Page 45 of Late Bloomer
Pepper is looking at me, smile broad and cheeks rosy, one hand cupping the back of her neck as she continues to laugh.
And damn if that look doesn’t undo me, my heart bottoming out to my knees, then bouncing up to my throat. With a cheeky glare, I hold her eyes, leaning into the morbid and digging my fork into the cake, bringing the big toe to my mouth. I pause, lips parted, staring at her for a beat longer, then pop the whole thing in my mouth and lick my lips.
Like I’d hoped, Pepper laughs again, that smile growing.
And I realize I’ll play any type of fool to make her laugh.
Chapter 16PEPPER
Stuffed full of cake, we’re sprawled around the living room, Tal and Diksha cuddled together on the plush love seat while Olivia and Ophelia lean against the coffee table, their feet outstretched toward the blazing fire Tal started as the cool mountain evening curled around the cabin. Alfie and Evens sit cross-legged facing each other near the small Bluetooth speaker, quietly arguing about what song to cue up next. Alfie’s voice rises a notch, a stern and serious look on his face as he points at Evens, who lets out a deep rumble of laughter before leaning close and giving Alfie a kiss.
And Opal…
Well, I can’t seem to take my eyes off Opal.
Right now, she’s sitting on the arm at the opposite end of the couch as me, back curved and knees pulled up to her chin as her attention flits around the room.
There’s been endless movement in the cabin all evening, butmy brain is only capable of registering her. The twitch of the corner of her mouth in that hesitant smile she has, the pattern she taps out on the soda can clutched close to her chest as she watches the party from the corner, the way she regularly pulls her bizarre hat down her ears and bites her bottom lip as she listens to other people talk. The sway of her full hips when she moves.
Which is all truly ludicrous because I’m still not even sure if I like the damn woman. It’s probably the wine going to my head.
It’s funny; Opal always seems like a live wire to me, this electric current of uncontrollable energy. But in the group she’s… quiet. Reserved. Trying to sink into herself.
It makes me want to ask her why.
Again, ridiculous.
“All right.” Alfie’s voice cuts through the room. “Since Evens has decided to die on the hill of bad music choices, let’s get to know each other a bit better, shall we?” he says, crawling toward the center of the room.
“So, I can tell Opal is bi, but what about you two?” Alfie says, looking at Ophelia and Olivia. “Are you—” He dangles a limp wrist at shoulder height, making the sisters laugh.
Opal rolls her eyes, her lips twitching at the corners. “I call bullshit.”
“Tell me I’m wrong,” Alfie says with a sniff.
“It’s a lucky guess at best,” Opal says, narrowing her eyes as her smile wins out. “How can youtell? You hardly know me.”
“I have an excellent sense of the sapphics,” Alfie says with a level of righteous indignation.
“He saw your bi flag bumper sticker on the way in,” Evens says, smacking Alfie on the shoulder.
“Dirty liar,” Opal gasps, pointing at Alfie. Her smile grows, and the hesitancy of the last few hours slowly disappears. She opens up like a flower unfurling its petals to the sun.
Ah. There’s the you I missed.
Wait… where the hell didthatcome from?
It’s Alfie’s turn to roll his eyes. “Fine. Yes. But the alarming amount of dents on your car, your cuffed jeans, and the fact that you greet me with a peace sign every time I see you are all pretty good confirmations of your leaning.”
“I’d argue bisexuality is more a straddling,” Ophelia says, bobbing her head from side to side. “But yeah, the three of us are the Devlin family bi-trifecta. Such a novelty we’re mentioned during hometown tours.”
“A statue is being erected in our honor,” Olivia adds. “The three of us, not sitting straight.”
Opal giggles. “The artist is rendering us at our most iconic moment in high school when we all had the Timothée Chalamet haircut.”
“It looked best on me,” the sisters say in unison. I choke on a sip of wine.
“Are any of you seeing someone?” Alfie asks. Only he can make nosiness seem endearing.
