Infini (Aerial Ethereal #2)(67)

The moment I clasp my cell, the ring ends.

Three missed calls from… “It’s my aunt,” I tell Luka and immediately return her call, worried that something happened to the baby. Her due date is still far away.

I press my phone to my ear, shivering more.

Luka tosses me a hotel robe and adjusts the air conditioner. I watch him also simultaneously slip on boxer-briefs and check his phone—multitasking too well. We both have good hand-eye coordination, but he can’t juggle more than four balls at once.

I like having a leg up on him somewhere.

He also can’t spin a basketball on his finger for more than two seconds. That, I won’t ever let him live down.

I put on the soft cotton robe, knotting the ties around my waist, and then the phone line clicks.

“There you are,” Aunt Lucy says, voice more tight than usual.

“Is everything okay?” I sit on the edge of the bed.

“You tell me.”

I don’t understand her vagueness at all. “What do you mean?” I look up as Luka flashes me his cellphone screen.

Are you with my sister? Be honest. – Brenden Luka shakes his head like he has no clue what to say, and he takes a seat next to me, hunched forward, hand on his mouth in thought.

Why wouldn’t Brenden just text me?

Maybe he’s afraid I’ll lie to him. I don’t want that type of relationship with my brother, but I feel boxed in. I’m barred from giving him the truth by Aerial Ethereal, so I have to lie.

“How are you doing?” Aunt Lucy clarifies. It must be hellishly late on the east coast, so I don’t know why this question would warrant multiple late-night calls.

“Are you okay?” I ask her, trying to make sure of this. “The baby—”

“Is fine. I called about you.” She must shift her phone because her voice is muffled and I hear chatter in the background. Clearer, she says, “Devon says hello.”

“Hi, Devon.” I swallow. “I’m fine too.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Because your brother thinks you’re using cocaine again, and between you and me—we both know that you never started, so tell me what’s really going on.”

My face falls. “Why would he think that?”

Next to me, Luka flashes his cell again.

I’m not trying to grill you. I’m worried about Bay. She’s been acting off lately. Text me back. – Brenden “Apparently you’ve been standoffish at work towards him,” Aunt Lucy says, “and every time he asks if you’d like to hang out, you say you’d rather be alone.”

I pause and decide to tell a partial truth. “I’m just stressed out. Infini’s new choreographer is really demanding, and I haven’t felt social lately. It’s nothing to worry about. I’ll talk to Brenden tomorrow and tell him that.”

Aunt Lucy is quiet.

My stomach is in my throat.

Luka is typing on his phone, forming a response to Brenden.

“Aunt Lucy?” I say.

“Are you still taking your antidepressants?”

“Yes,” I say firmly. “I haven’t had a really bad low in a while.”

Luka’s eyes flit to me for the briefest second. His concern is noted, too.

She lets out a strained breath. “You’re not skirting around the truth because I’m pregnant, right? Because that’s not right. I’m able to handle your emotions and mine because I care about you. And you’re my responsibility. Understand?”

I smile faintly. “You’re going to be a great mom.”

Her voice softens. “Thank you, but talk to me.”

“I’ve been honest,” I say.

“Will you FaceTime me?”

Right now? My eyes widen as I look around the hotel room. Sheets tangled, covers askew, and clothes litter the floor. “I’ll FaceTime tomorrow,” I say. “I promise.”

Aunt Lucy hesitates but then says, “Tomorrow. I’m setting a reminder on my phone.”

“Okay. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

I almost smile as we hang up, but Luka presses send on a text that I start reading.

I don’t know anything. Sorry, dude. – Luka I give him a look. “That’s your response?”

“We literally exchanged numbers two days ago, only because I left my keycard and got locked out of the suite. I’m not exactly your brother’s best friend.”

Correction: they’ve never been friends. Friendly, maybe. But in New York, all invites from both sides were rejected.

“He’s going to text you back,” I tell him.

Luka rereads the text and shakes his head.

“If you read your message a certain way, it comes across dry and rude.”

Luka laughs.

“I’m not kidding.” I groan because now I’m smiling. “Luka.”

He extends his arm. “I’m not sarcastic.” His humored smile shouldn’t be that beautiful or contagious, but it is. A hundred percent.

“Brenden doesn’t know you that well.”

On cue, Luka’s phone pings in his palm.

Are you fucking with me? – Brenden Luka hands me the phone. “You text him back.”