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The second the pad of my thumb connected with his lower lip, his eyes shot up, awareness flaring in their depths. Shock rippled through me as I divided incredulous attention between where I’d touched his mouth and the surprise in his stare.
Oblivious, Win plunked the coffee down in front of Wes with some cream and sugar.
Clearing my throat, I finished brushing the crumbs away, saying, “You need to put something on that cut on your lip. It’s dry.”
Wes blinked, and I pulled away, going to sit on the opposite side of Win.
“So what’s everyone doing today?” Win spoke over the currents buzzing in the room, over the way my heart thudded unevenly, and as if he didn’t notice the fucking audacity I’d just had.
“You aren’t going to class, right?” He spoke again, directing the words to Wes.
“No. I was, ah, going to head back to my dorm.”
My fork clattered against my plate. The food sitting in front of me suddenly lost all appeal.
“You can spend the day with me instead,” Win declared.
“Can we play video games?” Wes asked.
“As long as it doesn’t make your head hurt.”
My stool scraped the tiles when I stood. “I, ah… have class.”
“You’re going?” Win seemed surprised.
“I have a test. I was gonna miss it, but since you’re home, I might as well just take it so I don’t have to schedule a makeup.”
I felt Wes’s attention, but I didn’t look at him. I couldn’t.
“Dinner later?” Win asked.
“I’m not sure.” I hedged.
“Seriously? I haven’t been home since the end of the summer, and Wes has a head injury,” Win bitched.
I sighed. “Yeah. Dinner.”
“Good. You can pay.” He decided. “I want Chinese.”
What an asshole. “If I’m paying, we’re getting tacos.”
He sniffed. “Wes?”
“Why do you two always put me in the middle?” he whined.
I couldn’t help it. I smiled. It was just like old times.
“Choose,” Win intoned.
Wes sighed dramatically. He glanced at me, then quickly away. All the fond amusement I had of this stupid game faded away as though it never existed at all.
Usually, Wes sided with me. When we were little, he did it just to stick it to Win. Then later, I suspected he did it because he somehow knew it made me feel like I belonged. As years passed, it became a running family joke that Wes was soft for his big brother.
But not this time. Not today. The past was gone, and what I did last night altered the present and everything beyond it. I knew it was coming. I braced myself for it.
“Just get both,” he muttered.
The words were like a punch right to my chest. It took a minute to find my breath, and when I did, the oxygen brought clarity.
