Instinct » Liam Dunbar [Book 3]

11

CHAPTER ELEVEN » FEAR
"That's not dinner."

☽

"Leaving so soon?"

I cast my gaze to the side, pausing for a short moment before turning my head. Sunlight penetrated through the small slit in the curtain, bathing my room, and him, in a warm amber glow.

The white sheets that were wrapped around him shifted as he began to sit up properly. Teasingly, he raised his eyebrows, running a hand through his dishevelled brown hair so indifferently, it was if he couldn't care less – which, thinking about it, he probably couldn't.

"Gotta get to school," I responded nonchalantly, my fingers fiddling to do up the last few buttons of my shirt. "Some of us don't have the pleasure of staying in bed all day." A low chuckle left his lips as I reached down for my bag, lifting it over my shoulder. "By the way, you should probably get out of here by midday. Scott should be home by then."

Even though this wasn't a new thing for us, I much preferred sneaking out whilst he was still asleep to avoid any of the awkwardness the situation brought. Today just wasn't my day.

"See you soon then," he said, still watching me with a faint grin on his lips. It wasn't even a question anymore. We both knew it was guaranteed that, at some point, I'd be calling him up again looking for a quick fix.

"If you're lucky," I said casually, catching Theo's eye one last time before I left my bedroom, heading down the stairs and out the door, just like I'd done countless times before.

~

The shrill sound of Scott's whistle rang through my ears, the noise feeling as if it was bouncing around my skull. In response, I found myself wincing, feeling sensitive to the sound.

"Do you have to keep blowing on that thing?" I snapped at my brother, whose grin didn't even falter as he turned his attention to me.

"On what?"

"Did I fucking stutter?" I bit back impatiently, struggling to remove my helmet. "Stop with the whistle every five seconds, it's driving me mad."

"Sorry," he said, the apology hardly sounding sincere. "Back on the field, Bex."

"Damn, give me a break, I'm your freaking sister," I grumbled, getting ready to pull my helmet back on.

"Not on the lacrosse field you're not," he replied, his eyes briefly casting back over to the other players.

I rolled my eyes. "Bite me." I was met with three sharp whistles in response, and I huffed, gritting my teeth as Scott flashed me an innocent smile. "Asshole."

With a quick adjustment to my helmet, I ran back into middle of the field where a game was taking place, getting there just in time to stop a shot from heading in the direction of our goal.

"Nice, McCall!" I heard Coach shouting over from the sidelines. I grinned to myself, quickly meeting eyes with my brother, who raised his eyebrows in response, looking impressed. That should shut him up.

Within seconds, I took off running, dodging in and out of the opposing players. I spared a look over at where I needed to go to reach the goal, trying to figure out whether or not I'd make it.

"Bex!"

I glanced over at Liam, who seemed to have just arrived. He was holding his lacrosse stick up in the air, signalling for me to pass the ball. After a moments hesitation, I obliged, watching as he caught it with ease and began taking off down the field.