Complicate Me Read online

“Yes, seriously,” I tell her, laughing a little. “Why wait, Sie?” I ask her. “Let’s just tell him so we can be together.”

  “Okay,” she says, nodding once. “Let’s do it,” she adds, squeezing my arm. “But you should still go see your parents.”

  “Nope,” I assert. “I’m not even going to bother telling them I’m back. It’s not like they even care.”

  “Reid,” she says, looking up at me.

  “What?”

  Sienna opens her mouth as if she wants to tell me they will care, but then stops herself because we both know it would be a lie. Our parents might have come from different backgrounds, might have run in different circles in terms of wealth and status or whatever, but they were exactly the same when it came to being parents. When it came to not giving a shit.

  My dad was never around when I was growing up and the few times he was, it’s not like he ever gave a shit about me. He never came to my football games and never checked in when he got home from work. The only time he ever asked me about anything was to ask about my grades, to make sure they were good enough.

  And my mom, fuck, she spent most of her time somewhere else too. Spending money and generally avoiding my dad, and I guess me. When she was home, she was usually staring at the bottom of a wine glass, never interested in anything I had going on.

  “I’m staying with you, Sie,” I repeat, giving her a smile. “Unless of course you don’t want me to?” I ask, brow cocked in question.

  She smiles, leaning her head against my shoulder again. “Of course I do,” she says. “I’ve gotten used to sleeping beside you now and I…”

  I chuckle. “Used to me, huh?”

  Sienna laughs. “You know what I mean,” she says, pinching my side.

  “I do,” I say, smiling. “And for the record, I’ve gotten used to sleeping beside you too. You’re so nice and warm and naked and sexy,” I say. “And you have wandering hands too, which is…”

  “What?” she asks, surprised. “I do?”

  I laugh. “You do,” I tell her. “They like to explore when you’re sleeping, which makes sleeping next to you a lot of fun,” I tease, chuckling at the surprised expression on her face.

  “I didn’t know that,” she murmurs.

  “Trust me, baby, it is definitely not a problem.”

  Sienna looks up at me, her brows narrowed a little, even though she’s smiling. “Guess that explains why you wake me up so much in the middle of the night to, you know…”

  “Fuck?” I suggest, laughing when she blushes a little. “Yeah, it certainly gets things moving in that direction,” I tease. “But I’m pretty sure I’d be waking you up anyway.”

  “You do, huh?”

  “Yep,” I say, nodding. “I’ve spent so many years dreaming about having you in my bed, now that I have the real thing, I don’t wanna waste a second.”

  Sienna hums a little as she leans over and kisses my cheek. “Tell me about your dreams.”

  I chuckle. “Baby, I start telling you about them and we aren’t ever getting home,” I add, grabbing her hand and moving it to my crotch.

  Sienna’s eyes widen. “Oh, are they dirty?” she asks, and I can hear the excitement in her voice.

  “So dirty,” I tell her, my hand still covering hers on my crotch, which is definitely reacting to this dirty dream talk.

  She pouts a little, squeezing her fingers against me as though that’s going to help. “I want to know what they are.”

  I laugh, lifting her hand to my mouth and kissing her fingertips before sucking one of them into my mouth. “How about I show you tonight instead?” I suggest.

  She smiles. “Deal.”

  We drive for a little while longer, neither of us talking, both lost in our thoughts of being back here for the first time in two years. It’s a surreal feeling, coming back to the place we always vowed we’d never return to.

  “You think maybe we can convince Caleb to come back to Cali with us?” I eventually ask, voicing a thought that’s been floating through my mind since we left Hawthorn.

  “Yeah, I’ve been thinking the same thing,” Sienna says, her head still resting on my shoulder.

  “I mean, it makes sense, right?” I say. “There’s nothing here for him anymore and he could totally sell the bar or get someone to run it if you guys want to keep it,” I add, glancing down at her, knowing we haven’t really discussed what happens next.

