Anne cleared her throat. “Right, we ready for dinner then?”
“But what about my negligée, Annie?” I cried dramatically, laughing again as I remembered Seb’s reaction to the word.
She took my arm in hers and laughed with me. Austin and Jax gave us strange looks but followed us down to the dining hall in silence.
****
I sat at the dinner table in awkward silence. I’d convinced Anne to come after all. Although, after I saw the way Seb stared at her, I felt a little bad about it.
“Yes, my scholarship was funded by Lady Celia Cooper; she is a very prominent and thoughtful benefactress,” Seb was saying as he sipped his wine.
God, what I wouldn’t give for this to be seven months later and I could down a few shots. Maybe then, Seb wouldn’t be so boring.
“Negligée,” I whispered to Anne and we both laughed.
Dad shot me a look. “Lily and Anne are quite well acquainted with the Cooper twins, aren’t you girls?”
Seb looked at us as though the sun suddenly shone out of our arses, as though from behind a cloud. “That is lucky indeed. I was always jealous I never went to Netherfield myself and didn’t get to meet them. I hear Jackson is a lovely boy.”
I sniggered. “Yes, he is. Though, Austin’s manners could use some work.”
“Lily!” Dad chastised.
I shrugged. “It’s true and you can ask anyone at school.”
He looked around as though we were going to be kicked out if someone heard me saying such things. “Yes, but we don’t have to broadcast it in public.”
Claire put her hand on Dad’s arm. “It’s fine, Daniel. I’m sure, if anyone knows, Lily does.” She sent me a small wink and I smiled. “If Lily says this Austin Cooper could do with more manners, I suspect he does.”
Seb looked around the table, his eyes finally resting on Anne again. I almost choked on my chicken at the seriously lecherous way he was ogling her. She wasn’t looking and I decided not to draw attention to it.
“So, Seb, I hear you’re getting Claire’s company when she retires?” I said.
He dragged his eyes away from Anne so slowly I thought he wasn’t even going to bother looking at me. “Yes, it was Grandfather’s and meant to pass to me through my father. But, Aunt Claire took over when Father died, she’s a…custodian of the company, I suppose you could say.”
He looked to Claire, who nodded, though she looked a little pissed off. “Yes, and we will be lucky enough to have Seb join us at work next week. He’ll be shadowing me and getting ready for when it’s his time to lead.”
Seb’s smile was simpering. “Aunt Claire will be a very useful resource, I’m sure, as we work together.”
I caught Claire’s eye and saw her roll her eyes towards me. I covered my laugh with a cough. Anne snuck a look at me, smiling. Gemma and Kate were sitting together, looking at one of their phones and giggling whispered words to each other.
“Girls!” Dad hissed.
They looked up, only slightly chastised. Kate caught my eye and I felt my phone vibrate. I pulled it from my pocket and saw Kate had sent me a link to a Facebook picture. I opened it and almost spat my coke across the table. If there had ever been a time I wished my coke was spiked, it was now.
Anne leant over my shoulder. “Oh, wow,” she breathed.
“Girls, you are being very rude to our guest,” Dad hissed again.
I shot a look to Seb, who seemed quite happy to just stare at Anne between looking around the restaurant haughtily.
“It’s fine, Daniel,” Claire repeated quietly. She looked at me in question and I shook my head.
“Are you okay?” Anne asked.
“What? Why?” I replied, my voice not quite as strong as I would have liked.
I looked again at the picture of Austin with his arms around two tall, blonde girls. I didn’t know why it should bother me. It was a Thursday night though; what were the boys doing at what looked like a party?
“Any sign of Jax?” I asked, scrolling through the pictures.
There were only a couple. In one, Jax was playing ping-pong with that Williams guy. In another, he was smiling with Cass. In the last one, he was in Austin’s face, a displeased look on his face and a very nonchalant response was all he seemed to get in return.
