Making Her Wait Page 7

  “What’s everything?” I wonder out loud, hoping Callie will be more forthcoming than her sister.

  “Don’t you know about our parents?”

  “I know they’re dead,” I hesitantly reply.

  Chewing on the inside of her cheek, she regards me with her made-up eyes. She wears a lot more makeup than Genny does, but it only highlights that green color. Even without the stylish makeup, both Genny and her sister are gorgeous.

  “When our parents died, Genny dropped out of college and gave up her whole life to take care of me and my brother. She got a job she hated, bought a smaller house we could afford, and a minivan she didn’t want. She kept us together and took care of us.” Callie’s eyes move to the ceiling, and she lets out another sigh. “She’s still taking care of me.”

  No wonder Genny didn’t want to talk about college. She probably loved it, and it got taken away from her in the blink of an eye, just like her parents did. She was just a kid when she became responsible for her brother and sister, paying bills, making sure everyone was fed, making sure everyone went to school and appointments and extracurricular activities. Genny got forced into the role of mom when she was just stretching her wings and testing out her freedom.

  “When did all this happen?”

  “Umm…” Callie takes a minute to think, biting her own lip. I guess it’s a family trait, not one Genny uses just to torture me. “I was twelve, so Genny would’ve been nineteen.”

  “What medication are you on that will be bad by Monday?”

  Looking down at that half slice of pizza on her plate, she sets it aside with another heavy sigh. “I have type one diabetes. The insulin needs to be temperature controlled, and it’ll most likely be bad when it gets here in three days, sitting around in a truck or warehouse without regulated heating. And Genny’s right. I really shouldn’t be eating this.”

  “How long have you had it?”

  “Forever.” Rolling her eyes, she gives me a small smile. “I was diagnosed when I was eleven.”

  Wow. And taking care of a sick sister on top of everything else? Callie sees my expression and closes her eyes. “I know! She’s amazing and I’m a brat. Did she tell you why we fought last weekend?”

  “No.”

  “Good. I take back what I said to her. She’s still just putting me first. Sometimes I forget.”

  She carries the pizza back to the kitchen and makes another plate of food. Whatever she’s heating in the microwave smells delicious, and when she comes back to sit on the couch with it, I ask curiously, “What’re you eating now? And what can you eat?”

  Pointing at her plate, Callie tells me, “This is a stuffed pepper Genny made Sunday before I was mean to her. I should stay away from sugars and carbs. Genny usually cooks a couple meals on the weekend so I have stuff to eat all week long.”

  That means… “No pizza, subs, or desserts?”

  “Not usually.”

  “What about drinking?” I ask, wondering if she’s even legally able to do that.

  “I don’t drink much. There’s no way to know how my body will react to it.”

  “What about Truth-or-Dare Jenga?”

  Her cheeks fill with color in a much more exaggerated way than Genny’s do. Callie’s blush fills out on her neck and chest, going all the way out to her ears. “I don’t drink when I play.

  “How do you play that game and not drink?”

  “You make sure you’re with a very close group of friends. And it helps if everyone else is drunk. Then, no one remembers much except me.”

  I shake my head. “I don’t think I could handle being diabetic.”

  She glances up from her food with an amused grin. “I don’t even know if I could without Genny. She does all the grocery shopping, making sure there’s always something I can eat without giving it much thought. She never cooks anything I shouldn’t eat, and we never have alcohol here.” Eyeing my beer, she corrects herself. “Well, we didn’t.”

  The steps creak at the other end of the room and Callie and I both look toward them, watching Genny come back downstairs. She drops onto the couch between us, pulling the beer from my hand to finish it with one long pull. “Throw out whatever comes Monday. More should be here Tuesday, ok?”

  Callie softly says, “Thanks Genny. For taking care of it and for putting up with me. I’m sorry for what I said on Sunday.”