  When we left for school, Caleb was always staying behind to look after things and make sure their dad didn’t run everything into the ground. But now their dad has gone, does Caleb still need to stay? Maybe someone else can take care of things now and Caleb can finally have the life he deserves.

  “Maybe he could go back to school or…”

  Sienna laughs. “I think that ship has sailed.”

  “Yeah?” I ask, glancing at her.

  “Yeah, he’ll hate being two years behind us,” she says. “You know what he’s like.”

  I chuckle. “Yeah, okay, but I still think we should convince him to ditch this place and come back with us,” I say. “We can rent your house out, or maybe even sell it. You could ask Joe to run things at the bar if you wanna keep it. I mean he’s worked there for…”

  “Thank you, Reid,” Sienna says, interrupting my rambling.

  “For what?” I ask, confused.

  She smiles at me. “For this,” she says, waving her hand around the truck. “Bringing me home, helping us out, all of it.”

  I smile, shooting her a quick look. “Sie,” I say. “Of course,” I add, leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead. “This wasn’t a hard decision for me,” I say. “You know, I’d do anything for you. For both of you,” I say as I pull up to the first set of stoplights we’ve had in a while.

  “Reid.”

  I turn to face her, her beautiful blue eyes staring back at me, filled with a touch of sadness, but with something else too. Something that I know is mirrored back in my eyes. Words neither of us has said yet, but words I know we both feel. Words we tell each other in other ways, every time she touches me or kisses me. Every time I pull her close and wrap her in my arms. Every night we fall into bed together.

  “Come here,” she whispers.

  I smile, leaning over to kiss her.

  Sienna deepens our kiss as one of her hands lets go of my arm and moves to my cheek, her fingers brushing over the six days worth of stubble I now have growing there.

  My lips part on instinct, her tongue slipping against mine and causing a moan to fall from me as I curl my hand around her neck, hold her against me even though she’s practically crawling into my lap now, as though she only wants to get closer.

  The sound of a horn breaks the moment and when we pull back and I look around, I realize the light has gone green. Chuckling, I take my foot off the break as we start to move.

  “One more song before we get home?” I suggest, nodding toward her phone.

  Sienna smiles, reaching for her phone as she starts to scroll through her music selection, her tongue half poking out as she tries to decide what to play.

  “Make it a good one, babe,” I tease, squeezing her thigh.

  She scoffs, rolling her eyes playfully. “Please, like they aren’t all good,” she says dramatically.

  I chuckle, just as she hits play and the music starts. We both listen in silence as the gravelly voice of the lead singer fills the car. The song is another one of those power ballads she loves, but a little grittier than usual.

  “I like this,” I say, reaching over to grab her hand.

  “Metallica,” she says, giving me a smile. “Nothing Else Matters.”

  By the time the song ends, I’m indicating to turn onto their street, slowing the car as we inch closer and closer to their house. When I pull into the drive, we both stare up at her childhood home, neither of us missing how run down it looks compared to the last time we were here.

  The whole place needs
a new coat of paint and the yard is filled with weeds, the grass overgrown.

  Kinda makes me feel like shit seeing firsthand what Caleb’s been dealing with the past two years. While Sienna and I were off having fun, partying, drinking and creating a new life, he was stuck back here, dealing with this shit. But I know we’re going to change that now that we’re back. Caleb is going to get his life back.

  “Ready?” I ask, smiling as I turn to Sienna.

  She smiles back at me, nodding once. “Yep, let’s do this.”

  We get out of the truck and walk toward the house. Just as she reaches the front steps, I grab her hand in mine, pulling her back to me and pressing my lips to hers, a weird feeling of dread passing through me as though this is the last time I’m going to get to do this. I don’t know where the feeling comes from, but it fades a little as Sienna melts against me, her hands slipping under my t-shirt and smoothing over my skin.

  “We telling Caleb or showing him?” she murmurs against my mouth, pressing her hips against mine.

  I smile, thinking maybe we should just get back in my truck and go somewhere else for a couple of hours. Prolong this happy little bubble we’ve been living in for the last six days for just a little longer. “His reaction would be pretty damn priceless if he saw us right now.”

