Page 76 of Roses, Pearls, and Hot Summer Nights
Jeremy detangled himself from me, but not before he kissed the end of my nose. I kind of loved when he did that, if I was entirely honest with myself.
He yawned then put his head in his hands. “I was curled up with the girl of my dreams, sleeping better than I can remember sleeping in a long time, so tell me why did we have to get up? They’re going to be getting the house set up for tomorrow’s party all day today. There is nothing for us to do. We could have slept literally all day.”
Julian managed to get himself into a sitting position, although he didn’t interrupt his twin.
Barrett answered, “Because Gran texted that she wanted one of us to take her to buy bathing suits and a dress for tomorrow’s party. I think she will come knocking on Alatheia’s door any second if I don’t answer her. I’ll take the girl you got to cuddle with all night out for clothes while you pull it together like you usually do so that our granny doesn’t notice we spent the night.”
Jeremy nodded. “Yep, but I want to come clothes shopping.”
“So do I.” Julian winced. “Only I’m obviously in no condition to go, so I’ll go back to the main house, where I can quietly puke and shower until I’m human again.”
Phoenix laughed. “That’s why I don’t drink.”
I shot him a look and he laughed harder. “Okay. Yeah. I’m going to go pop a pill. Maybe I’ll catch up with you later.” He kissed my cheek. “Thank you for last night. And great punch, Jules. Remind me not to piss you off.”
His brother snarled back, “Fuck off. You piss me off all the time. If I was going to hit you, I would have done it already. Then again, you never know day-to-day what I might decide.”
Phoenix unlocked the sliding door to let himself out. He tossed me a little wave. “Safer this way. She won’t know we were here.”
“No, but our parents probably do, since they have the whole place on camera.” Jeremy got up next, stretching with a yawn. “I’m going to go shower and change. We should probably all dothat, actually, except Julian, who I guess is going to puke. We’ll come back later to pick you up.”
Barrett pointed at Jeremy as he followed him out. “I love when you think you can make plans for the rest of us. It’s so amusing for me. But, yes, we’ll be back in about half an hour.” He winked at me as he exited. Quickly, I swung my legs over the side of the bed.
Julian groaned, then crawled over on his knees until his head landed in my lap.
As though I had done it a million times before, I ran my hands through his hair. “You’re not going to puke on me, right?” I hoped my tone was light, but I was only half kidding. My stomach churned at the thought of the smell, not to mention his poor granny’s bedding.
“No.” He didn’t lift his head, but his thumbs stroked up and down my skin rhythmically. “I promise not to puke until I am well out of your earshot. Everyone has gotten to cuddle with you except me. Can I claim one of your sides tonight?
I smiled, amused despite myself, at the idea of them setting up a schedule. “Sure, but I don’t think it’s as great as you might think. I woke Jeremy last night because of my nightmare, then again for Phoenix’s nightmare. He might even need a nap after the ordeal of sleeping next to me.”
Julian lifted his head, his eyes serious. “I’d love to be the one to comfort you through a nightmare.”
I stroked his hair again, trying not to let him charm me. “It might sound better in theory than practice. How is your hand?”
He blinked, confusion in his expression. “My hand?”
“You punched that kid last night. Is your hand okay?” I took his palm in my own, considering his fingers carefully, and he didn’t wince, so that was a good sign. After my investigation, I brought his fingers to my lips and kissed them, then caught my breath.Oh wow. I initiated that.Starting things myself felt likesomething else, something more than letting them come onto me. Would he yank his hand away and tell me that I had to leave him alone?
He smiled at me instead, his thumb tracing across the backs of my fingers. “It’s fine, but thank you.”
I frowned, remembering to be stern. “You can’t hurt everyone who insults me. I am … I draw negative attention to myself all the time. Maybe I need to be saged? I don’t know. Regardless, if we spend time together, you’re bound to hear things. You’ll break your hand or end up in jail if you punch everyone who says something bad about me.”
“First.” He lifted one finger. “I hate that for you. There is nothing about you which should draw negative attention. You’re like a beacon of light for me. Second, I don’t think they sage people, I think they sage places. Right? Am I wrong about that?”
Truthfully, I didn’t know. “We may be getting off track.”
“Good point. I’m going to go now and proceed to lose this hangover. I’ll see you tonight when you get back from shopping.” He winced. “I so wanted to watch you try on swimsuits.”
He’d kissed my nose, so I kissed his, dropping a quick peck on the tip. He didn’t seem to mind the affection. It must be a Lent thing. The nose kissing. Or maybe not. I really didn’t know. “Feel better.”
“I don’t … that is to say … I won’t drink that much every time we’re out.”
I couldn’t say I minded, but I needed to insert reality before I got too lost in the fairytale. “Jules, you do know that I’m leaving, right? My family seemed very clear about their plans for me. Anyway, my point is I’m not here to judge you in whatever time we have together, okay?”
His face fell, disappointment quickly replaced with determination. “If we haven’t been clear, let me try again—you aren’t leaving.”
He rose slowly and kissed me one more time on the top of the head before he exited. I shook my head, amused at him. Julian was so used to getting what he wanted, he figured he could even bend reality. I knew better, since I was beholden to my family, legally their property until I came of age, so if they wanted me gone, I was going to be gone.