  Genny’s back stiffens and she looks back and forth between me and her sister. Her eyes hold questions she doesn't voice, so I shrug my shoulders, causing her to relax a bit. “Um, thanks, Callie. Are you feeling all right?”

  “I’m fine. Sometimes I forget the world doesn’t revolve around me, but I just remembered. I’m gonna go upstairs to study and let you guys finish your movie. Nice to meet you, Walker!”

  Genny eyes me skeptically, whispering, “What did she say to you?”

  I whisper back, keeping things suspenseful and secretive. “She told me you’re an amazing sister who cooks her special food and takes care of her problems.”

  Scoffing and shaking her head, she gets up and moves to the kitchen, bringing back another beer and flipping off light switches on her way past them. The only light in the room is now coming from the paused scene on the TV. “I don’t really believe you, but she apologized for Sunday, and that’s huge. So thank you for whatever happened while I was upstairs.”

  I try to suppress my victorious smile as she settles back against me without a second thought. After I twist off the cap of the beer she brought me, she steals the bottle, taking a drink and handing it back before resting her head on my chest with a sigh. “I forgot to get the remote.”

  “Want me to get it?” I offer, even though moving is the last thing I want to do right now.

  “No.” Laying her hand flat on my chest, she holds me down, just in case I wasn’t planning on listening. “I like where you’re at. I’ll get it, I just wanna take a minute to enjoy how good you smell.”

  I wrap my arm around her shoulders again with a chuckle, really glad I put on cologne tonight. “Tell me about your sister.”

  “What do you wanna know?”

  “Describe her to me. Her personality. You probably know her better than anyone.”

  She sighs, chewing on that bottom lip, and it affects me in a very different way than when I watched Callie do it. They might look alike, but I’m not drawn to Callie. Genny, however, is like my beacon of light in the darkness of a storm. She’s all I can see, the only thing I’m pushing toward.

  “Callie’s smart and curious. Too curious for her own good. But she’s usually really thoughtful and compassionate. She’s someone who can argue both sides of any situation, ya know? She can put herself in anybody’s shoes.”

  “You sound proud of her.” I’m not surprised that she says nothing about Callie being ungrateful. Nothing about Callie being a brat or ruining her life.

  “I am. She’s almost done with her nursing degree and she wants to get some real hands-on experience before applying for PA school. Sometimes it’s annoying to come home after a long day and pick up after her and take care of all the stupid little things that she just forgets about or doesn’t know how to take care of. But then I think about how she’s creating this amazing opportunity for herself and I know it’ll all be worth it in the long run.”

  “What about your brother?”

  “Calvin’s the funny one,” she explains, her fingers trailing circles on my arm. “He can make anyone smile, no matter what’s going on. And he’s the social butterfly, always at some event or party. He knows everyone. He probably knows you somehow. He’s does HVAC work, and he just got his second promotion in three years. He’s a hard worker, but it’s only so he can play even harder during his time off.”

  “How would you describe yourself?”

  She scoffs. “An enabler. Cynical. Boring. Stand-offish.”

  Pushing the hair away from her face, I stop her pity party in its tracks. “How would Myra describe you?”

&nbs
p; “Myra?” Genny pushes up from my chest to look at me. “She says I’m kind, determined, and focused. That it’s really hard for me to let people in. I’ve heard her call me a survivor before, but I think that’s crap. We’re all survivors. We all do what we have to do to get through each day.”

  “Would everyone go as far as you do?”

  “Probably,” she says with a shrug. “What about you?”

  “How would I describe you?”

  “I meant how would you describe yourself, but sure.”

  Looking in her eyes, I think about the very little I know about her. She’s told me almost nothing. Her sister told me more tonight than Genny has. But can I figure some things out from the conversations we’ve had?

  One thing’s a definite. “You’re stubborn.”

  She grants me a smile, and I continue on. “You don’t like to mix business and pleasure, even though you can’t always tell the difference between the two. You’ll do anything for your sister, even if it’s depriving yourself from a food-induced orgasm because she shouldn’t eat the food you love. You know nothing about cars but talking about them turns you on. I would bet you like kids, or maybe what they represent. And I would guess the reason you’re so straightforward at times, is because underneath it all, you’re overly sensitive and insecure.”

