Chapter 86 – Signals

After another two bites of cake delivered by my sisters, I've had enough. This is too much. I'm feeling embarrassed and kind of overstimulated being treated like I'm some kind of baby bird who can't feed himself.

You know what? Two can play at this game! Er. Well, three can play at this game!

I pick up my own forkful of cake and turn to Bianca. "Okay, your turn!"

She looks... completely unbothered. Not even a little flustered. She just smirks at my desperate attempt at a counterattack, and then she simply opens her mouth.

I feed her the bite, and she eats it while staring directly into my eyes the whole time. Not breaking eye contact. Not even blinking. She swallows, her throat moving in a way that my teenage brain is filing away for later contemplation, and then she licks her lips. Slowly. Deliberately.

"Mmm. Delicious," she says, her voice low and teasing.

Why is this girl so darn hot?

My brain malfunctions for a moment, and she takes advantage of that to offer me another forkful of cake. "Open up, dork."

I eat it without thinking, my mind still trying to recover from witnessing how attractive Bianca is when she's being intentionally provocative.

Trying to regain any semblance of control over this situation, I turn around with another forkful, ready to feed Selene.

"Me next!" she says brightly, already leaning forward with her mouth open.

I offer her the bite, and she takes it with this pleased little hum that makes me wonder if she practices being this cute or if it's just natural talent.

Her pink eyes light up when she finishes. "Oh my god, this is so good!" She offers another forkful of cake with both hands. "Here! Eat more!"

I sigh internally. Why is this girl so darn cute?

Yeah. I give up. I can't win this. They don't feel embarrassed about this at all, and I just have to accept that this is how we're eating dessert today.

I eat the bite that Selene offers me.

It is good cake though. Mr. Vale doesn't mess around with his desserts.

The next ten minutes devolve into what can only be described as competitive cake feeding. We're all trying to feed each other the most bites. Bianca maintains her whole seductive eating thing, while Selene remains aggressively cheerful about the whole thing, making happy sounds with each bite like she's taste-testing for a food show.

Finally we finish the slices we cut for ourselves and I make my escape back to my room, closing the door behind me like I've just survived a warzone. Which, emotionally speaking, I kind of have.

I settle back at my desk, cracking my knuckles and pulling up my side project.

I'm about an hour into debugging when I hear the front door open downstairs.

"I'm home!" Mom's voice echoes through the house.

"Welcome back!" We all respond in unison.

I hear Selene absolutely bolt down the stairs, her footsteps sound like a small stampede.

Bianca and I follow at a more reasonable pace, emerging from our respective rooms at about the same time.

By the time we reach the living room, Selene has already ambushed Mom with enthusiasm.

"Mom! Mom! Oh my god, you have to see what Adam got us!" She's practically vibrating with excitement as she rushes to the fridge and pulls out what remains of the chocolate cake.

Mom chuckles at Selene's enthusiasm. "Oh, honey! You brought home cake?" She turns to me. "That's so thoughtful of you, sweetie."

She opens her arms, and I accept my fate.

I don't think I'd ever get sick of mom's hugs, even if they are deeply embarrassing. She hugs me and I embrace her back, trying to focus on the maternal warmth and not the fact that my face is literally buried in her cleavage.

"You gotta try it!" Selene continues, already cutting a piece for her. "It's from that fancy café Adam works at!"

"It's actually pretty damn good," Bianca adds.

"Language, sweetheart," Mom says mildly, but she's smiling as she releases me from the hug and takes the plate from Selene. "Well, with reviews like that, how can I refuse?"

She takes a bite, and I watch her eyes light up "Oh wow, this is delicious," she says, her eyes widening. "Where did you say this was from?"

"The Midnight Café," I tell her. "Mr. Vale gave it to me. On the house."

"Well, that was very generous of him. And very sweet of you to think of us." Mom's smile is warm enough to heat the entire house.

"Right?!" Selene practically bounces. "Adam’s the best!"

Seeing my family happy and gushing over the dessert I brought them makes it all worth it. I really do need to bring home more gifts if such simple acts make them this happy. Plus, I'm learning that cake is apparently a powerful emotional currency in this household.

Mental note: Get more cake.

After Mom gives me one more hug that nearly suffocates me, I return to my room, refocusing on my nightly routine.

I do my workout, the usual masochistic cycle of push-ups, crunches, squats, and various other exercises designed to make my muscles hate me. Then I shower, brush my teeth, and go through my nightly facial routine.

After I’m finished with all that, I crack my knuckles, settling back at my desk in fresh clothes, ready to spend a bit more time on my side project before it's time to sleep.

Then I hear a knock on my open door.

I turn to see Bianca standing in the doorway, laptop in one hand, wearing her usual home attire: an oversized black band tee. "You busy?" she asks, already walking in.

"Never too busy for you," I say, spinning my chair to face her.

