Reading Between the Lines

by Katrina Abbott

  “That’s not what it looked like yesterday.”

  “What did it look like?” Emmie asked, looking back and forth between us. “What happened?”

  I turned to my roommate. “Nothing happened. We ran into Brady and I introduced them. That’s all. Robert’s just trying to bait me.”

  “So why is your face all red, little sister?”

  “Because I’m about to commit fratricide, big brother.”

  He had the audacity to smirk. I pushed away from the table and got up.

  “Aw, come on, B. Don’t be that way. I’m just teasing.”

  Something in his tone stopped me, something more than just an apology. I didn’t sit back down, though, but gave him a sideways glance. “Why did you come here, really?” I asked.

  He nodded toward the ceiling. “The dean said I’m not allowed on the dorm room floors.”

  “Smart ass,” I said, crossing my arms. “You know what I mean.”

  The smile wavered just for a fraction of a second making me wonder if I’d imagined it. But then he was back to his old self when he shrugged and said, “I had nowhere else to go.”

  “You could have gone to London.”

  He glanced at Emmie and then back to me, shaking his head. I got it, though. He’d been out of the house already, and wasn’t about to go back to living with my parents. We’d always been independent kids, which made it seem weird that he’d come here. But I didn’t push him more. Not in front of Emmie, anyway. Maybe I’d try again later when we were alone.

  “I’m sorry, B. I promise not to be a beast. Especially in front of your friends.” He gave Emmie a thousand watt smile, which she returned. He was definitely charming, I had to give him that.

  I sighed. “You’re a pain in my ass, Robert.”

  He smirked. “I know. Now come on,” he said, pushing his own chair back and standing up. “Give me the two dollar tour.” If there was any question that Emmie was invited, it disappeared when he looped his arm through hers.

  “Didn’t you get a tour from your employer?” I asked, picking up the coffee and taking a much-needed sip as we left the lounge.

  “Just the basics: staff dorms, dining room, maintenance shed et cetera. Show me your horse.”

  It was Saturday morning, Brady’s day off from teaching because he’d be at his own Olympic training off campus.

  “Sure,” I said, taking another gulp of the coffee. “Let’s go.”

  ~ ♥ ~

  After about ten minutes with my brother, the novelty of having him around had worn off completely and now I just wanted to get back to my dorm room and catch up on my homework, and, if I was being honest, a bit more sleep. But he and Emmie seemed to be having a good time as we took him from the stables to other parts of the campus, showing him points of interest, which really weren’t all that interesting. I ended up sticking it out longer way longer than I would have if it had been just Robert and I.

  Eventually though as the dew dried off the grass and midday was approaching, I started getting anxious about all the homework I needed to catch up on, so I tried to drag Emmie away.

  “Aw come on, B,” Robert said, “It’s the weekend.”

  “Yeah, and it’s the only time I have to do any homework,” I said.

  “You can blow it off for another hour or so,” he said, beaming his charming smile at me. I imagined if he wasn’t my own brother, that smile would have been like kryptonite on my resolve. One glance at Emmie and the way she was staring at him all googly-eyed confirmed it. Robert had game. And it was working on my roommate. Gross.

  “Don’t you have to work or something?” I said to him.

  He shrugged. “The dean gave me the weekend to settle in and since all I had was the one bag, I’m settled.”

  “Come on, Brooklyn,” Emmie said, making me feel like this was turning into some sort of intervention against me being a responsible person.

  “B,” Robert chimed in, his arm going across my shoulders.

  I sighed, knowing my answer was going to be unpopular but I had to stand my ground. I had equestrian practice the next day and Saturday night was movie night, which meant I’d never get any work done. “I can’t,” Unlike you, I don’t want to flunk out, I didn’t say, although I felt like I was getting a glimpse into why he left Yale. “But don’t let me stop you two. Why don’t you let Emmie show you her library?”

  Emmie laughed as Robert turned to her. “Your library? Spend a lot of time there, do you?” he said with a teasing smile and an arched eyebrow.

