Kai’s “house”—and I use that term loosely—was nestled in a vintage 1920s apartment building on Scott surrounded by other equally imposing high-rises.
“Damn, Gina,” I said under my breath.
Kai hugged the brick. “Matilda!”
I didn’t ask.
The lobby was all posh marble, and the elevator was true to the age of the building with those sliding metal accordion door things. We all piled in before Kai pushed the top-floor button.
“Ground floor: perfumery, stationery, and leather goods, wigs, and haberdashery, kitchenware, and food...going up!” I sang in my best Are You Being Served impression.
I looked at Ezra, the corner of his mouth turned up in a crooked smile. “Are you free, Miss Brahms?” he asked, shocking the hell out of me.
I gulped, my eyes going wide. “I-I’m free.” I tried to play it cool but couldn’t succeed. Frankly, I was stunned he got the reference. It was obscure. And not really cool obscure either.
I turned toward the doors of the elevator, afraid to look at him anymore, and clenched my teeth, afraid I’d call him “baby” again or something. I lost even the smallest amount of mojo I possessed when he was around me. When the elevator dinged, the door slid open, and Ezra leaned across from me, the sleeves of his hoodie brushing against my stomach, leaving goosebumps behind as he opened the accordion grate. I stepped out onto more marble and looked up and down the hall. There were only two doors and they were on opposite sides of the hall. Kai led us to the door on the far left and with every click of my heel on the floor, I was very aware of my wrinkled clothes, my shorts, still a little damp, and my unmanaged hair. My only comfort was that both boys were in as bad of shape as I was. Poor Kai had a knot on the side of his head that was turning a little blue.
“We look like we all got into a fist fight right before we got here,” I told them.
Kai sighed. “I know. Mom is going to freak.”
I swallowed my nerves and they settled like a rock in my stomach. “Is she, like, particular about clothing and stuff?” I asked, taking a mental inventory of my thrift store clothing I packed.
Ezra laughed. “Nah, Rosie is salt of the earth. She will, though, instantly worry that we got mugged on the way up here.”
I breathed a sigh of relief as Kai stuck his key in the door, but before he could even turn it, it whipped open.
“Oh my God! I thought you would never get here!” a boisterous, short, plump woman with shoulder-length black hair exclaimed. Her smile faded from ecstatic to concerned as she tugged Kai’s head to her level. “What in the Sam Hill happened to you, Kai Brandon?” she yelled, a thick southern accent coming to the forefront.
So this is Rosie. She was unbelievably beautiful, eyes bright blue. Her cheeks matched her name with two deep dimples in each one. She exuded wonderful from every inch of her short frame.
“Sorry, Mama. I didn’t want to tell you until we got here, didn’t want you to worry.”
She let go of his face and placed her hands on her hips. “With you I’m always worryin’, boy. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Tell you the details later.”
Her mouth screwed into something incredulous. She shook her head and sighed a sigh of exasperation, then looked around Kai and noticed Ezra. She gasped and jumped up and down like a cheerleader. “Ezra! Baby boy! Get over here!” she yelled and reached for him then hugged him fiercely.
Everything she did was loud and full of energy, but it was so charming. She was the type of person whom everyone was drawn to, the type whose heart was always open and always ready to give. I knew it the second she opened her door. It was no wonder Kai loved her so much.
Ezra stood from their hug and placed his warm hand on my lower back, sending a thrill of butterflies. His fingers bit into my skin making me shiver all over. They slid up to the curve of my side and fit every arc, every bend there, but they were tense, like he was fighting an urge he didn’t want to fight. Neither did I. My breaths came a little faster and I memorized the intensity of those fingers as he brought me forward. His hand left the skin there, leaving it cool and starved for his touch again.
I was shot out of my thoughts when Rosie leaned for me, wrapping me in a generous hug.
“And you must be Jupiter!” she told me, leaning back, keeping my hands in hers and spreading them wide so she could get a good look at me. She shook her head. “Girl, you are just a devastating little thing! Mike, get in here!” she yelled over her shoulder. “Come look at this girl that somehow survived a road trip from Florida with these hoodlum boys!”
My face bloomed bright red.
“Rosie!” Ezra exclaimed, looking a little embarrassed.
She narrowed her eyes at Ezra then down at me and something changed in her face, like she was seeing something she hadn’t noticed before, trying to determine what we were to each other. Join the club. We got ourselves a little sitch-i-ation. Maybe without all the hair gel, though.
“What’s all the hubbub about?” a man asked, rounding a corner into the entryway. Hubbub. I love old people.
He looked so much like Ezra and Kai, maybe just a little shorter, and of course older. He smiled at me then turned toward his son. His hand went to his head as it shook in disbelief.
