Page 29 of Veiled in Brick

I huffed out another quick breath, crossing my arms across my chest. “That’s all?”

“I did not know that was a no-no,” he stated. “Really.”

All I could respond with was a quiet, “Okay.”

“Okay?” James asked.

“Okay,” I repeated myself. “No more sleeping in my bed?”

“After this show? Absolutely not.” He shook his head hard from side to side, and I finally felt as though my heart rate had returned to normal. James snatched his glasses from the bedside table and placed them on top of his head in the way that one would their sunglasses, tucking his hair away from his face. He inquired hesitantly, “You good?”

“Uh huh.”

“Can I approach you now?” he asked with a note of sarcasm.

I gave him a cautious look and replied, “Approach away.”

He ambled up to me slowly and when I was within reach, he bent down to give me a soft, chaste kiss.

“I had a good time last night,” he said, looking down at me with a suggestive grin.

I sighed audibly. “Yeah, yeah—I did too.”

“I’m gonna go,” he told me, pointing his thumb over his shoulder to my bedroom door. “I won’t stay for coffee. Or ask if you want breakfast. You sure you’re good?”

I begrudgingly smiled back at him and nodded, saying, “Okay, yeah—fine; I’m good,” as I followed him out of my bedroom door. The smell of perfectly brewed coffee reached my nose at the moment the door opened, and I called out, “Oh, no—wait, Jay, wait—”

“AH!”

James jumped backward and into me at the moment of Claire’s shocked scream, and I muttered, “Fuck.”

I considered retreating back into the comfort of my bedroom and forgetting that this entire morning had even happened, but I knew somewhere deep within myself that pretending would do me no good. So, with that thought, I pushed on James’ lower back to usher him out of the doorway and into the kitchen.

I reluctantly looked to the dining table and saw Claire sitting in her usual chair, messy hair in a large bun, with alarmingly wide, blue eyes bouncing between James and me. Luke sat next to her, trying but failing to avoid eye contact with us both. His hair flopped over his forehead as he took a tentative sip of his steaming mug. The third presence’s blonde eyebrows had retreated into his messy fringe. Liam was perched at rapt attention at the head of the table directly facing us, his shocked expression glued on James.

“Erm—hi, brother,” Luke greeted James quietly.

Luke flashed me an apologetic look, grey eyes pinching at the corners as he ran a hand through his hair.

“Um—hi,” James told Luke, then redirected his attention to the red-headed firecracker beside him. “Morning, Claire.” He shifted his gaze ever-so-slightly to Liam, and smiled. “Liam.”

Liam’s dark, alarmed eyes flashed to me, and I mouthed, ‘What are you doing here?’

His lips parted, and then he promptly shut them as he looked back to James with the same wide eyes. I adjusted my weight from foot to foot at the sight of his expression for what felt like a nervous current of electricity had begun to run underneath my skin.

Claire screeched, “You spent the night?!”

“Don’t even get me started,” James murmured.

Claire asked, “Do—do you want coffee, Jay? There’s some over there—”

“No-no,” James replied quickly. “I’m good—definitely good. Was just on my way out.”

“I’ll walk you,” I announced quickly, pushing him along and keeping my eyes to the floor as I ushered him to the door. I opened it and froze, for there was something on the ground before us. I whined, “Again?”

I bent down to pick up a white vase. It was tall. Slender. With a triangular base, the ceramic sides twisted in a spiral toward the top and ended with a circular lip just large enough to house a quarter. And it contained one single yellow rose.

I carried it in one hand with a grimace, and James held up his palms in defense.

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