T.J. Klune - Bear, Otter, and the Kid 1 - Bear, Otter, and the Kid by TJ Klune Page B

touched my hips, I jumped back, finding myself almost on the other side of the room.
“Oh my God ,” I moaned out loud as my stomach cramped, and I bent over from the pain of it. “Oh my God .”
    And so thats how it happened. Thats how I ended up kissing my best friends big brother; Otter, who I had known for practically my entire cognizant life. Crazy, right? Especially since Im not like that. I dont know how it happened or why it happened or anything, okay? It just did. I remember stumbling away from him, and I muttered apologies, telling him I was drunk, and I didnt know what I was doing and thats not who I was and how I just needed to go to sleep and if he could just leave, and I would call him later. While babbling at him, I never met his eyes. My head was dizzy, and I felt sick to my stomach. I was almost to the couch and asking him incoherently if he wouldnt tell Creed or Anna when the room started to spin. I lay down on the couch and saw him walking toward me, a concerned look on his face, and before I was gone, I remembered how his hair had felt under my fingers, wet and soft.
    S
OMETIME later, I thought I had a dream. I dreamt that Otter had picked me up from the couch, carrying me in his arms. He took me to my bedroom and put me in my bed, pulling the comforter up to my chin. He sat on the bed beside me and rubbed my hair and caressed my cheek. I tried to talk to him, but my mouth felt full of cotton, and I couldnt speak. I felt the bed shift as he stood, and he leaned over me and kissed me on the forehead. Before he pulled away, his lips came near my ear, and he said, “Im sorry. I hope youll be able to forgive me one day.” I wanted to tell him it was okay even though I didnt know what he was talking about. But he was already gone.
“
B
EAR , get up!” the Kid said into my ear.
    I groaned and squinted my eyes open, hissing at the light as it stabbed its way into my head. I turned my head and saw Ty peering down at me from his perch next to my bed. As soon as I moved my head, jagged pain shot through it, causing my stomach to ripple.
    “Are you sick?” Ty asked me.
“Yes,” I said hoarsely. “Whyd you wake me up? What time is it?”
    The Kid glanced over at the clock on the nightstand that separated our beds. “Its still in the morning. I was watching TV, and your phone rang, and it said Creed, so I answered it. He sounds mad and said he wanted to talk to you.” I then noticed he was holding my cell phone in one of his hands, and I remembered what had happened the night before. My breath caught in my throat, and I almost told Ty to hang up the phone and then throw it on the ground and step on it. Then I would pack a bag for him and me, and we would get in my car and drive to Canada, where no one would know that I had kissed a guy the night before. Did Otter tell him? I panicked. Did Otter tell Creed I fucking kissed him? Ty held out the phone and put into my outstretched hand.
    “Im going to go watch TV,” Ty said as he walked out of the room. I put the phone to my ear. “Hello?”
“Im going to fucking kill him!” Creed raged into my ear.
“Kill who?” I asked, not wanting an answer.
“Otter! I cant believe hed do this!”
“What?”
“Hes gone!”
My heart skipped a beat. “Wait, what? What do you mean hes gone?”
    Creed starting shouting into the phone: “I woke up this morning, and he was packing up his car with all his shit. I asked him what he was doing, and he said he had taken that job in San Diego after all. He said it was better this way! Can you believe this? I mean, how could he do this to Ty, man? He told Ty he was going to stay here, and now its just going to mess up the Kid even more! Hed said he had turned that fucking job down to stay here!”
“Hes gone?” I repeated, my mind too numb to think of anything else.
    “As of an hour ago. I asked him what Ty was going to think? What you were going to think by him not saying anything to you guys, and he wouldnt answer