  Glaring at me for the sensitive and insecure comment, she grabs the beer out of my hand, taking another drink. She offers it back to me, and I watch her eyes as I do the same, wishing I could taste her lips instead of the beer. Those green eyes dart back to my mouth as I hand it back to her. She may be offended by what I said about her, but it doesn’t stop her from wanting me to kiss her.

  And with my limited experience with her, I know she’s now either going to sigh in disappointment when I don’t, or…

  Her hand gently lands on my face, cupping it as she switches which hip she’s sitting on. Leaning on top of me, her back to the TV, her palm on my cheek, her gaze moves back and forth from my mouth to my eyes.

  “Didn’t we talk about you not touching me?”

  “You talked. I ignored you.”

  Very true. She likes ignoring any of my comments about how she shouldn’t touch me. About how I’m not going to kiss her. About how we’re just friends.

  “What’s your game plan here, G? I feel like maybe you’re trying to alter our relationship status again. Do I need to keep you away from alcohol altogether? You didn’t have much, but your reaction tonight seems to be a milder version of Saturday night…”

  Her lips twitch into a smile as she admits, “I love how you call me G.”

  “I love how you keep pretending there’s nothing between us, even when you try to make us more than just friends every time I see you.”

  The smile turns into a smirk, but her eyes don’t waver. “I wanna kiss you, Friend.”

  “That’s not a good idea.”

  Her eyes narrow in self-doubt before she asks, “Are you seeing someone else, Walker?”

  “Are you?” I counter, knowing she sees more than one someone.

  She looks away, but not for long. “I’m not seeing anyone like I see you.”

  “Not good enough, G.”

  “I can’t even kiss you until I’m not seeing anyone else?”

  She says it like it’s physically impossible, so I try to look at the big picture and get some perspective… Nope. Still can’t do it. I’m not gonna budge on this, not while she’s sleeping with other guys. But maybe if I understood why she’s so intensely set on her reasons, I can help her move past them.

  “Why don’t you date, Genny? Tell me that.”

  She visibly gives in. It’s like she’s defeated, lost the battle and the war. Her shoulders slump, her face goes slack, and she leans on me fully, not even bothering to try to support herself. “It’s too much, Walker. I’ve got so much to worry about. I work full-time. I cook and clean the house. I take care of everything Callie needs me to. Appointments, medications, insurance... I make sure her uniforms are clean for work. I make sure she’s doing her homework and she has time to be a kid because I wish to God I had someone telling me to do that when I was her age. I pay all the bills, I do the grocery shopping, I try to have half a life by going out once or twice a month with Myra. I don’t need to worry about anything or anyone else. I already have too much on my plate.”

  “What happened with the cop?”

  “Paul?”

  “He was your last boyfriend, correct?”

  She groans in annoyance, flopping back against the couch. I instantly miss her warmth, but I’m more interested in getting her answer than having her body back on top of mine. That’s too much temptation, and only one of us in interested in not rushing into sex.

  Rubbing a hand down her face, she looks at me through the crack between her fingers. “If I jump through all your hoops, you’d better be the best damn kisser there ever was.”

  I can’t help the smile that takes over my face. Her answer means she’s at least considering jumping through all my hoops.

  “Paul told me I was only enabling Calvin and Callie by helping them through college. That it was time I either kicked them out, since Calvin was over eighteen and Callie was almost eighteen, or that I moved in with him and let them fend for themselves. He wanted to ask me to marry him, and he thought that telling me to stop being there for my family would let me know he was serious about starting a life with me. A life for us, as he put it.”

  He thought telling Genny that giving up her family would prove he was serious about her? Maybe Genny didn’t tell me, but Callie made it very clear that family is Genny’s number one priority. And the way Genny jumped up to call the pharmacy about her sister’s meds only proves it.

