Page 66 of Dahlias, Sapphires, and Cool Autumn Dusk
They argued the whole way to Barrett’s bedroom about which one of them should've been kidnapped. The sounds of New York City pressed into my consciousness, horns in the distance and the hum of it all like white noise to me, making me sigh in pleasure. In fact, between the city and the twins snoring, I wasn’t sure I would ever sleep well in true quiet again.
My period cramps woke me at dawn, despite Jer’s comforting arm around me and the steady way Phoenix breathed. I moaned as I woke, and Barrett mumbled to himself. Julian snored, deeply asleep on his mattress.
I snuck out of bed, making my way toward the living room so I wouldn’t wake anyone else. I checked my phone, surprised when I saw Tiffany had pushed off our coffee by an hour. Atthree a.m. , which struck me as even weirder, because she knew she probably wouldn’t be up in time.Late night, good for her.
A message from Bethany offered to reserve me for a spa day. I answered her quickly, panicking briefly because I wasn’t sure how to pay for it and because I’d never had one before. The guys would likely pay for it, but I wasn’t going to ask them. I would rather use my own information, so Phoenix could open me a bank account. ThenPoor Relationcould take care of some of my needs.
I asked for a rain check then blamed my period. Hopefully, she wouldn’t feel blown off. I might not have initially been excited about her friendship, but she’d really grown on me.
The third message made me groan a little bit louder, but partially out of social panic. It simply read—This is Murial. I missed your birthday. Meet me at the Met tomorrow at five. Don’t be late. Bring a Lent, if you must. They’re your shadows lately, so I don’t care which one. But only bring one, because I don’t want to be a parade.
My heart thudded and my hand shook, but the message didn’t vanish.Shit. I wondered if I could get out of it for cramps, too.
Then again, Murial probably could afford to have a team massage her ovaries until any pain vanished as if it never began.
I wouldn’t even be surprised. Not with how weird everything else seemed to be lately.
Jeremy entered the room, his jaw stretched with a yawn. “The room gets colder when you leave it. I notice it even when I’m not the one next to you. Currently, it’s freezing in there.”
I held my waist, as if I could hold my intestines inside despite the fact it felt the muscles of my abdomen tried to make them come outside. “Hurting a little bit, so I thought I would wait it out here. Murial summoned me to the Met tonight, and she saidI could bring one of you. Could she have bugged the apartment?” I made a mental note to keep the plot in mind forPoor Relation.
“If she bugged the apartment, we would’ve been fucked over a long time ago.” He slid to my side on the couch. “Art tonight, then. I’ll tag along. Don’t worry, she’ll get tired of torturing you sooner or later. Right now, you’re new, a curiosity and interesting to her, but she’ll move on eventually. Before you know it, she’ll be trying to intimidate or show off to someone else. She was always like this. We’ve all known each other a long time, so I remember when she used to wear braids to school. Two of them. Long after a lot of the other girls stopped, she still wore them. One of the girls said something to her about it once, then she just looked at them and they withered. Still, she stopped wearing braids. She’s human like the rest of us. In her strange Murial way, she might actually be trying to be friends.”
I groaned. “I don’t want to be her friend. She frightens me. I already have Bethany to figure out. I don’t need a possible psychotic as a buddy, too.”
“Phoenix said Bethany chased you from class, which means we may like her. Marco might have a thing for her. Maybe we should try to see if we can set that up.”
I lifted my head to stare at him. “Jeremy Lent, you are a romantic at heart.”
“Only since I met you. Okay, this is stupid, but I was online last night when I couldn’t sleep, and there might be something I can do to help with the cramps. First up, you should take an anti-inflammatory.” He jumped off the couch and returned quickly with two pills, which I swallowed. “Roll onto your back and pull up your shirt. I want to rub your stomach.”
He wants to what?I didn’t argue, though, because I trusted Jeremy implicitly. I blinked, surprised at the realization and the truth of it.I trust Jeremy Lent.
“Jeremy, I was just thinking…” My voice trailed off, and I chickened out before I said the words.
“Hmm?” He placed a gentle hand on my abdomen, his touch warm. “You were thinking what?”
“That I can trust you with anything and everything.”
He met my gaze, staring back at me for weighted moments. We didn’t speak, both of us breathing hard. When he answered, it was in a low voice, almost a whisper. “Thank you. I know what that means for you. I love that you told me.”
He placed his hands on my stomach, their warmth soothing. “I watched a video. If this gets uncomfortable or doesn’t work, tell me to stop. It’s just something I saw.”
“You couldn’t sleep? Did I keep you up?”
He shook his head, a piece of his blond hair falling into his eyes, the only blond of the brothers. I thought he looked like a surfer dude when I met him, and I could still see it.
Jer dropped to his knees and started to rub circles on my abs. I closed my eyes, sighing and relaxing into his touch. It felt magnificent.
“This circular motion is supposed to help. No, you didn’t keep me awake. You’re the best cuddle ever. I was thinking about last night’s revelations. I didn’t realize I know so little about my family, but I could list it all on one hand. Our great-grandparents made money logging. They died doing it. That’s one. Grandfathers and Granny made money on department stores, but they died in a car crash. Granny sold the business, and she made a ton of money. Secondly, the fathers used their money from working to invest in themselves. They became huge, then stuck some of it in ever growing trust funds for us. That’s three. I knowthreethings about my family’s history. I don’t know anything about my mom’s family, other than what she told us last night, and we haven’t figured anything out about you.”
I tried to focus on his summary, but his touch made that difficult. I moaned in pleasure and closed my eyes. “Don’t stop doing that.”
“I won’t.” He chuckled, a soft rumble of sound. “I’m glad it’s real and not just an internet thing.”
Me too.Finally, I could think again. With my thoughts in order, I said, “You’ll find the answers. You accomplish everything you set out to do, so this won’t be any different.”
“I love that you see me that way.” He shook his head. “Most of the time I feel like I’m barely getting by, never quite living up to my potential. Either that or, conversely, I’m being overlooked.”