“Lily, are you-”
“What? Why should it bother me? Austin is nothing to me but a snobbish, proud arsehat who obviously has no qualms about drunkenly hooking up with whoever is closest.” I’d seen him leave with those two girls from the last party we went to – and his morning after walk of shame – but I couldn’t have said I’d believed it was a normal thing for him. “What could possibly possess one of these girls to hook up with him?”
Anne blushed and, by their giggles, I knew Gemma and Kate had heard me. Anne gave Gemma and Kate a glare over my shoulder and a slight shake of her head.
“But-”
“Kate!” Anne hissed, looking to Claire, Dad and Seb who were talking among themselves. She looked back to me and cleared her throat, her face still red. “Word is, Austin is definitely a guy you want in your bed…”
I tried to answer, but nothing came out. I cleared my throat and tried again. “Sorry… I thought you were just intimating that girls are more than happy to get drunk and shag him?”
Kate giggled again. “Word is he’s hung.”
“And he knows how to use it,” Gemma said.
“I heard that’s not all he knows how to use.” Kate winked at me.
Now, I’m not super-prude or anything, I’ve had…intimate moments, but this was just ridiculous. Even, I felt my cheeks flush as a flurry of images bombarded me; mostly involving Austin’s chiselled, bare chest.
“Oh my God, you two shut up right now,” I growled, looking to our parents, as I held my cold glass to my face.
Thankfully, it didn’t seem like they’d heard as they were still busy in conversation.
“You didn’t know?” Gemma asked.
“Jesus, why would I know?” I blurted out, making myself sound much more guilty.
Kate and Gemma sniggered. “Are you sure you don’t know?” Gemma said.
“She most certainly doesn’t. She’s not some stupid, flighty drunk girl, happy to relieve herself of her dignity to have one night in Austin Cooper’s bed,” Anne whispered over me to my sisters.
“You did stay with him last weekend.” Kate pointed to me with her fork.
“I stayed with Anne!”
“Maybe Cass is more her type?” Gemma commented.
“God, kill me now. You two are-”
“Girls?” Dad said and I realised my voice had risen.
“Dad?” I replied, feigning ignorance to the question on his face.
“What are you lot talking about?”
Kate and Gemma giggled again. My face flushed a very impressive red, judging by the heat. And, Anne coughed politely to hide a laugh.
“We were just talking about the upcoming sports tournament.” She smiled.
“Oh, yes. The old Military College and Netherfield clash.” Claire smiled. “I used to love those.”
“I was thinking I’d hang around for a bit and maybe catch some of the games?” Seb said, smiling at Anne.
“Can you do that?” I asked before my mind reminded me to think before I spoke.
Claire nodded. “Oh yes, the clashes are open to the public. Not that anyone but Military College or Netherfield connections are really all that interested by it.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Kate said. “If I had the chance to go and watch some very pretty boys play sport, I’d go regardless.”
“Yes, dear,” Claire shared a look with me and sighed, “I am well aware of that.”
“Oh, Claire.” Dad smiled at her. “It’s a wonderful experience for the girls to meet some nice boys.”
“Some rich boys you mean,” I muttered.
“Lily, don’t disrespect your father.” Claire’s tone was chastising, but her face was sympathetic.
I rolled my eyes, but kept them down so Dad wouldn’t see. The rest of dinner passed reasonably pleasantly, but I suspected that was because I kept my mouth shut.
Chapter Fourteen
I threw a punch at Jax and he easily avoided it.
“Due, you’re listless today. Have you been sleeping?” Jax asked.
“Why would I be sleeping?” I scoffed.
Jax smiled, but it was sour. “Mate, you need to. You can’t go into the clash like this.”
I raked a hand through my hair, thinking maybe it was getting too long, and sighed. “Am I even in the team?”
“Why would you not be in the team?”
I shrugged. “Do I want to be in the team?”
Jax dropped his hands and stopped circling me. “I am getting seriously sick of this attitude, brother.”
I took a deep breath. “Sorry. Let’s just go and raid Williams’ stash and I promise to throw off my sour mood.”
