Page 46 of Quiet
“I paid for it.”
“How did—? Wait, you said you paid for it. Is this your house? Only your house?”
“Other people live here too.”
“But you own it.
Briar nodded. Isa seemed to be having a surprisingly difficult time grasping such a simple concept.
“No one cosigned for you because you, what, just paid for it with cash?”
“Yes.” Briar was relieved that Isa finally seemed to understand. He’d been beginning to worry Isa had spent all of his energy understanding Briar’s unspoken thoughts and lost the ability to understand simple words.
“Because you just have that kind of money lying around from selling art?”
“Yes.”
“Oh.” Isa looked a bit like Briar had just hit him in the face with a pillow. He wandered distractedly into the kitchen and slumped down into the nearest chair. “Okay.”
“Briar, you brought a friend!” A rainbow-haired girl wrapped in a towel entered the room and began to rifle through the refrigerator. “Hi, Briar’s friend, I’m Sierra. Shit, you’re cute.”
“Thanks?” Isa seemed to stare through the hand Sierra was holding out to him.
Briar frowned at Sierra’s hand. She’d only been living here for a few weeks. It didn’t feel like long enough for her to be casually touching Isa. Or calling him cute. He pushed himself between Sierra and Isa, forcing her to withdraw her hand and move back a step.
“Isa, what do you want to eat?” Briar ignored Sierra’s gasp of surprise and went to the cupboard and opened it. There was probably something there. Nope. Just coffee cups. He took one out in case Isa wanted something warm to drink. He tried another door and found spices, but no food. He wasn’t big on cooking or making things for himself, so his kitchen was a bit of a mystery to him.
Sierra recovered quickly from whatever had surprised her and chirped, “Alex made a giant pot of beef stew. There’s still plenty. And I made bread to go with it!”
“Do you want some?” Briar asked Isa, making Sierra gasp again. This time she balled up her fists, held them to her chest, and did a full body wiggle. Briar didn’t know Bea’s girlfriend very well yet, but she seemed a bit high-strung.
“Sure,” Isa said, finally coming out of his daze. He propped his head on his chin and tilted it to one side, turning the full force of his starlight eyes on Briar.
The mug he was holding smashed on the floor.
Everyone in the room stared at the mug.
“Shit, Briar, are you okay?” Sierra asked, hurrying over to where the mug had fallen, but stopped when Isa stepped in front of her.
“You have bare feet. I’ll help him. You should probably go put on shoes before you come back in here.”
“Oh right! Thanks, Isa.” Sierra patted Isa’s cheek.
If Briar had been holding anything else in his hand, he would have dropped it too. He didn’t want other people touching Isa. It made something in his head buzz unpleasantly.
Sierra grabbed an apple before sailing out of the room, leaving Briar and Isa to pick up bits of broken mug.
“Bea, I didn’t know Briar talked. His voice is hot as hell.” Sierra’s voice echoed back down the hallway.
Briar felt the tips of his ears burn, and he focused on finding pieces of broken pottery.
“Briar talked to you?”
“Well, he talked to his friend.”
“Isa’s here?” Bea’s voice suddenly sounded about a thousand times more excited.
Briar’s fingers brushed against Isa’s by accident, and he looked up. Isa’s ears were just as pink as Briar’s felt.
