Page 33 of The False Start (Off the Bench)

“Sorry, I’m a goner. I have to watch the entire thing start to finish now.”

“Woah,” interrupts Theo. We’re shooting pool behind the large sectional where Lila now sits with Katie in front of the massive flat screen. “We’re not watching all six seasons of Gossip Girl this weekend.”

Katie’s eyes glitter maliciously. “Is that a challenge?” Lila cackles at her friend as the stare down taking place.

“Definitely not.” Theo’s trying to recover, but the panic in his eyes is giving him away.

“Well, we’re already four episodes in.”

“It’s practically a head start,” Lila says as she shrugs her shoulder, grabbing a blanket from the back of the couch and settling in. “And sounds like a perfect holiday weekend.”

“Please, no,” Theo begs.

“Sorry, babe, you don’t choose the CW life, it chooses you.” Katie smirks at him, turning up the volume to an unnecessary level and adding subtitles for an extra little punch.

I cough to hide my laugh, and Theo glares at me.

“Maybe we should order some food?” I suggest.

“Pizza?” Lila asks. Her head popping up over the back of the couch. I shrug.

“What do you ladies want?”

“Mushroom!” They both call back in unison. I blanch.

“Is that a joke?”

“Unfortunately, not,” Theo sighs.

“They’re delicious and good for your brain.” Lila pouts playfully at me.

“Love, I literally get hit in the head for a job. I’m not overly worried about brain food,” I say, the moniker slipping out before I can think about it.

She rolls her eyes.

“But if mushroom is what you want, mushroom is what you’ll get.” I ignore the look Katie and Theo exchange and pull out my phone.

Ordering the pizzas takes only minutes, and once they’ve arrived, Theo and I have no real choice but to pause our second pool game and give in to watching at least one episode of the stupid drama while we eat.

I wake up the following morning sitting sideways on the couch with a massive knot in my shoulder, Lila’s head in my lap. She’s sound asleep even as a season-two episode starts on the TV, thankfully muted at some point in the night.

Theo is nowhere to be found, likely having actually gone up to bed at a reasonable hour, and Katie is snoring under a nest of blankets on the chaise section of the couch.

I stretch, trying my best not to jostle Lila too much before moving her carefully off my lap to the couch and standing up.

The half empty pizza boxes from last night cover the coffee table, empty cans littering the leftover space.

I grab the pizza boxes, tossing them into the large trash can in the kitchen.

After a quick check that both girls are still sleeping, I head up to my room to change for a run.

A few miles later, my heartbeat is up, my muscles loose and warm, a sharp contrast to my face which is numb with cold.

I leave my AirPods in but strip off my hoodie, leaving me shirtless as I enter the kitchen and grab one of Theo’s favorite protein shakes.

I shake my head. Personally, I don’t like the super weird flavors, preferring a simple chocolate, but I can suck it up today and try strawberry shortcake. I take a sip and grimace.

There’s a noise behind me, and I turn to find Lila in the doorway, eyes glazed as she stares at me.

I take another long draw of the protein shake, taking in her flushed face as she realizes she’s been caught staring.

She makes no move to leave, and I prowl toward her slowly, discarding the now empty bottle.

“Good morning,” I say, a smirk I can’t stop pulling up one half of my mouth.

“Did you work out?” she asks, her voice a bit hoarse, the rasp in it doing strange things to my blood, heating it in a way that should be illegal.

“Just went for a run,” I say, my own voice carrying a slightly husky quality now. I take another step closer to her, and she steps back almost involuntarily, her back hitting the door frame. “Had a lot of excess energy to work out.” She swallows, her eyes darting down my torso and back up.

“Sure, of course,” she murmurs, her eyes glued to my mouth. I place one hand on the doorframe over her head and lean down toward her.

“Do you have some excess energy you need me to work out of you?” My voice drops an octave, and heat blooms in her eyes, her lips parting.

Her fingers wind themselves into my hair, dragging my face to hers, and when my lips find hers, I can’t help the groan in the back of my throat.

My hands find her hips, my fingers sinking into the soft flesh there, even as I pin her between my body and the door frame.

I swallow her moan, grinding into her as her hands roam my naked torso, nails scraping against the muscles still slick with sweat from my run. My index finger traces the waistband of her leggings, slipping just under and running along the top of her thong.

“You know what I’m thankful for this holiday season?” A loud voice interrupts the moment, and we break apart.

Theo is currently sitting at the kitchen island, a shit-eating grin plastered on his face as he sips on another one of his disgusting protein shakes.

“Bedrooms, with closed doors,” he continues.

“Fuck off, McClane,” I nearly growl at him.

“Seriously, your rooms are literally right across the hall from each other. Can’t you please keep whatever this is to one of them?”

“It’s not anything,” Lila says quickly. I still, my body going suddenly cold. Not anything? Really? She must notice my reaction because she continues. “No, wait, Cal. That’s not what I meant.”

“No, it’s fine, I know,” I force out. “I’m going to go shower.” I step away without meeting her eyes and head for my room.

“Cal, wait,” Lila calls, catching up to me.

I pause, turning to her and wait.

“I didn’t mean that.”

“So, what did you mean?”

“I don’t know. That’s all I meant. We don’t know what this is, and we don’t need Theo trying to define it for us.”

Unfortunately, that makes sense, but it doesn’t fix the chasm in my chest that’s been opened. “You’re not wrong there, but we’re not nothing .” I admit. “We can take it slow, I’m not in a rush, but we’re not nothing.”

“We’ll just take it one day at a time, okay?” She smiles tentatively up at me, and I can’t help that it fucking melts my heart.

“Yeah, Lila. One day at a time.” I pull her to me roughly, burying my face into her messy hair.

I let go after a moment, pressing my lips to her forehead.

Before I can do something stupid like kiss her again, I stride toward my room without a backward glance, shoving aside the hurt blossoming like a bruise beneath my skin.