  “He didn’t want to prove he was serious about starting a life with you. He wanted proof you were serious about him. He wanted you to put him first instead of your family. There’s no other reason for him to ask that of you.”

  “Thank you!” she cries, obviously not used to having someone on her side.

  “First of all, I would never ask that of you, Genny. Never. Family comes first to me, too, whether it’s my parents, my sister, or my nephews. Second, you don’t have to worry about me. I’m twenty-nine years old and have been on my own for ten years. I’m pretty self-sufficient at this point. You don’t need to take care of me, or worry about my feelings, or what I’m thinking, because I’ll tell you. I respect that you have other obligations and can’t give me all your time. I’m not asking for a lot, G. I’m just asking for you to give me a chance.”

  “To give you a chance by not seeing anyone else, in any way, and dating you.”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you realize how crazy I’m going to get without any kind of stress relief?”

  I pull her back against me, the way she was, with her back to the TV, facing me. “When you say stress relief, are you talking about your boytoys, as Callie put it?”

  “Yes. They’re my stress relief.”

  “Is that all sex is to you?”

  “Yeah,” She shrugs without an ounce of guilt or shame.

  I might have my work cut out for me with this girl. There’s got to be another way for her to cope with stress, though. Wait, there is, isn’t there? “I thought you were a girl who could take care of that yourself.”

  “It’s not the same,” she states with wide, innocent eyes. “Not even a little.”

  “I could understand that if you had an emotional connection with these guys, but if you’re just using them for sex… Don’t some girls prefer their battery-operated boyfriends to the real deal?”

  “I don’t have anything like that.”

  An idea pops into my head. “What if I get you one? Try it out and let me know if you think you can give up the boytoys then. And when we get to the point where I’m your only boytoy, you can show me how you use it.”

  She chews on her lip again, considering that idea. I should turn away, stop staring at the way her teeth are so white aga
inst the pink of that soft flesh. Stop imagining what it would feel like to pull it into my own mouth.

  “You wanna buy me a vibrator?” she cautiously asks, clarifying my offer.

  “If it’ll help you stop seeing other guys, yes.”

  “I’m pretty sure friends don’t buy friends vibrators.”

  “I’m trying to be more than your friend, G,” I explain gently. “In a way we can both live with.”

  Watching her stare move from my eyes down to my mouth, I pray she agrees to this, because I’m dying to kiss her. And knowing how badly she wants me to isn’t helping.

  “So, if Chad texts me…”

  “Ignore it. Better yet, text him. Tell him you’re seeing someone, so you’re no longer available.

  “And I can try out this vibrator before making up my mind.”

  Doing my best to not picture her trying it out, I tell her, “Yeah, but don’t take too long.”

  “If I agree to this, can I kiss you tonight?”

  Will I be able to kiss her and let her go if she doesn’t stop fucking Chad and whoever else she texts? Will I be able to stop seeing her? Because let’s face it, I won’t have to just stop kissing her. I haven’t known Genny as her own person, instead of one of the girls that randomly waltz in and out of my apartment at odd hours, for very long. But there’s something about her that makes me feel like I have to figure out all her secrets. That I need to know everything about her.

  I wonder if taking this fork in the road we’re on right now is detouring us away from a disastrous ending, or taking us closer to it.

  “Not tonight, G. Once you promise me you’ll stop seeing whoever else you’re seeing. Then you can kiss me.”

  “I’m not really seeing anyone…”

  I correct myself for her sake, even if we’re both very aware of what I meant. “Then not until you stop fucking everyone you’re fucking. No sex. No kissing. No dates or secretive texts. I’m not gonna share you, G. In any way. You’re either all in this, or you’re not in it at all, but that’s for you to decide.”

  “You’re awfully demanding for our first date.”

  The corners of my mouth tip up in a smile. Now I know I’ve got her thinking the way I want her to. “I thought you didn’t date.”