  She actually blushed, the shy tint to her porcelain-like cheeks making her even prettier. I suddenly didn’t want to be the third wheel to their flirting and couldn’t get away from them fast enough.

  “I’ll see you back at the dorm, Emmie. Robert, I’ll see you whenever.”

  He didn’t even take his eyes off my roommate when he gave me an absent, “Uh huh. Later, little sister.”

  “Keep it in your pants, big brother,” I muttered as I turned and left them standing on the path.

  Ouch

  By the time Emmie returned to our room, I was deeply entrenched in that English Lit paper I’d told my mom I’d aced. I didn’t realize how late it was until I looked up at the clock when she came in.

  “You’ve been gone a long time,” I said, holding my spot as the queen of the obvious.

  She nodded and plopped herself down on her unmade bed, grabbing a pillow and folding her arms across it. “Yeah, we just hung out for a bit after I showed him around some more. He’s pretty nice.”

  Uh oh. “You’re not into him, are you?” I asked. Not that I didn’t think he was too good for her, or the opposite, just that I didn’t need more complications, and if he was going to be working on campus, it was inevitably going to get complicated. Robert was a nice guy, for the most part, but he had a bad habit of leaving a trail of broken hearts behind him wherever he went. There was probably a whole sorority of girls back at Yale moaning about his departure: Phi Beta Cry. The last thing I needed was my roommate pledging for a spot.

  Emmie hesitated for a millisecond before saying, “No, I’m not into him. He’s just a nice guy.” But that millisecond told me everything I needed to know. She’d tasted the Kool-aid and was looking for the pitcher.

  “Emmie...”

  She cut me off. “Want to tell me what’s going on with you and Brady?”

  No, I do not. “There’s nothing going on,” I said. “He’s my coach.”

  “Your hot coach,” she pointed out helpfully.

  “Yes. My hot coach. Who works here and is going to the Olympics. It’s a non-issue, Emmie. Even if I wanted there to be something between us, there can’t be,” I said, which was the truth. Without mentioning the kiss, because I just couldn’t tell her about the kiss.

  “And you’re with Jared, anyway,” she reminded me.

  “Yes.”

  But wait. “How did this get about me?” I asked. “You’re like a master of conversational diversion.”

  She smirked. “It’s not my first rodeo.”

  I sighed. “Emmie, my brother is a good guy, for the most part. But he’s not great at relationships and I don’t want you to get hurt. I know you were the one to end things with Dave, but you’re still technically rebounding.”

  She rolled her eyes at me. “Please, Brooklyn. Give me some credit. For starters, I’m not looking to marry your brother, though getting you as a sister would not be horrible.” She winked, then continued. “But, maybe we can have some fun together.” She shrugged and then dropped her eyes to her pillow.

  “No,” I said. “You can not lose it to my brother.”

  Her head snapped up, her narrowed eyes on mine. “What?”

  If there’s one thing I’d learned about Emmeline Somerville since I came to this school, it was that she would not be denied anything. I realized forbidding her would basically be throwing my brother at her. But still. I did a quick change of tack, hoping spinning it with a bit of humor would arouse s
ome sympathy in her and make it seem like I wasn’t exactly forbidding it. “I mean it, Emmie. Because we are roommates and friends, which means we share everything and I couldn’t possibly bear the details of you getting it on with my brother.” I shivered.

  She laughed at that, which was a good sign. “Whatever,” she said, noncommittally, and got up off her bed. “I guess I’d better start my own homework, since I’m guessing you didn’t secretly do mine while I showed your brother around campus.”

  “Nope,” I said.

  “Some sister-in-law you are,” Emmie said, dropping into her desk chair with a sigh.

  ~ ♥ ~

  I made my way down to the first floor lounge about fifteen minutes before two to make sure I could get a table. Saturdays weren’t hugely busy on campus since some girls went home for weekends, but you never knew since the lounge was one of the only places we could host boys. When I arrived, there were a couple of tables being used by mixed groups of Rosewood and Westwood students, but thankfully it wasn’t too loud in there.

