Page 28 of Roses, Pearls, and Hot Summer Nights
I swallowed, my palms going sweaty with nerves as I pressed them against my thighs. I never got invited into people’s homes, but in such a short period of time, I’d visited both their grandmotherandthem?If life keeps up at this pace, I might even become normal,I thought with a mental snicker.
They didn’t live very far away, which surprised me but was lucky, considering my shoe choice. Several blocks down Park Avenue, their doormen greeted them by name. They laughed and talked the entire way to their apartment. If any of them noticed I went silent, at least they didn’t mention it. I reminded myself I wanted friends, wanted normal. Why were my nerves clanging in alarm, then? I literally was getting a sample of the life I intended to live one day. It might not make sense, but I couldn’t squash my nerves regardless.
I blew out my breath, reminding myself I spent a lot of time alone with the three brothers so far. Nothing changed, not really, other than location. Still, as we entered the Lenox Hill neighborhood, my heart rate kicked up.
They lived on the fifth floor, where Barrett turned to me to say, “We live here. Technically, it’s my father’s place, but he lives in the penthouse with my mom and my … uncles.” I noticed thecouple of beats or breaths between the words, and wondered if I imagined it, before he continued. “Anyway, they let us live here. We could get into trouble, I suppose, being alone underage, but we own several of the apartments in the building. No one ever says anything. Besides, I’m over eighteen now anyway. It’s probably not even a problem anymore.”
I found their living circumstances interesting, actually. On one hand, how cool? They got to live alone like grownups. I wouldloveto live alone, not having to answer to anyone but my own choices. I could hardly imagine a world like that …one with no more aunts. No more people judging, judging, judging. My musings came to an abrupt halt as I noticed the art. Tree branches crawled up to the high living room walls, painted until they touched the cathedral style ceiling, creating a startling beautiful and dramatic space. The ivory background not only seemed well suited to the art, but it also drew attention to the several plants dispersed around the room. I couldn’t lie, it wasn’t what I expected from them. In fact, I never saw anything like their home before in my life.
“My mom painted it,” Julian explained with a gesture as he walked past us. “She’s got … interesting tastes. People usually saycheesyorcringe, but it makes her happy—especially big projects like this one. It makes her happy, so all of our apartments have something by her.”
I nodded, my gaze still wandering over the curling branches. “Do all of the rooms carry the plant theme?”
Jeremy sighed, his tone almost apologetic. “They do, except our bedrooms. We got to choose our spaces ourselves. I know, it’s ugly, right?”
“I don’t think it’s ugly,” I blurted quickly, surprised at the defense in my own tone, but then I realized I meant it, so I added, “I think … few people get to be themselves. You know, exactly how they want to be? Still, we can all try to do our best.These are her spaces, and she knew her children would live here, so she gave it her touch. I like it, even if I wouldn’t do this kind of thing myself. Then again, maybe I’m just not as interesting as her.”
They all stared at me for long silent seconds, so I swallowed, insecure under so much attention. “Did I … did I just say something wrong?”
“No.” Barrett smiled slowly, stepping closer to me. “You’re plenty interesting.”
Julian pointed out, “She likes Granny’s red walls, too. The women in my family, they know what they want. The men love that about them.”
What is that like?I really had no idea.
9
It didn’t take them long, but they all returned looking spectacular. That’s the word thePoor Relationwould have used for them, anyway, so I tucked the thought away like a mental note for later.
Jeremy surprised me when he appeared first. Cotton linen pants emphasized his partially buttoned green shirt with all the handsomeness of an anime hero. A necklace glinted against his exposed golden skin, but I glanced down to see he still wore the boat shoes. My eyes returned to the tempting glint of gold for a second longer, trying to see what he picked for the pendant on his chain. If I guessed right, it looked almost identical to mine.
He grinned at me when he saw where my gaze strayed. “I thought we could match,” he said simply, using his fingertips to pull his shirt aside, showing me even more skin.
His necklace might be a more masculine, thicker version than mine, but he was right. I smiled at him, not sure what to say, even though my heart thudded, thrilled he would want people to think we were together. It wasn’t like he knew the significance of my necklace, but I still … somehow it felt special. I swallowed hard.
Not that I wanted him to notice, I realized, and carefully schooled my expression back to neutrality. Out of all of them, I was the least comfortable with Jeremy. I needed to remember our actual communications and not let our interactions or attraction breed familiarity.
I could make sense—sort of—out of my feelings in regard to Julian. Barrett had been pretty open with his intentions, so at least I had a handle on things with him. But … Jeremy still confused me. I didn’t know if his shoes warned he would break my heart then destroy our friendship by making fun of me or worse.
To my surprise, he took my hand and gave my fingers a gentle squeeze. “I’m not scary, I promise.”
I blinked, meeting his gaze, startled that he’d noticed me watching him. “Can you read minds?”
He stepped closer and I caught my breath, his scent flooding my nose as my body awakened. “No, but I find you particularly fascinating, and I think I have you somewhat figured out. For instance, I know I make you nervous. I’ll fix that tomorrow, you wait and see.”
Julian joined us in two strides, so I stepped away from his brother in relief. His plaid print pants matched the color of the collar of his polo shirt. White sneakers matched the rest of his otherwise white shirt. He spun around like a male model for me before smiling. “Does this look ridiculous?”
“No.” Jeremy scratched his chin, considering his brother carefully. “It’s nice. When did you get that?”
“Last week while I was escaping the beach.” He spun again, posing dramatically before arching a brow at me. “Okay then, I’m ready. Where is Barrett? I’m usually last.”
Another door opened and closed, then Barrett appeared from his room. “You beat me this time. I couldn’t find the socks I wanted, so I must have left them at the summer house.”
Light blue pants matched his blazer with a simple white t-shirt underneath. His shoes were almost the same as Julian’s, just boat shoes, really. I bit my lip, thinking of my shoe theory. In so few days, I seemed to have lost the ability to read people solely based on their footwear, or so I might be beginning to believe … At least, with them.
Barrett grinned at me, and I felt heat take my cheeks. “You look great. You really do.”
Julian nodded, licking his lips. “She does. We don’t hold a candle.”
