Free Until Trevor by Aurora Rose Reynolds

cell phone is in my jeans that I had on yesterday, and they’re across the room on a chair. Like my thoughts make it happen, my phone starts ringing. Liz jolts, and then mumbles something, snuggling deeper into my side. I smile, slide out from under her, walk across the room, and grab my phone out of my pocket. “Shit,” I whisper, looking at the screen. Mom is on the display. “One second, Mom,” I whisper into the phone. I pull on a pair of sweats, holding the phone between my ear and shoulder. I look at the bed; Liz is still out, but now she’s dragged my pillow to her front and is wrapped around it. I bend, kiss her hair, walk out of the room, and make my way down the hall into the kitchen. I bought my house two years ago. It was the only property I found with the acreage I wanted. I like the house; it’s a fixer-upper with four bedrooms and 2500 sq. feet of ranch-style features. The kitchen is small, the living room is huge, the bedrooms are a good size, and it has a killer basement. Eventually, I'm going to tear down the kitchen’s wall and make it an open-concept floor plan. But I'm taking my time, doing little-by-little. “Hey, Mom,” I say into the phone, pulling out stuff to make coffee.
    “Hey , honey. How’s Liz? Did she get home okay yesterday?”
    “She’s still with me , Mom.”
    “She’s still with you? It ’s seven-thirty in the morning.” If it wasn’t for the concern in her voice, I would have laughed. “What’s going on, Trevor Mayson? So help me—if you hurt that girl...”
    “Jesus , Mom, we’re dating. I took her to the hospital last night. I didn’t want her out of my sight, so I brought her here rather than digging through her shit to find her keys to stay at her place.”
    “Oh…okay,” she pauses, probably stunned that Liz and me are together.
    “Thanks for letting me know where your loyalties lie, Mom.”
    “Oh , stop. She’s a good girl.” I know my mom is rolling her eyes; we have always been close. I see movement out of the corner of my eye. I turn my head to see Liz standing in the doorway. Her hair is all over the place; my shirt is too big for her—about the same length as her dress from last night—and she looks adorable.
    “Hey , baby. How are you feeling?” She shrugs, looking at the coffee pot. I can tell she’s still half-asleep. “Come here.” I say softly, holding up my arm. She stumbles to me, rubbing her face into my chest, and I kiss her hair. “Did you sleep okay?” I ask quietly, and she nods her head. Then I hear my mom sob into the phone. “Mom, you okay?”
    “Perfec t.” She pauses a second. “Great, I’ll let you go and call your brothers to tell them you’re going to be late to the site.”
    “Yeah , alright.”              
    “I'm happy for you , honey.” She says quickly before hanging up. I sigh, tossing my phone on the counter. Mom’s going to be flipping out. I lift Liz’s face, checking her over. There is no swelling or redness; she looks much better, but not knowing what her reaction was from still worries me.
    “You look a lot better .”
    “Why am I here?” she asks, then bites her lip like she didn’t mean to ask.
    I want to say , “Because this is where you will be from now on.” But I know better. Plus, right now, she has her body pressed against mine, and I didn’t even have to corner her. “You were really sick last night. I didn’t want you to be alone.”
    “Oh,” she mumbles. I smile, bending my head to touch my mouth to hers. When I pull away, her eyes slowly open. I love that look.
    I pull her closer ; both my hands go to her lower back above her ass. I pull up my tee. She shivers as my fingers run along her smooth skin. “You need to call the specialist and set up an appointment for as soon as possible while I make us something to eat,” I say. Her eyes narrow, then she scrunches her nose up, shaking her head.
    “It’s too early for you to start being bossy.” I smirk,