Liam's House

I shoved another handful of potato chips into my mouth. Crunching loudly, I knew I should call it quits. Liam had practically vacuumed a bag himself, so I didn’t feel too bad. Then again, Liam also worked out and could afford the extra calories. Glancing down at myself, I pressed a finger into my belly. There was a little give there. I wasn’t fat, but eating like I was… My gaze turned over to Liam who was absorbed in his gaming. He had changed out of the button-down he wore for school into a more casual t-shirt. He made it seem a size too small. His constant weightlifting was apparent as his muscles went a step beyond simple tone. Not a bulky muscle-head, but he did have muscle. The strong lines of his jaw were clenched tightly as he focused… on getting his ass kicked. Unquestionably, Liam was Kaylee’s type.

What the fuck was wrong with me? I swear my brain was broken. There was zero chance of that happening, especially since Kaylee and I were dating now. I had nothing to worry about. Right? Right. A tiny voice itched at the back of my mind, whispering a simple question to my insecurity. If that was the case, why had I searched for his name in Kaylee’s partner history? Why had seeing the name Liam filled me with such dread before realizing it was a different person?

Banishing the negative thoughts, I glanced back down at myself. Maybe I should start working out too. I never saw a point since I hated it and wasn’t trying to attract ladies' attention. But if Kaylee liked it—

“Fuck! This chick fucking hacks. I know she does.”

“Or you just suck,” I said, laughing as I released hold of my thoughts and focused on the present. “Come on. My turn.”

He tossed me the control. “Fine by me. I’m going to grab more chips. Want any? More soda?”

‘Yes, please,’ my stomach shouted happily. I shook my head. “I’m good. Thanks.”

He shrugged and left me to get my ass kicked, which I did. I never was any good at fighting games. Still, I had a few close fights.

After he got back, we switched a few times as we cheer and laughed at each other and our failures and successes. A few hours passed before I noticed something. It was a banging noise with a low… growling? I think Liam saw me looking around because he chuckled, snapping open a new can of soda. Damn guy was lucky. If I ate as much junk food as he did, I’d be six hundred pounds.

“Faith is home.”

“Huh?”

He pointed to the wall behind the TV. “She has a thing for noises. Squeaky mattress, bed thumping against the wall, that sort of thing. Just ignore it. It’ll stop in a few minutes since most of the guys she brings home never last that long.”

My eyes moved from the wall to him a few times. Now that I knew what the noise was, I could clearly make out the individual noises. The deep thump was rhythmic, which should have made things obvious. As for the low growling noises, it was voices. One, really. I didn’t know if it was Faith or her… friend… but one of them was really into it. Liam sipped at his soda, flicking through the character select screen as if everything was normal.

“That doesn’t bother you?”

“Hmm?” he asked before peeling his eyes away from the screen. “Oh, Faith? No. I can go tell them to keep it down if you want.” I quickly shook my head. I think that would make things worse because they would know we heard them. He chuckled. “I think she gets it from Mom. May-ma always complains when Mom brings guys home since she doesn’t know the word quiet.” I always forgot he had two moms. Since Kaylee was really the only other person I hung out with, it was easy to forget that her and my family weren’t the norm.

“Must be rough being the only guy around here.”

“It’s not so bad. The three have guys over from time to time, but it’s not all that bad. Paige probably has more guys over than these three combined.” Ugh. I didn’t need to be reminded of her right now. Who knew what type of debauched depravity she was up to. “Mom has had two steady guys for pretty much my entire life. Between the two of them, I suppose I had more of a father-figure than most boys.”

As Liam started another match, cursing as he started losing from the start, I felt my phone buzz in my pants. Taking it out, I found a text from Kaylee waiting. Taking a deep breath, I unlocked my phone and went to the messenger. There was only one word.

Thanks.

Beside it was a little heart. I glanced over to Liam, who was absorbed in the game.

For what?

You know what. I swear I’ll make it up to you. You get a ride home from Paige?

I was about to say I was fine when I glanced over at the wall where Faith and her mystery partner were still going at it. An evil thought popped up in my head. Not waiting for my better judgment to talk me out of it, I quickly typed it out and sent it.

Went home with Liam. Figured now would be a good time to catch up with him. Bonus, Faith is here too so we are… catching up.