  I scanned the room and my gaze landed on Kaylee who was sitting with Declan. I almost sat with them, but quickly stopped myself, realizing I’d be interrupting them; the way they were leaning so close to each other, she was practically on his lap and they only had eyes for each other. They’d only just started dating officially after a pretty rocky start, so I left them alone.

  As I pulled out a chair and sat down, Kaylee did look up and smile at me before returning to Declan, giving him a googly-eyed look, totally confirming that she absolutely didn’t want me to sit with them. Three’s a crowd and all.

  I sipped absently at the latte I’d grabbed from the dining room on the way. I was nervous, wishing I knew if Dave wanted to see me just to plan the food drive or if he had ulterior motives. He’d left so much on the table the other night, sending my nerves into bundles of stress over his one word answer when I’d asked him if there was someone else.

  Maybe. That’s all he’d said, but I knew what he’d meant by it. I just had no idea what to do with it and the more I thought about it and what had happened the night he’d found himself in bed with me, the more anxious I got.

  Jared arrived in the lounge right on time. And as expected, he wasn’t alone, having brought Dave with him. Neither looked all too pleased, either.

  Awesome, I thought. This looks like it’s going to be a great way to spend my one day away from classes and equestrian practice. Not that I minded practice, but being around Brady was always tense—I wanted at least one day to just chill and not have to worry about anything. Today was obviously not going to be that day.

  Jared dropped into the seat next to me, looping his messenger bag over the back of his chair. Dave sat across from us and wasted no time with pleasantries as he pulled a notebook out of his backpack.

  “So I guess we have to work on this food drive,” he said in something of a growl by way of greeting.

  I was tempted to ask him if he was taking a page from Brady’s playbook when Jared cleared his throat. “I think what Dave means,” he said slowly, looking pointedly at his roommate, “is Hi, Brooklyn. How are you doing today?”

  Dave exhaled and shook his head before he looked up at me and gave me a sheepish smile, the kind that was all Dave and made me forget about Brady. And Jared, who of course was right there beside him. “That is what I meant,” he said. “Sorry.”

  I nodded, willing to give him a pass on the lack of manners thanks to the whole Emmie thing. “I’m doing okay. How are you guys?” I asked, looking at Jared first; he was my boyfriend, after all.

  Jared shrugged and grabbed my hand. “Better now.”

  It was a cute gesture, but made me tense up. Probably because it made Dave tense up. Not in a huge, obvious way, but still, his back suddenly looked like there was a steel rod in it. He was very obviously not looking at us and flipped through the pages of his notebook until he landed on a fresh page. He seemed to take an extra long time to get out a pen. It was a bit maddening. And by ‘a bit’ I mean ‘a lot.’

  “Dave?” I said.

  His head snapped up as though he was surprised at being spoken to. “Huh?”

  “How are you doing?” I asked gently, wanting a real answer. Or at least for him to know that I cared and understood he was having a rough go of it. He and Emmie had been pretty serious and no one liked being dumped, even if they did sort of see it coming. Or should have seen it coming.

  He shoved his fingers through his hair and then blinked at me, a tight look on his face. “Fine.”

  Jared squeezed my hand, so I turned and looked at him. He didn’t say anything, but he gave me the tiniest of head shakes, looking concerned. I figured maybe he wanted me to give Dave some space, which was probably a good idea. It made my life easier anyway if we all pretended Emmie hadn’t just dumped him. And sweeping Dave’s little admission from the other night under the rug was a good plan, and would keep the awkwardness to a minimum.

  “So, the food drive,” I said, figuring a change of subject was in order. “It’s a week today, so we need to iron that all out now.”

  “Right,” Dave said, sounding relieved. “So what are we going to do?”

  “Em...um...” I stumbled over her name, realizing bringing her up was just going to make Dave feel worse. “We’re going to work with the local fire department.”

  Dave frowned. “Why?”

  Did I want to explain to him that soccer moms and cougars would be more likely to donate money and canned goods if sexy firefighters were involved? No, thanks. I shrugged. “They’re into supporting the community, so we’re teaming up.”

  Jared narrowed his eyes at me. “They won’t be taking their shirts off, will they?”

  “What?” I sputtered at him, acting appalled at his suggestion. “No, why would they?”

