The Wrong Brother

Chapter 22 - Can I stay?

I suddenly feel the urge to talk to Bennett, so without thinking too much, I go to his name on the contacts list and dial his number.

I wait nervously for him to pick up and I start biting my nails as I wait.

Although it's still early, it's New Year's eve, so he must be busy. Busy with Kate...

This is a bad idea.

"Alex?" I feel like a dejavù of that time when I called him by mistake when I wanted to tell Dylan how I feel.

Things have changed so much since then.

"Hey, how are you?" I casually ask.

"I'm fine. Are you ok?" I stay silent for a second. "Alex?"

"Sorry, I'm here. I'm fine, I'm at some party and I just... I guess I just wanted to talk to you." I say, honestly.

He doesn't say anything for a moment and I don't know what to expect next.

"Are you mad?" I finally ask.

"No, I'm just thinking." His voice is soft and kind of comforting.

"About what?" I ask, my voice failing for a second. Call it anxiety.

"About what to say to you. You're at a party and you call me, I don't know how to respond to that."

I consider that for a second. His tone changed, like he's not happy and I feel bad for not considering it from his perspective. I'm with his brother and I call him.

If it was the opposite, I'd be pretty upset.

''Sorry, you're right. I shouldn't have called you, I just didn't know who else to talk to.'' There's a long silence before he speaks.

''You can call me whenever you want, even if you don't have a reason to.'' I nod and smile relieved, even if he can't see me. "Tell me, what are you doing?"

I smile as I press the phone against my ear.

"I'm sitting on this bench outside the house where the party is happening." I look around thinking what to tell him about this place.

"It's cold, you should go inside." I snort a laugh. I find it funny that Bennett is worried about me even in a situation like this.

He is unexpectedly adorable and I wish we were hanging out today. It would be so much better than being at this party.

It's not like I'm spending time with Dylan anyway.

"I don't want to go inside. It's too crowded. What are you doing?" I ask the same question he did.

"Reading." Of course he is.

"Reading? Reading what?"

"It's a book called Biochemical Molecular Aspects." I laugh out loud. "Don't laugh. That's actually very interesting".

"I'm sure it is. Maybe you can explain it to me someday." Holy shit, did I just flirt with Bennett?

No, of course not. It just came out wrong.

"Listen, you should go find Dylan. He must be looking for you. I need to get ready for New Year anyway."

Shit. He probably thinks I flirted, but I swear it wasn't intentional. I don't know if I feel embarrassed or if I should pretend it didn't happen.

"Right. I'm sorry I called you." I say in an embarrassed tone.

"Don't be sorry. Be careful, ok?'' His once again soft voice makes me close my eyes for a second before answering to him.