Bent by Hb Heinzer Page B

thinking she was keeping an eye on him and it was just strange to sit outside alone while he read. Plus, thanks to earlier, she had laundry to finish.
    "Hey Julia?" His voice was back to that of the sweet boy she'd met the first few days rather than the moody boy she'd walked up to earlier in the afternoon.
    "Yeah?" She leaned back to poke her head out of the open door.
    Caleb rolled out of the hammock and walked towards her. He motioned inside and she obliged. It felt strange to follow the lead of a child but she would continue giving him the reigns until he trusted her. They sat at the kitchen table. For nearly a full minute, he looked down at the table before looking at her. "Do you like him?" He looked at his dad, still sleeping on the deck.
    She nearly choked on her water. She shouldn't be surprised at the question. She'd warned Micah that he didn't give Caleb enough credit. "He's a good guy. And I can tell he's a good dad." She hoped the non-answer was enough.
    It wasn't. "But do you like him?" Apparently, subtlety wasn't a gift Caleb possessed. He was blunt and not giving up until he got an answer.
    "I don't know." It was the truth. Sort of. She knew her feelings for Micah were definitely back on the like spectrum but even she didn't know where. "A lot happened when I lived here before. We're trying to get back to being friends."
    "I think he likes you." If he'd picked up on something his dad said about Julia, it made sense why Caleb was short with her at the diner. She had a feeling that being the new girlfriend wasn't any easier than being the child watching their parent get involved with someone again.
    "He might. Like I said, it's not black and white." She stood and scruffed her hand through his hair before heading to the laundry room. When she came back, she asked him about Hunger Games to get his mind away from what was or wasn't going on with her and his dad. It worked and Julia came out of the conversation feeling like she didn't need to read the books to know everything that happened in them.
    She looked at the clock and noticed that it was almost ten. As much as she wanted to let Micah sleep, he needed to get Caleb home. While Caleb was in the bathroom, she went outside to wake Micah. She crouched next to him and ran her finger nails across his bare chest. He cracked one eye open and Julia broke into a fit of laughter. It was the same face he made when they were teens and he woke up in the morning after sneaking into her room.
    "I could get used to that," he whispered as he stood up. He extended his hand and brought her back to standing. Close. Too close with Caleb coming down the stairs. She backed away. Her eyes shifted in silent explanation. Micah understood and turned around. "Hey kid. Should we get out of here and let Julia get some sleep?"
    She walked them to the door and Micah told Caleb to head to the car ahead of him. "Thank you. Dinner was amazing." Desire filled his eyes but he held back, knowing they were being watched. He wrapped one arm around her shoulder and gently squeezed her arm. "I'll call you later." And with that, he walked out to the car and left.
    Once his taillights turned the corner, Julia allowed the open door to slip away from her fingers and close. She went to the office and tapped out an email to her brother.
                  Hey Adam.
                  I think we're going to need to have that talk you offered.
                  Sis
     
    Within minutes, her brother replied.
     
                  Hey sis.
                  Do I want to know???
                  A
    There was no doubt that her brother wasn't going to be happy about how deep Julia was getting so soon after moving home. She hoped she would be able to keep the conversation off her feelings for Micah and on the facts that Adam said he'd give her.
                  Don't ask questions you don't want the answers to.  You're staying here this weekend,