Jax started. “You want to what?”
I shrugged. “Let’s just get drunk and not worry about shit.”
“Okay, what has happened to my twin and what alien life form is standing in front of me?”
“One who is temporarily sick of being the good boy and just really needs to blow off some steam,” I replied.
“All right, mate, let’s do it.” Jax shrugged and we left the gym and our sparring session.
I could see the hesitation on his face, but I also knew he was as desperate as me to be anything but the angry arsehole I’d been since I saw Liam Anders again. Jax was the nice twin, everyone knew that, and his inability to truly hate anyone was testament to that. Even after everything Anders had done, Jax couldn’t actually hate him. I knew he didn’t like him, none of the Coopers did, but he also hadn’t seen everything I’d seen. The way Anders had-
No, I’m not going to think about that now.
“Oz, calm down.” Jax laid a hand on my arm as we were getting changed.
I realised I was clenching my fists and I’d growled out loud.
“Sorry, sorry,” I said, taking a deep breath.
I stretched my neck.
“You sure you want to do this?” Jax asked and I nodded. “All right, impromptu party in the common room!”
I forced a smile at his forced cheerfulness and we walked to the Rosings common room. It was just going to be a small group of our year, a few people having a drink and listening to some music.
I walked in and made a beeline for the drinks table, smiling at everyone as I walked passed. I received some shocked smiles in response, and turned on more of the charm. Soon, I had girls smiling coquettishly at me and some even approached me to talk.
“To what do we owe this Austin?” Cass asked, sauntering in and pushing a girl out from beside me.
“I have no idea what you mean, cousin.”
Her eyebrow rose and she sniffed my cup. “I know Liam’s a wanker and I know your future baby mama seems to have a thing going on with him, but seriously man, this is not the way to deal with it.”
I frowned at her. “You’re out of line, Cassandra.”
She was not intimidated by the growl in my voice or the venom I’m sure she saw in my eyes. She put her hands on her hips and glared at me.
“Austin Cooper, you will not take that tone with me. I am not some floozy whose bed you can charm your way into. Neither am I Lily, who you profess to be crushing on but are determined on pushing away for the sake of your family image.” She wrinkled her nose. “I am also not your trusting, gullible, loving brother who will do anything to make you happy.”
I actually started to quail under the fierceness in her tone.
“I do not profess to be crushing on Lily,” I stated.
“Uh-huh, stands to reason that that is what you focussed on.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” I spat.
She gave me a very ugly look, which I don’t think I ever remembered seeing on her face before. “You are all kinds of hung up on this girl and its messing with your head. Either side with your pride and get over it, or man up and do something about it.” She pushed me in the chest with her finger. “Just take her to bed on Saturday instead of some other slag and get her out of your system if that’s what it takes.”
I mentally groaned. Saturday was the big party that Gemma and Kate had convinced Jax to throw. I’d almost forgotten and I wasn’t going to lie that the idea of taking Lily to bed wasn’t an enticing one. Maybe Cassandra was right, and I just had to get her out of my system. She was just a Longbourn girl after all, we could never have a future, but I could still enjoy her. As much as a part of me thought that was the perfect solution, something about the idea further soured my mood.
I also wasn’t sure where Cass’ sudden obsession over me and Lily had come from. I know I’d never told my cousin that I liked anyone before, but this weirdness on Cassandra’s part was confusing – she’d never been a one-woman girl anyway, so I wasn’t sure why she was so interested in my potential love-life.
“What the hell? You don’t even like her. Since when are you condoning any sort of relationship with her?” I asked, slamming down the last of my drink and stepping towards the drinks table.
“You really think you need more?”
“With you in my face, yes,” I sighed. “The least you could do, if you insist on me being lectured, is to have it delivered by a hot girl I have some hope of taking to bed.”
She clucked her tongue at me. “Just don’t blame me when you turn around and Lily’s in someone else’s arms, like Liam Anders,” she snarled.
