Free Trust Me by Melanie Walker

raspy voice of his doing amazing things to my skin. And he was just on the phone. Shit, I was toast.
    “Hey. Sorry, I crashed and just woke up when your message came through.”
    “Sorry I woke you… wanna call me tomorrow?”
    “No. If you want to talk, so do I.”
    “The fact you’re willing to talk to me makes me want to talk all night.” He cleared his throat, “I’m sorry I made you think I was ignoring you, Carrie. I just got busy.”
    There was no way I was admitting to my earlier meltdown. No, I needed to play this off like I totally had it together. “I wasn’t worried Chad.”
    His laugh came through the phone in a low rumble. It was possibly the most fuckable laugh I have ever heard. “Liar.”
    I feigned innocence. “What? No, Chad, really, I barely thought of you.”
    He laughed again, the sound rolling over my skin like satin. Right then I wanted to know what he was wearing, what his room looked like… I wanted everything so that I could see him clearly in my mind’s eye when we were apart.
    “Damn, Carrie…” I could hear him shifting in his bed. “I’m wearing boxers. Only. You can see my room anytime and I love that you want to think of me like that.”
    Holy fuck! I was so tired and distracted that I said all that out loud.
    “Now tell me what you’re wearing because that’s all I need. I know what your room looks like.”
    Whoa . We were going there I guess.
    “Tank top and boxer shorts.” I said with nerves and a smile.
    “Mmm. Nice.”
    “Well, I guess that cuts out some of the loneliness.” I said and shifted to get more comfortable.
    “Not even close, Carrie. The only thing that would help that is if you were here with me now.” He wasn’t joking, his voice was dead serious.
    “Well, I would be there if I didn’t have a crazy brother to contend with.”
    Chad said nothing after taking an audible breath and I immediately felt like a fool. “I wasn’t inviting myself over, I mean… I didn’t…”
    “No backing out of that now, Carrie. I’m on my way to you, baby, meet me outside.” With that the phone went dead.
    Oh, shit.
    I jumped from my bed and immediately got dressed before I started primping my face for this little tryst, or whatever it was. Was he coming over so we could have sex? What was the playbook for after midnight meet-ups? Whatever it was, there was no way I was backing out.
    I opened my bedroom door to see if there were any noises coming from Noah’s room. When I heard nothing for three agonizing minutes I tip-toed across the hall towards the stairs. I jumped about a hundred feet and screamed bloody murder when Noah opened the bathroom door just as I was creeping by it.
    “What the fuck, Noah?” I screamed and jumped back grasping my chest.
    “What!” He asked with glazed eyes and a dopey smile on his face. What the fuck was up with him.
    “Are you drunk?” I asked and stepped closer where I could get a better look at his face.
    “No, just got home from work. It was busy, I’m beat.”
    He was lying to me. Bald face lying, and that was not something we did. “Bullshit, Noah.” My voice went harsh immediately and I gripped his chin forcing him to look at me. “What is wrong?” I asked through clenched teeth.
    “Back off, Carrie! Damn!”
    Noah never talked to me like that, like a child in need of punishment. I took in the glassy eyes and the fact that he was a pale shadow of the brother I knew and loved, and I knew. I dropped my stare to his hands and saw the needle and spoon, a spoon that was now burnt and wet with a slimy brown substance that I had seen too many times to be fooled.
    “Oh my god, Noah.” I gasped and stepped back from him completely disgusted. “No, no, no, no, no!” I screamed and smacked his hands when his loot scattered to the floor. I pushed him back and he hit the wall hard. “Why?!?! For fuck’s sake, Noah, why?!”
    “It’s under control, Carrie. Fuck, calm down.” He was so calm, his high keeping him