Chapter 5 #3
I let them lead me out of the school, my jaw popping with a yawn from my day. Jeremy added, “She won’t get near you again, I promise you that.” A muscle ticked in his jaw.
Crisp evening air made me wish for a sweater, the warmth of the day lost as the sun set.
Streetlights lit up the night in a way that only existed in Manhattan.
As I walked past the elegant brownstones and high-end boutiques, street noise became a familiar chorus, filling the night with honks and screeching tires.
The city never slept, or so it seemed, with everyone having someplace they needed to be fast.
As we walked, I asked, “Did you wait for me because you thought something bad would happen?”
I remembered Sarah’s bitterness at the start of practice, and considered their faces carefully.
Jeremy bumped his shoulder into me. “Julian just told you Sarah put my head in the toilet before. She isn’t my favorite person, and she never will be.
I don’t love the idea of her spending time with you, but no one will mess with her.
Did I think Maggie was going to go nuts on you in the shower? No.”
His brother quickly added, “Maybe you should have, because you should absolutely never…”
Jeremy held up his hand. “Don’t. Just fucking don’t.”
Julian laughed, his tone bitter. “If I don’t say it, it doesn’t make it any less true.”
“He’s no virgin, despite what he might have you think,” Jeremy said then shook his head.
I really didn’t want to have that conversation.
“Can we not? I mean, I know you guys have known lots of people that way or whatever.” I should use the word, but I had to blow out a breath before I could make myself do it in front of them.
“Had sex, I mean. The thing is, now you want to be with me, right? So I can’t be thinking about your pasts, or I’ll go through every day wondering if I’m sitting next to one of your former lovers. I think it would drive me crazy.”
Jeremy stopped walking, and we almost ran into him since he was slightly ahead of us. He regarded me seriously. “It hasn’t been that many people, but I understand what you’re saying.”
“I don’t know…” Julian said then chewed on his bottom lip.
His twin rounded on him. “You don’t know what?”
“Maybe she should know our pasts. Wouldn’t that be better? At least she would know why she’s getting assaulted in showers then, right?”
Jeremy looked almost wild, as if he genuinely feared my judgement. “She just said she didn’t want to know.”
Julian raised his hands in surrender, but his eyebrows said there was more to the topic. “Okay.”
We walked a bit again before I had to ask, “Why did she shove your head in the toilet?”
“Jeremy took her favorite pen. He wanted it, but it was hers. Sarah comes from a long line of very wealthy New Yorkers who don’t take shit, so Jer had to learn the hard way.”
Jeremy took my hand, his fingers warm against mine. “That much is true.”
“What happened with Phoenix and you in Collins’ class?” Julian asked, his voice low as we approached home.
No, it’s their home, not mine. I needed to remember that. They lived there, and I might be staying with them, but it wasn’t where I lived. I couldn’t even tell anyone that I was staying there, other than the doorman. Maybe discretion is a job requirement for doormen.
Regardless, I started at the top and gave them the whole hellish story about Collins’ class. It seemed only fair to admit my own stupidity and how I made life more difficult for their brother.
They didn’t respond as I expected, though.
Instead, Julian pressed me against the outside of their building, his breath hard against my face, his lips close to mine.
“Thank you. Seriously. That was possibly the most amazing thing anyone ever did for Phoenix. You’re a gift to all of our lives, and fuck that woman for making you read.
I guarantee, she knew you would struggle because she knows what dyslexia is, regardless of her bullshit. You’re crazy smart.”
Jeremy cleared his throat. “I hope she’s not crazy, since you just pointed out we’re not supposed to dip our dicks in crazy. God knows you want to do that with her someday.”
That shouldn’t have been funny, but it was. It just fucking was. We laughed, all of us, as though we’d never laughed before. By the time we stopped, tears streamed down my cheeks.
Julian kissed them away with a lingering smile. “I love the sound of your laughter. I want to make you laugh and smile every day.”
His twin nodded. “Agreed. And Collins will pay.”
I smiled despite his dire warning. “You can’t go around punishing everyone who is mean to me.”
The doorman opened the door, so I followed them inside. Jeremy lifted his eyebrows, as he clarified, “Yes I can. I absolutely can.”
By the time we got in the elevator, I leaned into his body like it was the only thing that could keep me upright.
I breathed him in deep, filling my lungs with his scent before I asked, “How did I end up playing water polo with the girl who shoved your head in a toilet? Today was overall really strange.”
If I was honest, I would admit I wanted to be Sarah’s friend.
“It was.” Julian nodded. “But I think the rest of us realized today that we have to share you with everyone else. You were just ours, but now you’re going to have people in your life that aren’t in ours. We’ll just have to get used to it.”
Jeremy kissed me. “One day down. One hundred and seventy more to go.”
Ugh. Why did he have to mention that part?