THIEVES ━ SHURI UDAKU

▬ eleven: not a date

"I can't say," Caleb answered, wishing he could go back in time and close his big mouth.

"Why not?"

"Because she's my best friend and she told me those things in confidence."

Timothy grinned at him. "So she does talk about me?" he asked and Caleb resisted the urge to curse. He turned away from him and shrugged. "Come on, man. This is important. I like Beth."

Caleb was not impressed. "You like a lot of people, Timothy. Like Kate, Lola, Harry, Emily, Ryan. Do you want me to continue? It's a long list."

"Okay, I do like a lot of people but not like this, Caleb. I genuinely care about her and I want her to be happy. The only reason that I haven't done anything about it is because I thought there was no chance that she felt the same way. I need you to help me out here, Caleb. Please."

Timothy stared at him with pleading eyes and Caleb started at him in the mirror, weighing his choices. There was the possibility that Beth would hate him forever and hurt him even he told Timothy how she felt about him but if he did, they could get together and they'd both be happy and in the grand scheme of things, didn't her happiness outweigh everything else?

"Fine," Caleb said in defeat. Beth was definitely going to punch him in the nuts for this. He turned around and pointed his finger accusingly at his brother. "But you can't be stupid, alright? She could possibly, sort of, maybe really like you but she thinks that you're an idiot and you can't commit to a relationship."

"What? When have you ever known me to not commit?" he asked, feigning ignorance. Caleb stared at him pointedly, not even bothering to answer his question. "Fine, but this is still awesome. I can't believe she likes me, I thought she hated me."

"You mess her up and I mess you up," Caleb threatened. It wasn't as effective as it should have been because despite the fact he was nine months older than Timothy, Caleb was significantly smaller than Timothy and kind of wimpy.

"Not a chance," Timothy assured him with a wink. Caleb rolled his eyes at him and searched in his pockets for his phone, happy to let the uncomfortable subject drop. Timothy peered up at him as he'd just remembered something. "Oh, yeah. You should definitely take some condoms. You might need them."

Caleb was well aware that his brother was just pulling his leg and trying to get a reaction out of him. Not only were Caleb and Shuri too young to be doing what Timothy was implying that they would be doing but they weren't even together. It was a joke, really but that didn't stop the heat from rushing into his cheeks and making him duck his head. "Get out," he said shortly.

Timothy laughed and crossed the room. He turned to leave before glancing back at him. "Don't say I didn't warn you. But hey, if you knock her up, would the child technically be a royal?"

"The door," Caleb ordered, his face flushed. Timothy snorted before exiting the room, the sound of his laughter haunting the hallways. Caleb rolled his eyes and stared at his reflection. Despite the fact that he was being an asshole, his words haunted Caleb's thoughts. Not the baby quip but the assumption that it could be something more. What if it was a date and he gave her the wrong impression? What if he made her think that he didn't like her? He did, he really, really did. What if he wasn't good enough? He wasn't rich or even anywhere in the same class as the princess. What if he want good enough? Shuri deserved the best, that much he knew but what if he wasn't that?

Caleb pushed those thoughts out of his mind. This was not a date and Shuri didn't feel that way about him. She was only helping him out because they were friends and that was what friends did. Friends, yeah, that was good enough for him. It had to. Caleb threw on a hoodie and put his phone into his pocket. He walked out of the door and heard voices coming from down the hall. He neared the living room and heard somebody reply to Tim. It was a female voice, a familiar voice.