RISKY BUSINESS

Chapter 17

MAY,
LAVEROUNE STREET, THE HOOD RESIDENCE
b r o o k l y n l e s l i e c o o p e r
❦❧❦

I was currently sat on one of the couches in the living room of Calum Hood's house, unaware of if he was even home or not. I had gotten Mali's number off Luke and texted her asking when she'd like to borrow my movie, and she got back with a day and an offer for me to join. Of course I accepted, 10 Things I Hate About You was no movie to miss.

I was waiting for Mali to return with food and drinks, and even though I'd offered to help her out she insisted for me to sit and wait. Said she wanted to treat her guest, and I was overly grateful for that. Though, I wouldn't have minded giving her a hand at all.

While I waited, I sat on the edge of the couch with my knees pressed together and my fingers fondling each other over in my lap. I was biting down on my bottom lip at the thought of seeing Calum, and even just thinking about him gave me a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach. I didn't know why it mattered so much to me; the possibility of seeing him. I didn't think it was because I liked him. Because I didn't. He just . . . I don't know, made me feel certain ways, and it bothered me. I guess that was it.

I was starting to doubt I'd even see him at all when Mali re-entered the room, followed by surprise surprise Calum Hood! She was holding a bottle of Fanta in one hand and cups in the other, and Calum had his arms filled with chip packets, lollies and I think I even saw a packet of TimTams.

"Hey, Cooper." He grinned as he stalked over to the coffee table and dumped all of the food down on it, ripping open the TimTam packet and taking two before falling onto the couch across from the one I was on; on the other side of the coffee table.

"Hi." I replied, trying to ease the tightness in my throat by clearing it softly.

Mali poured Fanta in two of the plastic cups, then came over to sit next to me and handed me one. "I convinced Calum to watch with us. It was hard, since he reckons it's a lame movie— even though he's never seen it before," she shot a hard glare over to Calum when she said the last sentence, then got the remote from the armrest beside her. "But he's gonna give it a chance, which I'm thankful for. Love ya' Cal."

Calum chuckled from across the room and grinned at his sister. "I know you do. Love ya' too, sis. Now can we watch this movie so I can prove you wrong by saying how bad it is?"

Mali scoffed then pressed play on the remote, and the movie that had been waiting for us on their plasma TV started playing. I sat back and got comfortable, sipping on my Fanta with a small grin on my lips. I couldn't believe this side of Calum. This friendly, gushy, I love my family Calum. I'd never witnessed it before. Obviously because I'd never been to his house— but I couldn't lie, the bond he and Mali had was cute. It made me yearn for the sibling I never got.

During the movie, I kept sneaking glances over at Calum— but only because I wanted to see his reaction to certain scenes, not because I just wanted to look at him. That wasn't the case at all. I'd look over to see if he was encased in a certain scene, like a romantic one, or when one of the boys would say something cute. I did it all to see if he cared, to see if the movie interested him. But I got nothing every time. He was hard to read.

A few times he would catch my gaze, but he never did anything. He'd just look right into my eyes until I felt my cheeks grow hot and would look away first. I always looked away first, never him. I think that happened three times. Too many, if you asked me.

By the end of the movie, we'd finished the whole bottle of Fanta and all of the snacks. After Mali packed the disk back into its case, she placed it on the coffee table and looked over at Calum with a bright smile. "So bro, what did you think? You looked pretty into it, didn't he Brooklyn?"