AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Twenty Nine
*****
Nate
The mud was caked into the soles of my boots, leaving a trail on the hardwood floor as I made my way through the living room.
“You better clean that up before Sam gets back.”
Nolan was lounging on the couch, beer already in hand, as I made my way to the kitchen. Waving my hand in the air, I knew the deal. It wasn’t the first time I’d made a mess coming in and gotten an earful over it.
“I’ll do it after I shower.”
“Suit yourself. It’s your ass.”
Taking another large gulp of his beer, he turned back to the television. Opening the fridge, I grabbed a beer for myself, exhausted from another long day.
It was hard but earnest work on the construction site, but it kept my mind off my life. Leaning against the island, I kicked my shoes off, making an even bigger pile of dirt under me.
Pissing Sam off was easy. Chuckling to myself, I debated leaving the dirt in its place just to have some entertainment after my shower. I’d probably be subjected to doing the grocery shopping again this week if my behavior took it too far. We never knew if Sam would come home in a foul mood or not so, to spare myself the trouble later I grabbed the broom and swept up my mess. Making my way back to the front door, I was confident I cleaned most of the mess. I knew there would be something I missed and got chewed out for later.
“Thank fucking God. I didn’t want to listen to you two bickering again today.”
Glaring back at him, I knew he was probably right. I felt bad he had to deal with the two of us. Having lived with me for the last nine months, he knew I tended to be messy. After our lease was up near campus, we found something a little more permanent in between the campus and where I had been working. Nolan was a computer whiz and mostly worked at home. He tried explaining what he did, but once he started talking about encryption and coding, he lost me. Since I had been working at Phillips Construction since school started up, Miles jumped on the chance to use me full time once the school year was over. He had joked a few times that if becoming a doctor didn’t pan out, he could hold a place for me on his crew.
After I had helped move Katie out of her dorm and back home, getting to see her became tricky. I couldn’t come around with Asher gone, since it would raise too many eyebrows about why. If she wanted to visit me, I had to pick her up and drop her off at a decent time so her parents didn’t question where she was. I tried calling and texting her, but it just led me to feel like an asshole for not having the time to be around her like I knew she wanted. What she deserved. I had warned her that this was going to happen. Although she kept telling me it was fine, I knew there was no way she could be happy with this arrangement.
After my shower, I felt a little better, but the day still weighed heavily on me. Katie’s birthday was fast approaching. I had yet to buy her anything or discuss what the plan was for hanging out. The original thought I had was to take her to a fancy restaurant in the city. Then I would book a hotel room after, where we could order room service and relax away from our lives for the weekend. The more I thought about it, the more I realized her parents wouldn’t let her go away without a good story about where she was going. So, I had to scratch that idea fast.
Our mandatory attendance for her birthday barbecue was going to be grueling. Having to pretend I couldn’t care less about her existence around Asher wasn’t easy. Wrapping the towel around my waist, I walked out of the bathroom to change into something else before grabbing dinner. Sam burst past me, shoving my phone at my bare chest. I fumbled to keep it from falling to the ground.
“Some girl just called your phone and sounded pissed when I picked up.”
Staring at my phone, I knew there were only three females that would call me. Unless Asher had pissed her off, Bridget wouldn’t call and bother me. She usually stuck to texts. However, if it was my mom or Katie, I’d be in some deep shit. I hadn’t let either know it wasn’t just Nolan and me sharing this place.
“Why the fuck were you answering my phone?”
My chest rose and fell as my breathing quickened. The panic settled in quickly as I snapped at her.
“I laid mine down on the table and it was next to yours. Heard it ring and picked it up. You seriously need to get laid or something. You’re so fucking uptight.”
Following me into my room, she flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder, oblivious to the shit storm she just created.
“Get out of my fucking room and don’t touch my shit.”
Sam and I had a wonderful relationship when she was serving me alcohol. At home, it was a battle of the wills. Unlocking my phone, I mentally needed to prepare for what damage control I would need to do when I figured out who had just called.
Fuck. It was Katie.
Having a random girl answer your phone was never good. To make things worse, our lack of connection lately was going to send her into a tailspin. I knew Katie. She was the type to assume the worst first. Quickly pressing her name, I heard the ringing until her voicemail picked up. Trying two more times with the same results, I knew I was screwed.
Nate: hey I missed your call. Everything okay?
I could see she had read it, but she sent nothing back. Grabbing a pair of grey sweatpants and a t-shirt, I prepared myself for the reality that I may have to drive down to her to explain if she was going to ignore me. Finally, my phone made a noise.
Katie: it was nothing. Don’t worry about it.
Nate: you’re a terrible liar. I can even tell through your texts. Please answer my call.