  Sienna laughs, one of her hands sliding around to my stomach as her fingers slip beneath the waistband of my jeans. “Mmmm,” she murmurs, her fingers inching closer and closer to my now very hard dick.

  “Sie,” I warn, grabbing her hand.

  She laughs, pulling back as she looks up at me. She looks happy, so damn happy. “I’m really glad you convinced me to go on this road trip.”

  I grin, leaning down to kiss her again as I whisper, “We’re gonna take the longer way home too, just so you know.” She laughs, breathy and soft and I swallow it with another kiss. “Let’s get out of here, Sie. Another day won’t hurt.”

  She lets out a soft groan. “God, I want to,” she says, her fingers curling into my back. “But he probably heard us drive up. We can’t leave now.”

  I pull back, exhaling as I glance up at the front porch, half expecting to see Caleb standing there with a what the fuck expression on his face as he watches his sister and his best friend make out on his front lawn.

  But he’s not there and the house is eerily quiet.

  “Maybe he’s not home?” I suggest, grabbing Sienna’s hand as we walk up the steps.

  “No, he knew we were getting in at this time,” she says, hand on the door. “There’s no way he won’t be here,” she adds, turning the handle and pushing the door open.

  The house is dark inside, as though all of the blinds are pulled. We both step in, my hand still in Sienna’s as she reaches for the light switch. Suddenly the front entrance is bathed in a harsh light, the bare bulb that hangs from the ceiling illuminating the reason Caleb wasn’t running outside to greet us.

  Because right now, he’s lying on the floor, his face beaten to a pulp and one of his arms is twisted at a weird angle beneath his body. There’s a pool of blood beside him and his eyes are so swollen, I’m not sure he could open them to see us even if he wanted to. I’m not even sure if he’s unconscious or dead and I’m suddenly overcome with a surge of nausea as fear curls through my gut.

  “Fuck,” I murmur, dropping Sienna’s hand as she screams, the sound muffled by her hands covering her mouth.

  I crouch down, cautiously reaching out to put a hand on Caleb’s arm. His skin is still warm, thank fuck, and he lets out a soft groan as soon as my hand touches his skin. I exhale, grateful that at least he’s still alive.

  “Caleb,” I say, my grip tightening a little. “Caleb, can you hear me?”

  He groans again, his head rolling to the side, but he doesn’t answer.

  I force myself to ignore the fear that’s churning in my stomach and get my shit together. I have no idea how long Caleb’s been lying here like this, but he clearly needs help. “We gotta call an ambulance,” I say, pulling my phone from my pocket. “Sie, come here,” I add, letting go of Caleb as I reach out my hand to her. She stands frozen to the spot, not moving as she stares down at her brother.

  “Sienna,” I say, a little more firmly this time.

  She turns to me, her hands falling from her mouth. I notice they’re shaking and I reach over and pull her down to me, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

  “It’s okay, Sie,” I murmur, kissing her temple. “Sit with him while I call the ambulance, okay?” She nods, still not saying anything. “He’s gonna be okay,” I say, having no clue if that’s true. I take her hand and put it on his arm. “Caleb, we’re gonna get you some help buddy. Just hang tight.”

  He groans again and I watch as Sienna gently runs her hand over his head and leans closer. “I’m so sorry, Caleb,” she whispers, her mouth against his ear. “I’m so, so sorry.”

  I press another kiss to her temple before standing and calling nine-one-one. As soon as dispatch answers, I’m rattling off their address and a request for an ambulance.

  “Can you tell me what’s happened?” the guy on the other end of the line asks.

  “No!” I shout, frustrated. “We’ve just walked in and found him like this. Just fucking send someone.”

  “The ambulance is on its way,” he says, his voice weirdly calm. “I need you to stay on the line with me though,” he continues, firing off more questions that I don’t know the answers to.

