Page 48 of Entirely Yours
I mirror her position, crossing my hands over my stomach. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Thea gazing at my forearms. I might flex slightly for her benefit.
“Most of the time I loved growing up as one of the Bardot siblings. We’re all very close in age, so it really did feel like having built in best friends. I think Mom and Dad did a great job of feeding into our individuality—I never felt like I had to be the same as my siblings. The toughest part about it was being a twin, I think.”
Thea hums in acknowledgment. I like that she’s listening to me. Usually I’m the one listening. I run my hand over my beard and continue.
“Ben and I are… different. There was a time where I felt like that was a bad thing. He and Gabe are so…”
“Loud?” Thea suggests.
“Yeah,” I huff. “Larger than life, for sure. I typically didn’t require as much attention as they did so I kind of got lost in the shuffle. Everyone always just assumed I was fine because I didn’t say otherwise.”
“But you weren’t fine?”
I sigh because that answer is complicated. “I—Yes, in the sense that my parents didn’t have to worry about me going off and doing anything crazy.”
“The tattoos weren’t considered crazy?” She smirks.
That makes me smile. “No, I think Mom was glad I was finally doing something a little rebellious. I don’t know that I would call myself a rule follower, but I didn’t like to rock the boat. There was enough going on at our house, simply because of how many of us there were.”
“I always wanted a tattoo, but I think I would have been blacklisted from any ballet company,” she laughs. “And honestly, I think my dad would be much more upset about that than the pregnancies out of wedlock.”
“Well, we’ll have to take you to go get one once you’re able to,” I say.
Her head falls to my shoulder. “I think I’d like that. Can I?” Her fingers linger on my wrist, and I have to hold back a shudder.
“Mhmm.”
I hold my breath as her fingers begin to trace over the rose at my wrist, up to the staff of swirling music notes, and over the other florals interspersed.
“Is it notes for a song?” she asks.
My tongue feels stuck. “Yeah.”
“Which one?” Her green eyes flash up to me, and we are so fucking close. Her thick eyelashes fan out in a perfect frame of her light irises, and she has a faint pattern of freckles across her pale skin. I can’t help but wander down to her mouth—a perfect cupid’s bow atop full lips. Her tongue darts out, and I want to feel it run acrossmylips.
“Jules,” she breathes. I lean in so our noses barely brush. “Jules,” she says again, and I want to record the sound and use it in every song I ever write.
“Thea, I?—”
“JuJu!”
Thea shoots off the bed and attempts a casual lean against the wall which does not look even remotely casual.
“In here,” I call. Chloe rounds the corner with Cat on her heels.
“Oh hi, Mama! Did you want to play with JuJu too?”
I cover my laugh as Thea chokes on her words. “Something like that,” she finally gets out.
“Well we were going to go plant seeds in the garden, wanna come?” Chloe asks. I don’t remember planning to work in the garden today, but I guess that’s what is happening.
“Sure, baby, let me change and we can go out there.”
“C’mon, JuJu!” Chloe calls over her shoulder as she turns to leave.
I take a moment to collect myself before following her out there. My garden is a nice haven in the Spring. Mom helped me get it going when I first moved into the house. She brought clippings from her rose bush and reminded me of the best plants for our climate, when to plant them, and how to take care of the fickle ones. It’s another hobby I took on out of loneliness, but also because it is good, grounding work—literally.
By the time I’m outside, Chloe has decided she needs to build a fairy house in the garden and begins collecting twigs and fallen buds. A few minutes later, Thea joins us. She’s changed into a flowy white dress and tied her hair back with a bandana.
