Page 37 of Keeper
Belle surveys the room. “Gorg flat. Booker has nice taste.”
“Vi found it, I believe,” Indie adds, dropping down beside me and pulling her feet up underneath her. “She wanted to be sure to keep precious Baby Booker nice and close.”
The two giggle at the tiny, overprotective sister meddling in her four humongous brothers’ lives like she always has. Vi may be small, but she is mighty and pulls no punches where those Harris Brothers are concerned.
“Well, it’s all temporary for me I’m afraid.” I exhale heavily. “I’ll be moving at the end of July when my flat is open and, believe me, it can’t come soon enough.”
The two eye me seriously.
“Spill it,” Belle states, nodding her head at me and taking a quick sip. “What’s the real situation between you and Booker.”
I frown and shift nervously. “Nothing. We’re friends. Have been forever.”
“That’s not what he told Indie,” Belle murmurs around the rim of her glass.
Indie’s jaw drops and she slaps Belle on the thigh. “That’s not how it went and you know it!”
“Ow, you twat!” Belle’s mouth is dropped in pain. “I know he didn’t say it in so many words, but you told me that he looked a bit…agitated or something at practice.”
“Afflicted.” She adjusts her glasses in a huff. “He looked afflicted. A very different word. Agitated puts blame on someone else. Afflicted puts blame on one’s self.”
“Okay, afflicted then. So…what gives?” Belle pins her dark eyes on me, awaiting my response.
I squirm in my seat. “Nothing gives. We’re simply having trouble adjusting to friendship as adults. I was nineteen when I went off to Uni, and it had been six years since we’d seen each other. Going from BFFs to distant friends to flatmates would put stress on even the best of friends.”
“And it doesn’t help that you probably came back looking hotter than ever,” Belle states, taking a big gulp.
I take a drink and look away.
“Roll your eyes all you want, Pop, but you’re fucking tits hot. You have the neck of a swan. Hell, even I want to give it a lick.”
I laugh and Indie smacks Belle on the thigh again. “You are beautiful, Poppy. But you’re cool, too. Belle and I could tell right away. You have a really fun self-confidence about you that I greatly admire.”
I stare at the two of them, gobsmacked. I’m sitting with two of the most beautiful women I’ve ever met—doctors to boot—and they are envious ofmyconfidence?
“Well, I like you guys, too. But I think you might be a bit too good for those Harris Twins. You know that, right?”
They both look wistfully at the sparkling diamonds on their fingers, neither one put off by my jab.
Indie is the first to break the lovey trance. “I don’t think we have to tell you that those Harris boys are some of the best ones out there.”
I laugh awkwardly. “They’re great and all, but I assure you, they’re not perfect.”
Belle toys with a lock of her hair, a look of astonishment etched on her face. “What on earth could sweet, sensitive, soulful Baby Booker have done? If you say he used to pull your pigtails in nursery school, I’m going to have to slap you.”
I laugh, letting the happiness resonate through my pores for a moment before I dig into a part of my soul that I prefer to tap dance away from. “Booker is a great guy, but he’s not immune to flaws. And even the good ones can let you down.”
“This sounds juicy,” Indie says, reaching out to the coffee table to grab some chocolates. She hands one off to Belle, who takes it without looking and begins unwrapping. Both their eyes glued on me.
“Oh, it’s nothing.” I try to wave them off. “It’s all ancient history.”
“So what?” Belle exclaims around a bite. “If it’s a titillating tale of betrayal, then let me know and I’ll pop some popcorn.”
I sigh and can’t help but smile at their wide, eager eyes. Maybe opening up to them some will help me get over it. And him. And if it brings us closer together, then all the better. I could use some more friends right now. “Very well then. Booker kind of…broke my heart when we were eighteen.”
“He did?” Indie chirps and Belle whacks her on the arm to shush her.
“Were you two together?” Belle asks.