“Kai. Kai. Kai. You’ve been wrestling with pigs again?” he asked.
“Had a little incident,” Kai divulged. “I’ll tell you all about it later.”
Kai’s dad hugged and slapped him on the back and did the same with Ezra. Two more ridiculously tall boys spilled into the entryway, curious as to what was going on. The one right behind Kai’s dad looked about thirteen, maybe fourteen, and was a spitting image of Kai, save for a little lighter hair. He peeked around his dad’s shoulder with the sweetest smile I’d ever seen. Another boy stood behind him. He looked around my age and could have been Kai’s twin. He had hazel eyes, though, instead of Kai’s blue and his nose was a little longer.
All six pairs of eyes were looking at me at once. I felt my heart speed up. “Uh, hi, I’m Jupiter,” I said, tossing up a hand in hello.
They didn’t say anything and I started to get nervous, biting my bottom lip, trying to fight the burn rising up my neck. Then all at once they were talking.
“So nice to meet you, Jupiter. I’m Mike,” Kai’s dad greeted with a smile, his hand out. I shook it and then he introduced Kai’s brothers.
“This is Van,” Mike said, pushing the younger one forward. He offered his hand and I took it. “But we call him Bear. And this is Milo,” he said, introducing Kai’s middle brother.
Milo stuck out his hand and I shook it. “Nice to meet you,” he said, smiling at me with that charming smile all the Brandon boys possessed.
I giggled. “Nice to meet you too,” I told him.
It got quiet again, so I began to examine the ceiling.
“Well, no sense standing here. Let’s get in the kitchen!” Rosie broke the silence. We all pushed forward through the hall at once. I got swept up in the crowd of giant boys. I looked over my shoulder at Ezra and he smiled at me from the rear of the group.
The house was incredible. There was a main hall that emptied into several rooms with giant glass doors that were spread wide open. I caught sight of a library, some sort of gigantic living room lined with floor-to-ceiling windows that peered out onto the buildings all around. There was some sort of study and then at the end of the hall, through an elaborate arched doorway, was the kitchen. On the floor was a black-and-white checkered pattern and on the walls, large marble subway tile. It was a sea of marble, copper, and high-end appliances. For lack of a better phrase, it was really, really, really pretty. I want!
Through speakers in the plaster ceiling spilled Harry Belanfonte’s “Jump in the Line.” I burst with laughter when Rosie began to shimmy to the stove, a hand touching the opposite elbow of a raised hand, back and forth, back and forth, with a little rumba step.
“I made jambalaya, darlins! With a sweet potato pie to finish
,” she shouted over the music and stirred a pot on the stove. “Go on and sit!”
A few boys, I don’t know which ones, it was too hard to tell at that point, rushed me over to the table and settled me in the center of a long bench. They all filled in around me. I was literally surrounded by boy. I looked left and up to take in a very friendly Milo then turned to my right and up to take in a tired-looking Kai. Bear sat at the end of the table as did Mike on the opposite side. And Ezra was directly across from me. He watched me closely. It made my heart flip-flop. Luckily, Rosie came to the table with a giant, steaming pot and distracted me. She set it dead center on an iron trivet. I had to lean up to see Ezra, and even then I could only see his eyes. They crinkled as if he was genuinely smiling. I fought the urge to push the pot aside so I could actually witness it.
Rosie tucked in beside Ezra next to her husband. “Pass your plates!” she said cheerfully, and they happily obeyed.
Milo took mine before I even had a chance to catch up with them and handed it to his mom.
“My mom is an excellent cook,” Milo’s deep voice told me.
I glanced at him then at Rosie. “If it’s half as good as it smells, Rosie, it’ll knock my socks off, I’m sure.”
Rosie blushed prettily and I wished I could wrap her up and put her in my pocket. She passed a heaping plate of food to me, causing my eyes to bug. She laughed.
“Sorry, used to serving teen boys,” she offered in explanation. “Eat what you can, doll.”
The table was loud as everyone served themselves a buttered roll that smelled like heaven itself and poured their drinks.
“Boys,” Mike said, and the whole table died down, their heads bowed. I copied them as Mike began to thank God for the food on their table. When he was done, the table erupted once again. I sat there a little shell shocked by the noise made by this gigantic man family. I looked across the top of Rosie’s pot at Ezra. His eyes were crinkled and his shoulders were shaking. God! His punk ass is laughing and I’m missing it!
“So you’re headin’ to school with Ezra, are you?” Rosie asked, taking a bite.
My fork still sat in my hand. I hadn’t made a single move since I sat down. The table got quiet again as they waited for my answer.
