Page 3 of Triplet Tease

Footsteps padded along the hallway, the softsound muffled by the plush carpet. They came to a halt outside myroom.

When I opened my eyes, I saw Harry standing inthe doorway, bare-chested and wearing just blue and white stripedcotton boxers.

He hadn’t open the door; I’d left it wideopen when I’d crashed out in bed.

Harry had probably just woken up shortly beforeme as he still wore his sleepy face, and his hair seemed to be goingin every direction even worse than it normally did. “Any idea whereEton’s gone? He’s not in his room.”

“And you’ve searched the entire apartment?”I meant it as a joke. The place was only a three-bedroom apartment,but still far more extensive than what we’d been used to for thepast six months when the three of us shared a room.

Harry took a few steps closer and rubbed hishand over his face. “He’s gone out.”

“Obviously, he has, if you can’t find himhere,” I said sarcastically.

“So, instead of talking about the obvious, doyou know where he’s gone? Or when he might be back?” Harrystrolled over to the far corner of the room and flopped down in thesolitary armchair.

In no hurry to answer, I yawned again andstretched my arms out to the side this time. “It’s weird howlazing around in bed makes you more tired,” I noted.

“Does it? I’m not tired.”

“I’m not surprised. You were sleeping likea baby when Eton went out; we both looked in on you before he left.You were sleeping like a baby dragon, one with a breathing problem.Some would call it snoring, but we wondered if you had a monster inbed.”

“Har, har. You should be used to my snoringby now.”

“Too right, I am. That’s why I left thedoor open to sleep. It’s eerily quiet in this room on my own.”With a sigh, I rolled on to my side. “I miss all the sounds ofnature. The birds, the insects, the nocturnal cries of wild animals,and the sound of you and Eton snoring, grunting, and farting in yoursleep.”

Harry snorted. “And that’s why you left thedoor open?”

We’d left all the doors open within theapartment since our arrival about twenty-four hours ago, whichprobably was yesterday in any other language. We’d traveled for solong that I’d lost track of the days of the week and our time zone.Not that we’d passed through many time zones. We’d traveled fromsouth to north; it took a few days on the road because we’d comeback to America from a remote rural village in Ecuador.

“Didn’t we all leave all the doors open inthis apartment since we arrived here?”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Harry agreed. “Whenwe were away, I craved being in a place like this. I thought I’dlove having some privacy and a bit of everyday luxury, but now we’rehere, it’s strange having such a large bed in a quiet room all tomyself.” He rubbed his bare feet back and forth over the carpet,and his hands tapped the arms of the chair. “But you, dear brother,seem to be relaxed enough right now.”

“I may appear all comfortably wrapped up inbed, young Harry, but looks can be deceptive.” I plunged my armsunder the warm covers and snuggled under the cozy, cotton comforter.“We’re jet-lagged, out of sync with civilization, and exhaustedby the journey. I’ve dozed a little, but Eton couldn’t relax. Hewent out to acclimatize. He said he wanted to walk the streets, getsome polluted Arlington air in his lungs, and get a feel for thecity.”

“I can’t see any attraction in going to seethe traffic and crowds of people. I had enough of all that just sincewe arrived at the airport,” Harry grumbled. “Cities don’t doanything for me.”

“Yeah. I know what you mean.” It was funnyhow we’d lived in a bustling American city, yet everything thatshould be familiar felt strange and alien after just six monthsaway.

I gazed at the pristine white ceiling so farabove me. “It won’t be long until we’re back in the flow of itlike we’d never been away.”

I said it, but didn’t believe it. I’d goback to the office in New York, where I worked as an architectemployed by our father’s firm. Eton would find work as a vet,having given up the old job to go traveling. As for Harry, he’dhave to figure something out because he didn’t have a job to goback to. I wasn’t sure how easy it would be for him to get a joblike the last one, or even if he’d like to go back into photographyafter what happened to our mom.

Harry hummed while looking at his hands, whichhe restlessly rubbed over his hairy thighs. “This is a lovelyapartment Dad found for us. I can’t fault having all thesebathrooms with bucket loads of steaming hot water.” He soundedwistful. “But I don’t want to get back in the flow of it.”

I knew what went through my brother’s mind asI also missed the old smells and sounds of the animal sanctuary.

Enjoyingthe warmth of my cocoon, I closed my eyes. In my mind, I drifted faraway. In seconds, my mind whooshed straight back to the heart ofEcuador, and it was as vivid as if I were there amid the feast for mysenses. The sounds of natural life in its most basic and natural formbuzzed, whistled, and crunched in my ears. The scent of damp grass,fresh food, and a smoking wood fire brought a new meaning to thephrase,wakeupand smell the coffee.

If sterile cleanliness described an atmosphere,this apartment had it in all its luxurious, but minimalistic,elegance. Fortunately, we were only booked to stay for a few days inArlington, but it would be much the same when we went back to NewYork and picked up our old lives.

We had a problem — we were different men, nolonger the same men who left New York for an adventure and tovolunteer to help at a wildlife sanctuary six months ago.

“Don’t go back to sleep, bro. It’s themiddle of the day.” Harry broke the spell. “When do you expectEton back?”

“He’ll be back when he wants. He’s a bigboy. We don’t need him here right now.”

“We kinda do need him here soon.” Harryraised a hand to his bristled chin. “I’ve had a message fromDerry about meeting up in a little while. There’s a chance he mightintroduce us to someone high up the food chain today.”

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