Page 44 of Van Cort
The atmosphere was tense. West didn’t fully understand why, because they were all supposed to be friends, but months had gone by since that afternoon in the music room when the violin got broken and Rhett had been peculiar ever since.
It was amusing and intriguing to West.
He wasn’t stupid. He knew what was happening under the surface with his brother because the same thing was happening to him, too. Lara was a girl, and boys and girls weren’t meanttojustbe friends. The birds and the bees and all that. But why wasn’t Rhett doing something about it?
She had run home on that day, but it didn’t take much to bring her back. One week passed by before West went and got her again, apologising for the incident. Rhett scowled when she met them down by the lake, but West wasn’t losing something he wanted because his brother was acting like a dick. Besides, the whole situation was entertaining. She was. And watching Rhett act like someone he wasn’t was better than anything else going on in the place.
Their life without Lara in it was boring. Yes, they were more intelligent than her, and yes, they definitely were way past her in terms of schooling and languages, but a girl brought something they couldn’t get from any of the old women here who were paid to look after them. She brought the opportunity for sex.
For a pair of twins that were so attuned – so similar – they were miles apart when it came to dealing with a girl. Rhett was far too serious and far too full of friction and doubt. He should smile more – or jerk off more. West wasn’t sure which.
And why didn’t they talk about it?
He made a decision, after that morning at the lake where they all made friends again, that they should discuss who was having her first. Or even if they should share. He hoped it wouldn’t end up with him being beaten up by Rhett again, because that was what had happened the last time that kind of energy was in a room with them.
It hurt.
But weeks went past, and he couldn’t find the right time to bring the subject up. Winter turned to summer, their fourteenth birthday passed by, and they all fell into their normal pattern again. They hung out, and they had their lessons in the music room, and they swam in the lake and laughed and found some kind of mutual relationship between them all. Eventually,though, West’s own energy got the better of him. He was, after all, a young man now. That’s what Mrs Avery called him when she was sober enough to recognise the difference between him and Rhett, anyway.
“Stop smirking at me, young man.”
Rhett never smirked about anything.
West did.
“Where’s Rhett gone?” Lara asked, as she walked from the lake and scraped her hair back.
West ruffled his own hair with a towel. “To get some drinks.”
She nodded and looked across the lawn to the house, closing her eyes for a minute to soak up the sun. “You’re so lucky to live somewhere like this. All the girls are mad with jealousy that I get to be here with you both.” They were? “I think it’s the only thing that makes me cool.”
She wasn’t cool. She was gorgeous. Just like some of those models West had seen online. Long legs and not an inch of excess anything on her, other than breasts. He really liked her breasts. He skimmed his gaze over her, dipping his eyes away from looking at her for too long. He wanted to, though. He wanted to look at her all day. And he wanted to touch her, too, and take that blue swimming costume from her body. So much so that he dropped the towel into his lap to hide his growing erection.
“Is Rhett bringing food?” she asked, as she looked for him in the distance. West didn’t know, or care. He was infatuated and there was no way of stopping it. The last thing he was interested in was Rhett. Or food. Or Lara wanting Rhett rather than him.
“You look really pretty today,” he said quietly. Lara turned back to him quickly, her mouth open. He looked down again, embarrassed. “Sorry.”
“I do?” she asked. He nodded and looked out at the lake, part wishing he was on that island so he could disappear. “Thanks. Idon’t think I’m pretty, though. Melissa Renkins, at school, you know, the town clerk’s daughter? Now, she’s pretty. All the boys are trying to get with her.” She walked over and sat on the large rock next to him. “Why do you think I’m pretty today?”
West kept looking away from her. “Pretty every day.”
She bumped his shoulder with hers and laughed lightly. “Sweet.”
He frowned and looked back at her; he wasn’t sure his feelings were full of anything sweet. They were unclear, and they made him think of doing things to her that weren’t always kind. He had visions of her under him, of her out of breath and panting. She clawed into his skin when he thought like that, and she fought with him sometimes, like she didn’t enjoy what was happening.
“Have you kissed anyone yet?” she asked.
He shook his head and looked at her lips. “You?”
“No. A few boys have tried at school, but—” West leaned in and cut her off, landing his lips on hers awkwardly. She froze, as did he, but they both stayed where they were until she pulled back a bit and looked at him. This was it. They’d kissed.
He smiled, she did, too, and then they both moved forward into each other again. It was better that time. Softer.
She put her hands on his wet shoulders, and he put his fingers on her cheek. It all felt right and natural and not as confusing as West thought it might. But he ached, down there, and he shuffled closer slightly to try licking her with his tongue. She did the same. It was everything – everything West had ever thought it might be and better. He wanted to do more, and wanted to put her hands lower on him to touch his ache, or even move his lower on her.
“Get the hell off her,” suddenly shouted in the air.
Lara pulled back and swung her head around at Rhett’s interruption, jumping off the rock at the same time. Rhettlooked red and angry, full of loathing like their father looked sometimes. West didn’t know how to handle him in this mood, and he didn’t know where to put himself either. He stood and looked at Rhett, as he stormed towards them, and took a few steps in Lara’s direction. She was grabbing for a towel and wrapping it around her.