She raises an eyebrow as she settles onto my bed. "Wow. Laying it on thick tonight, aren't we?"

"Hey, I'm just being honest. You're one of my favorite sisters, after all."

"One of?" Her teal eyes narrow, but there's amusement in them.

Apparently, Selene has the hearing of a bat, because I hear her bedroom door fly open down the hall approximately 0.3 seconds later. She appears in my doorway, pink hair slightly disheveled, eyes bright with competitive sibling energy.

"Did I hear someone talking about favorite siblings?" She looks between us suspiciously. "Because I'm clearly the favorite, right Adam?"

"Uh..." I look between them. "You're both my favorite?"

"Boring answer," Bianca mutters.

"Acceptable answer!" Selene declares, already grabbing her laptop from her room. "I'm joining you guys. This looks cozy."

She plops down next to Bianca on my bed, and I'm suddenly aware that my room has become significantly more crowded. Not that I'm complaining.

For the next hour, we work in comfortable silence. The only sounds are the clicking of keys and the occasional frustrated noise when one of us hits a wall.

I tsk when my program spits out another error message that makes absolutely no sense. The debug console is actively mocking me at this point.

"Fuck this," Bianca mutters under her breath.

"Language!" Selene sing-songs, not even looking up from her laptop.

"We're in Adam's room, not the dinner table. I can say fuck if I want to."

Bianca types aggressively for a few more seconds, then: "Shit. Shit shit shit."

Selene gasps dramatically. "Bianca!"

"What are you, the swear police?" Bianca shoots back.

I can't help but laugh at my sisters’ antics.

Another hour passes. Selene has long since given up on chemistry, now peacefully asleep on my bed, her pink hair splayed out across my pillow. She's curled up like a cat, one hand tucked under her cheek.

I'm about ready to turn in too. My eyes are starting to burn from staring at code, and I've reached that point where I'm more likely to create bugs than fix them.

I stretch my hands above my head, satisfied with the progress I've made tonight. I shut off my computer, then move to sit next to Bianca on the bed.

I glance at her screen. She's working on an English essay, and from the looks of it, she's been staring at the same paragraph for a while.

"How's it going?" I ask quietly, trying not to wake Selene.

Bianca leans into my shoulder and makes this low, sustained sound of frustration: "Mmmnngh."

I snort. "That bad, huh?"

"I fucking hate English," she mumbles into my shoulder. "Why do I need to write five pages about symbolism in a book where the curtains are just blue? Maybe the author just liked blue curtains. Ever think of that?"

"Want me to take a look?"

She's quiet for a moment. "Nah. I'll figure it out."

"You sure? I don't mind—"

"Adam." She pulls back to look at me, and there's something vulnerable in her expression. "I don't want to bother you with my shit. You've already done enough today."

"What?" I put a hand on her head, gently petting her hair. It's soft, the green-tipped ends sliding through my fingers. "Come on, don't say that. You're not bothering me. Seriously, if you need help with anything, just ask. That's what I'm here for."

She looks away, and I can see her biting her lip. When she speaks, her voice is softer than usual. "Thanks. That's... yeah. Thanks."

"Anytime. I mean it."

She looks back at me, and there's this small, genuine smile on her face. "Yeah. I know you do. You're too nice sometimes, you know that?"

Then she pulls me into a hug. And I embrace her back without thinking. She’s warm and soft and smells distinctly of cherries.

We stay like that for a long moment, just existing in this quiet space together.

Then I feel something soft and wet press against my neck.

The sensation sends electricity shooting through my entire body. Every nerve ending lights up at once. My brain immediately goes into overdrive trying to process what just happened because that felt suspiciously like—

She pulls away slowly, and I can see a faint blush coloring her pale cheeks.

"What was—" I start, my voice coming out slightly strangled, but she puts a finger on my lips, silencing me.

Her teal eyes are locked on mine, and there's something in them I can't quite read. Mischief? Affection? A combination of both?

"Shh. Go to sleep, dork." Then she turns back to her laptop like nothing happened.

"...Right. Sleep. That's... I'm gonna do that." I manage to say, still struggling to form coherent thoughts.

Did she just kiss my neck? Why did she do that? What did that mean? Did I imagine it? No, I definitely didn't imagine it because my neck is still tingling and my heart is trying to escape my chest.

My mind is a complete mess as I slowly lie down next to Selene. The moment I do, she unconsciously reaches out, wrapping her arms around me and making this soft, content sound in her sleep.

Bianca reaches over and starts playing with my hair, her fingers gentle and soothing as they run through the strands.

I look up at her, trying to read her expression for any clue about what's going through her mind. She's completely focused on her laptop screen, though that blush is still there, faint but visible.

My eyelids start to feel heavy.

The last thing I see before sleep takes over is Bianca glancing down at me, her expression soft in a way I rarely see, before she quickly looks back at her screen.

Then I drift off, my mind full of questions I don’t have the answer to.