It was mean of me considering Kaylee still believed Faith and I had something in the past. I wasn’t feeling too guilty considering what she dropped on me today. Staring at the phone waiting for a response, I felt myself grow nervous as the seconds ticked by. Maybe I should clarify…

I turned off the screen and shoved the phone back in my pocket. It was only a small taste of what I felt. If she didn’t text me back, I’d clear it up tomorrow morning.

Finally dying, he set the controller in his lap and looked over. “That Kaylee?”

“Yeah.”

“So why didn’t she take you home?” I didn’t say anything. “Sean?” He picked up on the reason faster than I thought he would. “I got to say, you’re a braver man than I am.”

No idea why he said that. The stuff Liam seemed to deal with was tougher than anything I faced. “Why’s that?”

“Dating Kaylee. Don’t get me wrong, she’s an awesome girl and you two are great together, but come on. She’s freaking Kaylee Webb. Guys are always all over her.” He shook his head. “Me? I’d go for a ‘cute’ sort of girl over a smoking-hot sex pot. Always figured those super-hot types get lots of propositions from guys, you know? I guess any girlfriend is going to have her flings, but at least someone cute is going to get overlooked next to one of those goddess types.” He grinned, punching me in the arm. “But not my pal, Scott. Got to go for the goddess type right off the bat, eh?”

“Yeah…”

“Hey, it all depends on the girl though right? Kaylee never seemed like the boy-crazy type of girl, so you lucked out.” I chuckled nervously. If only that were the case. Liam still lived inside his bubble of ignorance regarding Kaylee. I envied him in that regard. It also made me feel a little better since he had also been clueless about her partner count. The painful slap on the back shook loose the negative thoughts.

“Ow!”

“Cheer up man. One or two guys here and there is normal. Even if Sean is the current flavor of the month for the girls, he has zero interest in dating. Besides, you could be dating someone like Ellie.” I chuckled, rubbing the back of my neck. Now that he mentioned her, I wondered how the two compared in the unique partner statistic. Before we started dating, no way in hell I would have believed Kaylee was anywhere close to Ellie. Now, I wasn’t so sure who had more partners.

Ellie. Definitely Ellie.

Our conversation was interrupted by a muffled yell from the other room. Well, at least that was over. Liam handed me the controller and I browsed the character select. I was about to start when there was a knock on the door.

“Yeah?” Liam shouted.

The door opened. Faith was standing there in an oversized t-shirt. Her black hair was matted by the sweat on her face, sticking in places. She looked like she had just gone through a strenuous workout. “Hey, do you have any more cond—” She froze when she saw me. I had to admit, I looked. The t-shirt may have covered things, but there wasn’t a lot left to the imagination. My eyes were especially drawn to the two points where her nipples pressed against the shirt.

Her eyes went wide, mouth froze in an ‘O.’ Already, her face was going red. “S-S-Scott! S-since when—”

“I brought him over to hang out,” Liam said, grunting as he got up out of the bean chair he was lounging in. “How many you need?” he asked as he dug around in his desk drawer. Faith didn’t answer him. Instead, she was still staring at me. I felt bad for some reason. She was clearly mortified by my presence.

“Faith?”

“N-Never mind,” she said as she regained her senses. The door slammed shut on her way out.

“Well…” I said, staring at the door as if it would open again.

“Rethinking things?” He chuckled as he closed his desk drawer. “Might want to pick up your jaw off the floor.”

I scrunched my nose, giving him a dirty look. “Dude. That’s your sister.”

“What she does is her business. Besides, she has a bit of a crush on you.” I wasn’t sure what to do with that. Faith may have been Paige’s best friend, but we didn’t really interact. Besides, Kaylee and I were dating.

“I’m dating Kaylee.”

“That’s true. Kaylee and her are close enough that it could be weird.” Now I felt really bad about that text.

My eyes lingered on his desk drawer. “Why a condom? I thought girls didn’t like those.”

“Faith is weird. I guess she doesn’t like dealing with the mess afterward.” He shrugged. “It’s annoying since they are expensive and she never pays me for them. I guess it was destiny we were born siblings. Her wonderful brother can get her all the condoms she wants,” he said, raising his voice. “Anyways, you gonna pick, or do I get to go again?”

I gave him the controller. Right now, my mind was on that drawer full of condoms. I could kiss Liam right now. Well, no. That was gross. Figuratively. He had given me an idea on how to solve the most pressing issue: sex with Kaylee. I wasn’t exactly sure how all the details would fit together, but I was on the path.