some kittens there. Someone wanted to drown them. Can you imagine?”
“That's good, that's good,” Aspen comments absentmindedly, making my brows raise.
“And then last weekend I got blackout drunk and smoked ten joints!”
“Mhm.”
“You're not even listening, Pen,” I accuse, rolling my eyes at Micah, who's biting his knuckles to keep from laughing out loud. At least someone got my joke. “Stop being polite and tell me why you're calling.”
“Ugh, I was just…” Aspen takes a deep breath. “Have you talked to Mom recently?” My sister's voice is tinny because of her poor connection. It also sounds farther away than it really is because of Micah’s mouth wandering along my neck.
“Yeah, just a few days ago.” I breathe in and out carefully to keep my voice level, then put my hand on his chest and give him a gentle but warning push.
Micah smirks.
“She asked about my classes, said Dad's doing the most again; that was it,” I recount briefly to gather my thoughts.
“She didn't say anything about the help?”
“Uh, no? Just that they had some trouble finding any this year, but that they'd be fine and not to worry.”
“Of course she said that.” My sister groans, her voice now much crisper. She must have walked to a different room with a better connection.
Now halfway to alarmed, I shake my head at Micah and stand up straighter when he pulls back, his brows drawn together. My fingers tense around my phone as I press it against my ear.
“Why, what's going on?”
Aspen sighs again, then clears her throat.
My neck prickles. I can practically see my sister puff herself up: arms crossed, brows drawn low, mouth set in a disapprovingline, head held high—claiming her right as the oldest sister to tell everyone what to do.
“It's not all fine. I've been there the entire last week, Jason too, but we can't keep doing it. I know what you're gonna say, but Mom and Dad need you, Lind.”
I blink, shake my head, then blink again.
Quickly, I cover the phone's speaker.