I realised my fist was pulled back. Had she been Jax, or any of the other guys in the room, it would have rammed forward and found its target. However, I wasn’t about to hit a girl, let alone my cousin.
Her eyes flared with something like triumph. “I don’t care if you use her like one of your other one-night-shags, I don’t care if you propose to her, I don’t care if you walk away. Just get your head out of your damn arse and do something instead of mope around over her.”
“I am not moping! I am not hung up on her. She’s nothing to me.”
“Then you won’t mind when she’s hanging off Anders’ arm through the clash.”
“You watch yourself, Cass. I thought I was above hitting a girl, but, for you, I might make an exception,” I growled.
She laughed wryly. “You do that and you’re just proving my point, Austin.”
She flounced away and I found myself surrounded by a couple of girls with a bottle of whiskey. I danced with them, making sure I paid each of them the proper attention. At some point, a camera went off in my face, but I just smiled and laughed it off while I had another drink.
I was about to head out with the girls and our empty bottle, when Jax grabbed my arm and sent the girls on their way. I shoved him back, feeling a lazy smile creep across my face and the warm buzz of alcohol in my veins.
I was freaking untouchable and I finally didn’t care.
“What?” I asked.
“I am this close to smacking the shite out of you, brother,” Jax said.
I leaned close to him. “Have you been speaking with our wonderful cousin?”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “I haven’t and I don’t need to. This is ridiculous even by your standards, mate. This isn’t like you and I’m putting my foot down.”
“You can put your foot wherever you want, brother dear.” I smirked and winked. “I’m putting something else down.”
He shook his head. “That was awful. Come on, we’re going. I’m taking you to bed.”
I laughed. “I’m not into gay incest, brother.”
“Bloody hell, Oz. How much have you had?”
I looked at the slightly blurry face of my two brothers. “Enough to make us a triplet,” I snickered.
Jax looked at me and sighed. “Man, we’ve got class tomorrow. Am I going to have to tell the teachers you
got drunk and couldn’t come to class because you were hungover and throwing up everywhere.”
I giggled somewhat hysterically. “I do not-” I slammed my mouth shut as my stomach churned.
Jax crossed his arms and looked at me, then caught the look on my face. “Oh, shit. Come on.”
He dragged me out of the room and I didn’t remember much else.
****
I woke up the next morning feeling like I’d been run over by a steamroller.
I rolled over and saw it wasn’t even the morning, it was after lunch. I groaned and buried my throbbing head under the blankets.
Flashes of the night before flew through my mind and I groaned again. I’d made a total arse out of myself.
“Yeah, I know he makes you whack out,” I heard Cass’ almost sympathetic voice and I snuck a peek out of the covers.
“Inside voice, Cass.”
She laughed, unnecessarily loudly. “You deserve everything you get. You’re bloody lucky Jax convinced me not to wake you up at eight and make you go to class as hungover as shit.”
“Ugh, I’ll thank him when I see him.”
“You will. You’ll also thank him for keeping an eye on you in the shower while you threw up all over yourself and for making sure you didn’t die in your sleep.”
“God, what’s with the third degree, Cass?” I asked. “You make it sound like we’ve never had to do that for you.”
“I would never presume to intimate you hadn’t. But, at least when I drink to excess it’s not because I’m angry and I don’t threaten my cousins with violence.”
I winced as I remembered I’d almost hit her. “I’m sorry, Cass, but you know how I get about Anders.”
She huffed. “That is no excuse, Cooper.” But her tone was softer. She sighed. “Look, I know he did a number on her-”
“Cass, you didn’t see…” I petered off and slowly sat up.
She sat on the side of the bed and snuggled into me. “I know, Oz. I know, but you can’t blame yourself forever.”
I raked a hand through my hair. “I need a haircut.”
“I’m sorry?” She sat up and looked at me.
“You heard,” I forced out. “I’m getting my hair cut.”
Netherfield Prep: A Modern Reimagining of Jane Austen's 'Pride & Prejudice' Page 10