Page 56 of Burn Bright
Tom spins out of his hold and rests his hands on his head again, trying to cool off.
“It’s his band, Ben,” Eliot reminds me. “It might as well be a third appendage.”
His band.Tom first formed The Carraways when he was fourteen with Warner, the bassist, during their time in prep school. The three-person punk-rock band has cycled out drummers over the years, but Warner has never abandoned Tom in the seven whole years the band has been together. I’m guessing if Harriet’s email struck a nerve, then there might’ve been strife between Warner and Tom before she even hit send.
“Sorry,” I say to Tom with more sympathy. “Honestly…I don’t know what it’s like to love something enough to grow a third arm for it.” I shift my weight, gripping the towel at my waist. “I wish I did.”
Tom settles down for a second, letting his hands fall to his sides. He’s frowning. “You love hockey?”
He’s unsure. I have a feeling all my siblings have been questioning my love for the sport lately. Leaving Penn, quitting the hockey team—it didn’t gut me. Quitting something you love should feel devastating.
“Not like you love music,” I say to Tom, similarly to what I told Beckett. Then I stare at Eliot, silently telling him to back off the door.
He doesn’t move. “There’s a party. Friday night at one of our favorite clubs. Come out with us, little brother.”
“No thanks,” I say, on automatic.
“Beckett will be there,” Tom jumps in.
“No,” I say again. The last place I need to be is an overcrowded club on a Friday night with my brothers. Too many things can go wrong.
Tom and Eliot share a wordless look before Eliot says, “Bring Harriet then.”
“Eliot,” Tom snaps angrily like this is betrayal.
Eliot is only staring at me now, his eyes pleading.
I glance between them. “Tom won’t want me to?—”
“But he’ll allow it,” Eliot cuts me off. “Right, Tom? For our little brother.”
“Right,” Tom says like he just swallowed battery acid. “But you also could bring literallyanyoneelse. Like someone Charlie hates. I’m sure that list is longer than a CVS receipt.”
“Or you can bring Harriet,” Eliot offers again.
Tom shifts just as I catch the contortion of his face. He’s having an internal meltdown. I’m half-surprised he doesn’t press his forehead to the counter and groan.
Eliot clutches my shoulders, prying my attention off Tom. “Bring her,” he says strongly. They really want me to go out with them this badly.
I’m caving beneath the temptation. Beneath the idea of spending more time with Harriet outside of college, outside of work. Beneath the desire of being with my brothers. It feels like it’ll be better if she’s there.
It all entices me.
“I’ll think about it.”
12
HARRIET FISHER
“Ican’t,” I say, my stomach dropping as soon as I reject Ben’s invite. Friday night out with Ben Cobalt sounds like an image right off most girls’ dream boards, but if I had a board, two pictures would engulf all the rest.
Get into the Honors House.
Become a doctor.
Being body-to-body in a sweaty, sticky club in Hell’s Kitchen shouldn’t even sound that appealing, but as soon as I imagine Ben and his hands on me, tucking me to his build so no one bumps into me, I crave it a billion times more than a solo night with old episodes of CSI while modeling carboxylic acids with my molecular model kit for O-Chem.
Ben leans against the windowsill of my apartment as rain beats against the pane. His buff arms are crossed with casualness. Barely any tension in his body, despite the big fat rejection I just cast upon him.