  He looked at Dave and rolled his eyes.

  “Jared!” I said, smacking his arm and noticing the muscle was rock hard. Swallowing and pretending I hadn’t noticed, I looked at Dave who was smirking. Okay, I didn’t love that he was laughing at me too, but at least he was smiling finally.

  “Shut up, both of you,” I said, even though neither one of them had spoken a word. I refused to laugh with them, but suppressing a smile was nearly impossible.

  Dave held up his hands in surrender. “Don’t look at me. Abe’s the one who asked.”

  I exhaled. “Fine. Emmie had it set up with them because she said last year when the firefighters showed up, donations increased by a lot. She did this, not me.”

  “She is something else,” Dave said. I noted a hint of sadness in his voice, but more than that there was admiration, pride. I totally got that. Her methods could sometimes be extreme, but if there was anyone who could make things happen, it was her.

  “So what do we need to do?” he asked.

  I shrugged. “I’ll follow up with the store and the fire department to touch base and figure out the timing and stuff, but other than that, we’ll just need to show up at the grocery store one week from today with some signs, I guess. I think the store will provide a table, so we’ll just need to be there to solicit donations. Grab a few guys to come, too, so we can swap out and do shifts.”

  “I can handle that.”

  “I’ll come, too,” Jared said.

  Dave nodded and slapped his notebook closed. “If that’s it, then, I guess I’ll head back and catch up on my homework.”

  He stood up and suddenly his eyes were very obviously anywhere but on me and Jared. “You’ll find your way back?” he asked.

  For a second, I thought he meant me, but then Jared spoke. “Yeah,” he said. “I’m good.”

  And then Dave was gone. I resisted the urge to let out a big sigh of relief.

  “Sorry about that,” Jared said.

  I turned to him. “For what?”

  He nodded toward the door Dave had just walked through. “He’s been a bit surly since the whole Emmie thing.”

  “Really? I hadn’t noticed,�
�� I said, making Jared smile.

  He grabbed my hand again, rubbing over my fingers with his thumb. “Want to go for a walk? It’s kind of crowded in here.”

  It wasn’t that crowded, but I knew what he meant, so I nodded and got up with him, letting him lead me out of the lounge and down the hall to the main doors. It was an unseasonably warm day for early November and a walk outside sounded nice.

  Once we were outside, I purposely took a left instead of the right that would have taken us toward the stables; even though I knew Brady wasn’t on campus, I didn’t need to think of him while I was with my boyfriend. And if Jared had suggested we go to that nook behind the stables that everyone used to make out in, I’d have to veto since Kaylee had found out teachers knew about the spot and could bust us at any time. Anyway, that had been Dave and Emmie’s spot and I really didn’t need to go there with Jared.

  Best to head into fresh territory where there were no connections with other guys. The maintenance shed was starting to sound pretty good.

  Jared kept a hold of my hand as we walked aimlessly. Or I thought we were walking aimlessly until we got around the back of the school and he tugged me into a secluded spot between the hedges and the brick.

  “What are you doing?” I asked stupidly. Like I didn’t know.

  He looked down at me with half-closed eyes. “We didn’t finish that kiss. Since your brother has been located and everything’s back to normal, I would really like to.”

  Nothing was back to normal. I didn’t even have a normal anymore, but I didn’t say anything as Jared stepped closer, making me have to angle my head to look up at him. It was when we were so close like this that I remembered just how big of a guy he is. His large hands landed on my sides, warming me and gently tugging me toward him.

  My stomach rolled and I licked my dry lips, watching his nostrils flare as he looked down at me.

  My hands rose to his shoulders and I wished we were sitting down so we fit together better, but he leaned down to meet me, making it work.

  He got so close that my vision blurred. My eyes fluttered closed and a second later, his lips met mine, tentatively, with the first press. More firmly with the second, and then the third was when it really started happening. His lips parted and I felt the sweep of his tongue across my mouth. I opened and tasted him; mint and chocolate, making me wonder if he’d had hot chocolate on the way over and then followed up with gum, knowing he’d be kissing me.