Page 50 of Dahlias, Sapphires, and Cool Autumn Dusk
A muscle ticked in Jeremy’s jaw. “Go on.” I slipped my hand into his, realizing how much he didn’t like the news. “Murial was…”
I didn’t even know how to finish the statement, which he seemed to recognize, because he said, “A lot. She’s a lot. Take your time.”
“Oh, I almost forgot! There is something I should tell you. She saidthe best way to get Jeremy Lent to a party is not to invite him.”
He winced. “She said that? She’s probably fucking right.”
“She made Maggie apologize to me again. I think…I think she meant to treat me very differently, but somehow I changed her mind because I got distracted with her Rembrandt. She has a Rembrandt; her daddy bought it for her. Did you see her Warhol downstairs? She owns Pullman and New York, too, including all of you because you fit together. She didn’t want problems with the Lents, and she knows a little about me. Well, compared to most people, she knows a lot of stuff about me. And…”
He hugged me close, stopping my frantic recitation of events. “I get it. It was a lot, but fuck her. She doesn’t own us, not to mention this city. Still, sheisscary to a lot of people. We never should have brought you to a party at her place. I just thought that…well, I got pissed because she didn’t invite me. Damn. I guess I’m easy to read.”
I took his cheeks in my hands, making him focus on my face. “Maggie is in love with you.”
He blinked as if confused. “I love you. So much. I didn’t ask for Maggie’s love and I don’t honestly want it. I can feel that you love me, too. When you’re ready, you’ll say it. I’ll know then it is because you feel safe. I promise not to leave you alone again anywhere like that again. In the future, you stay glued to me if you don’t know the crowd, okay?”
I burst into tears then crumpled into his arms. After a few seconds of me incoherently sobbing into his shirt, he jumped off the washer, taking me with him. He nudged the door open, taking me to Barrett’s bedroom. I could hear the snores from the living room despite the closed door.
Then he laid me on the bed before crawling in with me. “I don’t know what would happen to me if I ever ended up in theworld you came from before you moved here. How would I fit into the countryside of North Dakota, not to mention a typical public school? I know I don’t know any of the rules or the behaviors or inside jokes. What if I had to movethree timesbefore I got there? Meanwhile, not only is my family shitting on me, they’re keeping secrets, too. I don’t know what I would do in your shoes, and I can’t begin to guess how you’ve made it through so much. I only know that I love you. I willalwayslove you.”
Jeremy turned on the television, the volume low as I sniffled off the last of my sobs. He added, “Let’s just lie here and watch nothing important.”
I wiped my nose and blinked at him, but he really did seem to get it. “I never went to public high school either, I wasn’t old enough, but you would’ve probably played ice hockey instead of water polo. Or basketball. Maybe both? Maybe we could’ve done 4-H club together or something. Usually, they held dances on the weekend, especially after big games. Music was a big thing.”
Jer snuggled into the blankets with a grunt of agreement before he sought my lips. After the first kiss, he said, “You fit much better in my world than I would have fit into yours. By the way, I think it’s totally disgusting if she’s stashing a Rembrandt in her upstairs, where no one can appreciate it. Tacky. She wanted to scare you, and she did. Maybe she backed off from a full-frontal assault, but it still was a warning and attack, and you have to see it as that, so we can keep you safe.”
He kissed me again then, and I got a little drunk on the taste of him. I let him lead me into deeper kisses, our mouths melding until we shared breath and time. I lost myself in Jeremy, and he didn’t mind at all. He didn’t seem to be in any rush, peppering kisses across my skin as if sampling a buffet. My head spun, lightheaded and happy to be that way. I could hear the droneof some sitcom in the background, but my real focus remained locked on his sighs, his gasps, his tiny moans.
Finally, he pulled away, stilling my hands in his own above my head. I closed my eyes, breathing in his scent, his easy weight on my body making all the adrenaline flow away. My lids closed, and I fell asleep as he rolled me on top of him without another word.
“She okay?” I heard, and tried to wake up. I recognized Barrett’s whisper, but Jer shooshed him before he answered. “Don’t wake her. Physically? She’s fine. Emotionally, she went through a lot last night.”
The bed dipped as Barrett eased in behind me, tugging my body against his with a sigh. I smiled, somewhere between waking and dreamland, but content to be in his arms.
“She’s snoring,” he rumbled as he snuggled me closer to his side.Am I?I tried to wake up again, but he adjusted me neatly into a warm spot, so I sighed and relaxed. “She never snores,” Barrett said as he touched the back of my head.
Jer kissed my forehead, his lips warm and safe. “Go back to sleep, Princess. She’s so exhausted. We can go over the whole night later. It was fucked up, in short. The rest? Later.”
Silence filled the room, and darkness pulled me away from them.
The weight of the sun felt heavier, although I couldn’t explain my sensations upon waking better than that. Then again, the later the hour, the heavier the sun, or so it felt to me.
I lifted my head, stretching and taking in the rest of the room. All four of the Lents lounged in the room, watching the television. I remained tucked neatly into Barrett’s embrace, while the other two sat nearby. They kept the volume so low, they must be reading the captions if they even followed the show.
“Hey,” I said as I tried to sit up. In seconds, Jeremy and Barrett wrapped me back up in their arms, making rising much less appealing.
“Hey,” Julian said as he got to his feet. “Full disclosure? We all texted about what happened to you last night and everyone thinks it was fucked up. I mean really fucked up. I am so sorry we dropped the ball.”
Phoenix lifted his head, and I saw his eyes were red rimmed. I didn’t think it was from drugs—whether prescription ADHD meds or Ketamine—that he usually used in the evening. Genuine sentiment roughened his voice when he asked, “Why didn’t you come get me? I told you to come get me if I took too long.”
“I couldn’t bear to walk through that crowd after I met with Murial, if I’m honest. All those eyes on me? It felt like every single person in that room stared at me. I just…couldn’t.”
He nodded, despite my confession not even fully making sense to me. He said, “I’m sorry. She should never have been able to get you alone. Who did she send to find you, anyway?”
“Greer,” Jeremy said then winced.
Phoenix sighed. “You do have a lot of lady friends in that crew.”
“She thinks she hooked up with Julian,” I admitted.
