Page 5 of A Brilliant Spring

I make my way back to my room, prop up my pillows and crawl into bed. The cereal is crunching between my teeth when a tiny figure appears in my doorway. Riley’s face wrinkles and she grimaces as she comes into my room.

“Holy fuck, it smells like a brothel in here.”

I laugh out loud, and hard.

“Good. That means we did something right,” I reply.

“You need to change your sheets and grab an air freshener because it is disgusting in here.” Riley’s eyes scan my room with disgust as her nose wrinkles and her lips pucker. I stifle the laugh bubbling in my throat.

“Are you sure it’s not just the pregnancy hormones that are heightening your sense of smell?”

Riley’s eyes flit to mine, her brows furrowing.

“What do you mean?”

“Uh, have you not done any reading? Pregnancy hormones generally heighten your senses, particularly smell.” Her head bobs slowly, and I can see the wheels turning in her head before she shakes it.

“Yeah, this is not a pregnancy thing. This is ‘you’re a disgusting sex addict and need to clean and sanitize your room’ thing.”

I can’t contain my laughter any longer. I throw my head back, and Riley gives me a look that says I have three heads. I can’t help this feeling, I’m just joyful. For maybe the first time in my life, I feel at peace. And I know it comes at a weird time, seeing as my father has passed, but…I don’t know. I’m light and airy. Maybe my head is just foggy from all the sex.

“So, any word on your father’s funeral arrangements?” Riley asks, abruptly careening me back down to earth and shattering my good mood. I groan, gritting my teeth.

“No idea what’s going on with that. I’m assuming my mother will reach out when I need to show up.” Riley’s cautious glance flicks over me as she sucks on her bottom lip. “What? Just say it.”

A hard swallow rolls in her throat. “It’s just…when do you find out about the will? Since you have access to your trust fund and have no reason to be cut off anymore now that your father’s gone, are you planning on staying with the company?”

I sigh. Riley asks a great question, but one I’m not totally prepared to answer at this moment. I shrug noncommittally, giving her a nondescript answer. Her feet drag along my floor as she steps further into my room, and her hair flies around her as she flops onto her back on my bed. A smile twists on my lips when I see her face contort. A wave of disgust washes over her, nose twitching and face going pale when she realizes that she’s just laid down on the stinky, sex-tainted sheets.

Riley springs to her feet, dancing around, wiping herself off like she just found a spider crawling on her. Another hearty laugh bubbles forth from me. Tears sting my eyes as I watch her prance around, shaking off the creeps, and I swipe at a stray tear rolling down my cheekbone. Riley finally stops dancing, stomps her feet, and shakes out her hair. “Well, I’m going to shower, now that I’m covered in your sex filth.” She turns and skitters out of my room, slamming the door behind her. Milk dribbles from my mouth as I giggle, spilling down my chin and onto my cushy robe.

I place my empty bowl on my nightstand, the spoon clattering in the bowl, and slouch out of bed. I dig my fingers under the mattress and tug the corners of the sheets out, rolling them into a ball as I pull, and toss them into the corner of my room. They flutter to the ground in a pile, like a heap of snow. After I finish making my bed all fresh and new, I take the sweaty, cum-stained sheets and blankets straight to the washing machine at the end of the hallway near the foyer.

When I return to my room, I jump, startled by Riley laying on her stomach on my freshly made bed, flipping through a magazine. Her legs are crossed behind her, swaying. Her eyes are dull and a ghost of sadness floats in them. I study her, taking in her small, fragile body, a body swelling with a new human life, so soon after being hospitalized for malnutrition. My insides curdle as I fret over how this pregnancy is going to affect her eating disorder struggles. Riley is one of the strongest people I know, but even the strongest people have an Achilles heel. I sigh, my head dips, and a soft smile sprawls across my face. I skip over to where Riley is laying and jump onto the bed beside her, snuggling into her side.

Chapter

Five

Brandt

I’m almost at Rhys’ place on this snowy Sunday afternoon. I was at home for a total of fifty minutes before Rhys called me, completely freaking out. So, after I showered and put on some clean clothes, I bundled up again and headed to his place. The last few days with Elissa have been fucking glorious. I’ve never felt so satisfied and fulfilled in my entire life. Finally, the piece that was missing has clicked into place. I finally have her, all of her.

When I get to Rhys’ place, I kick the snow off my boots on the brick wall of the building before entering. Rhys’ place is only a block and a half away from Elissa’s. It’s so tempting to go back there and stay in bed with her for the rest of the day. Hell, the rest of the week. I wrestle with my subconscious to stop myself from walking over there right now and just crawling into bed with her and making love.

I only need to knock once and Rhys has the door open, standing there in a sleeveless tee and basketball shorts, his choice of loungewear. His black hair is wild and sticking up everywhere. It looks like his hands have been pulling and tugging at it. His eyes are sunken, with dark circles staining the skin beneath them, and the stench of a distillery taints his breath. He’s a wreck, and I can only think of one reason: Riley.

“What’s going on? You look like shit,” I say, my large hand clasping at his shoulder. He shrugs off my hand and stares at me with dead eyes.

“Fuck you, man.” He shoots his words with poison. His face falls, and the wrinkles around his eyes soften. “Sorry, there’s just a lot on my mind right now.” I nod my head, but don’t press. He doesn’t know that I know what’s going on and I’m not about to tell him, either. If he wants to talk, he will.

I stalk over to the couch, passing Rhys, and drop into the cushions. He collapses face-down into the loveseat across from me, his arm thudding on the ground as his lungs push out a groan. Even his apartment smells like rot and decay. I open my mouth to tell him to pull himself together and clean his apartment, but he speaks first.

“Riley’s pregnant,” he moans into the couch’s velvety dark brown cushion. His head lifts off the couch, turns to face me, then slumps back down into the cushions. I tense. I’m not quite sure what to say, which probably works in my favour, seeing as I already know this tidbit of information, but have no idea how to play it off.

“Oh,” is what leaves my lips. Rhys groans again and buries his head further into the cushions. “What are you planning on doing?” I ask tentatively. His head pops up to face me again, his jaw clicking.

“I don’t fucking know, man. Like, how do I even know it’s mine? We’ve been broken up for almost three months. She’s probably slept with a bunch of people by now,” he growls. His fingers curl into a fist and it drags along the floor as he swings it, avoiding eye contact.

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