Chapter 14 Gio
Gio
Iused to be jealous that Kingston had something as tangible as soil to touch when he felt anxious.
It became something that tied him to Presley when they were younger, too, with the glass jars full of dirt that she’d bring him.
It was foolish of me to assume I could ever have something as vast as the stars to share with Presley.
I should have known that we’d outgrow the notion that anything could connect us after our time apart broke so much between us.
But for some reason I thought…I had this stupid inclination that the map on my back would be a place holder for the missing days in between us.
Now, having her back at the manor, she was close and yet seemed further than she’d ever been.
We’d arrived by jet over a week ago, and she hadn’t uttered a single word to us.
Not on the plane, not in the car on the way home…
she clung to Alex like a second skin and allowed my sister to fill us in on everything that took place.
Presley didn’t add why Adrian was suddenly kissing her goodbye, or why the fuck she was forced to execute someone.
Or who it was. There were so many questions I still had, but I knew I hadn’t earned the answers.
I wanted to… but I had no clue where to begin.
She’d moved into Uncle Decker and Aunt Mallory’s wing of the house after hearing that they’d opted not to return for the foreseeable future.
This came after Carter was put at risk those four months ago when we’d fucked everything up by going after the motorcycle club, and that shit followed us here.
It was something I was still trying to atone for, and that had several ramifications.
One of which apparently included losing my cousin’s presence in the manor.
Presley hadn’t come out of the wing. Not to train, or to seek out her parents, or to walk outside. Nothing, and while I had caught sight of her mom and dad walking over frequently to visit her, Presley would remain inside, tucked away like a little recluse.
I was ready to test the waters and see if I could get her to start talking to me, but I wanted something that would remind her that once upon a time, we were best friends.
Before the emotions and feelings and all the leaving…
we were there for each other through everything.
I didn’t have dirt, and I couldn’t capture a star, but I had crushed pieces of our past just rotting away in my chest that had to count for something.
With a silent inhale, I rapped my knuckles against the exterior door to the wing of the house she had moved into.
Seconds passed, but nothing happened, so I tried again, this time with more force.
Glancing around the hallway, I tried to gauge whether someone would have a front row seat to how embarrassed I was about to be if she chose not to open the door, but it was completely empty.
I didn’t hear Scotty’s dogs or anyone training in the gym. Just dead silence.
Another minute ticked by, so I knocked again.
The door suddenly opened on my third rap. “What?”
Presley gripped the bronze knob while clenching her teeth.
Laying eyes on her again after so long made something in my chest flutter.
I had seen her in the jet, and on the ride home…
but I hadn’t had a chance to really look at her, not like this.
Where she was unguarded and unfiltered, her raw self that always existed before she left us…
before we left her. The blue in her eyes that always reminded me of the hottest part of a fire, warning of total combustion, waged a silent war with mine.
“I wanted to check on you,” I mustered a response after feeling like my voice had been scraped clean of all sound.
Her nails dug into the wood near her face, just barely holding the door open. Her teeth literally snapped shut as she replied coldly, “Well, you’ve checked. I’m still hurt, Gio. Still pissed and angry and not interested in seeing you.”
The door slammed shut before I could say anything else.
The next day, I arrived at her door with a bouquet of marigolds.
I hadn’t heard if she’d ventured out of her room or not, but I had to assume she was still in there.
My knuckles rapped against the wooden surface again, just like they had the day before.
This time there were less butterflies in my stomach, but seemingly more wasps.
It didn’t flutter so much as knot, making me weary of another negative encounter.
There was no answer again. So, I continued to knock, until I was pounding against her door. I knew it was rude, but I needed to start making progress with her, and I couldn’t get anywhere unless she agreed to talk to me.
Finally, the door swung open, revealing another angry version of my best friend. “I’m going to seriously hurt you if you keep making me get up from the couch.”
I shoved the flowers between us, watching nervously as her gaze dropped. Those dark brows raised, hitting her hairline, which gave me a chance to take in her slick hair and how long it had gotten since I’d last run my fingers through it.
Her lips pressed together as she let out a sigh. “Why did you bring me these?”
“You know why.” I inched the flowers closer, hoping she’d take them.
We stood there for a few silent seconds before she finally snatched them from my hand and then slammed the door in my face.
Smiling at the polished surface, I considered it progress.
I took a sip of whiskey while I connected the little dipper with my finger, drawing invisible lines in the air.
I thought back to the first time I had found it as a kid and how I had been so excited that I could actually find a star system on my own.
Mom and Dad didn’t even make light of it or explain that it was literally something anyone could see when the stars came out. They were always doing that.
Kingston was the one who broke it to me that the baby dipper was easy, and if I wanted a challenge, I should try to find the star system shaped like a bull.
Then he’d tell me to find an archer with his bow string pulled.
He’d keep giving me little challenges until astronomy had taken over my life, and it became the thing that I studied more than anything else.
The thing that calmed me, defined me, and reminded me that it was possible to be connected to someone, no matter how far away they were.
Which was ironic because my brother was the reason I currently detested stars. It wasn’t his fault, but everything inside me still wanted to blame him. I needed him to fix this shit because somehow it was hurting more than the first time we left and were separated from Presley.
“The fuck, Gio?” Kingston startled while crawling out onto the roof with me.
I connected a few more stars with my finger, drawing an invisible line between them. My twin crawled next to me and took the whiskey from me.
“You know better than to drink while you’re up here.”
Always the buzz kill. I sighed, then leaned back. “King, did you ever think that maybe we’re being kept away from the one person we love, simply because we both fell for her, and we crossed some cosmic boundary by doing so?”
He made some grunting sound while watching me. “The hell are you talking about?”
“We shared a womb, and then we shared everything else afterwards. We can’t also share the same soul mate. God wouldn’t be that cruel.” My voice was somber, but I felt the words punch through my chest.
Kingston finally glanced up at the sky, but only for a second before his eyes traveled down to the ground. “Not sure God did this to us, brother.”
Me either. Maybe it was a curse…or a dream we couldn’t wake from.
“Why are you up here, Gio?”
I found another constellation, but this time I didn’t lift my finger to draw the lines connecting it. Instead, I pushed out a heavy sigh. “I gave Presley a bouquet of flowers.”
I didn’t catch if he froze or looked concerned. I didn’t care anymore.
“That’s good, right?” he asked.
I laughed while lying flat on my back. “Yeah…she accepted them…but this morning I woke up covered in them.”
The memory of the golden petals littering my covers had something punching again in my chest. Like whatever it was needed to get out, but I’d kept it captive, so now there was nowhere for it to go.
“She…” Kingston started, but I interjected again with a laugh, feeling warm from the whiskey.
“Ripped the entire bouquet up and then poured the petals all over me so the first thing I’d see when I woke up was her rejection.”
Kingston didn’t respond for a few seconds, and I realized belatedly that was because I hadn’t stopped laughing.
“She’ll come around, Gio. I promise.” My brother placed his hand on my shoulder before forcing me back inside the house.
But I couldn’t help but think about how easily she’d texted him, even though she was angry; at least she had wanted to speak with him. She wouldn’t even accept a bundle of marigolds from me.
Maybe she’d dug into the ground so deep, the only thing she craved was darkness.
Kingston wasn’t made up of anything other than shadow, so it made sense for her to crave him. I was always her sunshine, and now she hated my warmth.