  Sienna hasn’t moved. She just sits, crouched by Caleb’s side as she brushes her hand over his head, whispering over and over again that she’s sorry. Eventually I hear the sound of sirens, hanging up the phone as I go to her.

  “Sie,” I say, my hand on her back. “Sie, the ambulance is here.”

  The flashing lights fill the room, bouncing off the walls as I hear the sounds of doors slamming, the voices of the paramedics as they make their way toward the house. They’re all business as they walk inside, one of them going straight to Caleb while the other asks me the same questions the dispatch guy did. I feel fucking helpless, standing here, unable to answer them; unable to do anything for my best friend who lies bruised and broken by my feet.

  Sienna stands beside me, her arms wrapped around herself as though she’s trying to hold herself together. Her eyes are wide, her face pale as she stares at her brother. She looks petrified and it fucking kills me to see her like this. I pull her against me, wrap her in my arms as I feel her whole body start to shake.

  The fear grows, my heart now pounding in my chest as what we’ve come home to, at what’s happen to Caleb, knowing that this bubble we’ve spent the past six days in hasn’t just popped, it’s been smashed into a million fucking pieces.

  And I have no idea what happens next.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Sienna

  I knew something was wrong the moment I left Hawthorn, but I chalked it up to my dad’s death, returning to the town I never thought I’d see again and all the anxiety it brought me. But as we drew closer, I could feel it in every part of my body, poking, nagging and pinching; painfully reminding me that something was just not right.

  It’s been said that twins know when the other one is in trouble or when something horrible has happened, like it’s ingrained in us, in our blood and our DNA, that we are connected on a different level. I’ve never felt it before, but over the last six days, the pull has been so strong I would never doubt the validity of it again.

  The feeling I had was Caleb and everything he’s just been through. I’m hit with an overwhelming sense of guilt and fear as it wreaks havoc on my body. Every part of me is shaking and for a split second I feel like I might pass out. The room goes blurry and the only movement I see is hazy streaks as people move in front of me, talking and shouting, but I hear nothing coherent.

  Caleb groans out loud, clutching his side as he’s hoisted onto the gurney, the paramedics barking out orders and shooting questions at me, but I h
ave nothing to give them.

  I’m useless.

  The moans that leave Caleb’s mouth are nearly my undoing and I hear myself sobbing, each strangled breath catching in my throat, threatening to come out as a bloodcurdling scream, a scream that begs for answers.

  How did we even get here?

  The crushing weight of my thoughts force themselves down on me and all I can think is that if I hadn’t come home, if I had stayed at Hawthorn, had Reid and I taken one more day on the road, Caleb would be dead.

  The paramedic calls my name as Reid pushes me toward the door and I follow, but I have no idea what is happening. My legs are moving of their own accord and I do what I think I’m supposed to be doing, but it all feels like a dream, a bad fucking dream.

  Wake up!

  “I’ll follow you to the hospital,” Reid calls, as I climb into the back of the ambulance and I nod my head. The ambulance lurches forward, and Caleb cries out again. The sound of his pained cries, his swollen and blood-covered face brings a rush of nausea and I suck in a hard breath.

  I don’t even understand what’s happening or how we even got here. Caleb is one of the toughest guys I know and for him to be beaten like this is unreal and unexplainable.

  I’m clutching his hand in mine, squeezing it so he knows I’m here as I tell him everything’s going to be okay. It’s lie after lie that leaves my lips because I have no idea if anything is going to be okay. Nothing will ever be the same after this.

  Hot tears sting my cheeks and drop onto the white sheet draped over Caleb’s body and I watch as they stain the starkness with dark splotches, but nothing compares to the dark red blood that mars Caleb’s face. Even his hands are crusted in blood.

  “Is he going to be okay?” I ask, my words soft as if speaking them too loudly will cause even more problems. It’s a stupid question and I know that even as the words leave my mouth.

  “We don’t know the extent of the damage,” the paramedic responds, each word spoken without emotion. “His vitals all look—” His words are cut off by the sound of a monitor, a harsh long tone ringing out in the confines of the ambulance.