“Yes, ma’am,” I answered.
To be honest, I was intimidated by the boys around me, which was a new one for me.
“That’s a mighty good school. You must have been an excellent student then.”
I smiled. “I try, I guess.”
“What luck you two decided to go to the same school,” she said, fishing for information.
“It was a cool luck of the draw, for sure,” I told her. “I didn’t have a ride up there. My parents aren’t the most conventional sort, and I would have had to get creative if it hadn’t been for Ezra.”
“Are you and Ezra dating?” Milo came out and asked.
“Oh no, we’re definitely not together,” I told him, trying hard to control the blush stretching across my face and the hurt of that knowledge from penetrating any deeper into my heart.
I looked over the pot at Ezra and his eyes bored into mine then he looked at Milo. “No, I’m just giving her a ride is all,” he told his cousin.
I was disappointed in him. He had to have known how badly that would hurt me. Kai looked at Ezra and shook his head lightly. He looked at me then patted my knee tenderly under the table to comfort me. I picked up my fork and took a bite.
“Oh my God, this is amazing!” I said without thinking.
Rosie sat up a little and smiled, bolstered by my compliment.
“How old are you?” Milo asked me.
I swallowed.
“Eighteen,” I answered.
“Interesting. I’m fourteen,” Bear told the table. He smiled at me. “Four-year age gaps mean nothing anymore, you know.”
Kai snorted and choked on his food. I hit his back to help a literal brother out. “Yep,” I answered, not sure what else to say.
“Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher had a sixteen-year age difference,” Kai’s youngest brother told me, wagging his brows up and down.
It was my turn to choke. “Aren’t they divorced?” I asked him between gasps of breath.
“Still,” he responded. “I heard it was good while it lasted.”
Mike laughed into his plate, mumbling hormones.
“Bear, you need a cold shower or somethin’?” Rosie asked him. She looked dumbfounded.
“Mom!” he gritted, his face turning bright red.
“I’m seventeen,” Milo told me.
I turned his direction. “Cool. Senior this year?”
“Yeah,” he said, throwing his hair out of his face and grinning at me.
I looked over at Kai. “I know,” he explained.
“They’re all yours,” Rosie told Mike.
Chapter Nineteen
“I’ve got a sweet little bedroom for you,” Rosie told me after I rang my sister and parents, letting them know I’d gotten to Chicago. We walked to a corner bedroom where the boys’ rooms were. “Ezra’s already put your bag in here. There’s a private bathroom as well.” She took me by the shoulders and smiled. “Make yourself at home, honey. Holler if you need anything at all.”
“Thank you. For dinner. For sharing your home with me. Thank you,” I told her.
She winked at me. “Darlin’, I like you,” she said. She began to close the door, then remembered something. “P.S. If you put your ear up to the vent near the bed there you can hear everything said in the room where the boys are sleeping.” I laughed. “It’s how I find out all the dirt and dole out punishments accordingly. They’re always scratching their heads on how I find out. Haven’t put two and two together. You’re welcome,” she told me and closed the door.
The room faced out onto a busy Chicago street. I couldn’t hear the bustle below, but I could see the streets full of headlights and the sidewalks crowded with people. There was an energy there I had never experienced, and I liked it. It was intimidating, but I liked it.
I bent to unzip my case to get my shower stuff and T-shirt to sleep in when I noticed the vent. Oh, go on then. I leaned next to the bed and bent my head to the vent.
“…up about it,” Ezra said. I recognized his voice immediately despite how tinny it came through.
“Milo, please,” Kai said.
“Yeah, if she’s gonna like anyone here, it’s gonna be me,” a smaller voice shouted. Bear.
Collective laughter rang through the vent.
“Dude, she’s the perfect chick,” Milo said.
There was a pause and a bed creaked.
“You don’t even know her,” Ezra chimed in.
“Fine,” Milo conceded, “but she is definitely hot as hell.”
I dusted off my shoulder then rolled my eyes at myself.
“What happened back at that waterfall?” Kai asked, ignoring his brother.
“Don’t want to talk about it, Kai.”
“Well, I want to talk about it,” he insisted.
Another pause. “Nothing happened.”
“Liar, liar, pants on fire,” Kai accused.
“Listen, will you just drop it? I-I’m not sure what happened. I’m trying to figure it all out.”
My heart beat into my throat.
“Wait, do you dig Jupiter?” clueless Milo asked. “From what you said at the table, you acted like she was just a friend.”
“She is a friend,” Ezra explained.
“You’re good,” Milo chimed in. “I’ll give you that, but you left your answer open and since I’m familiar with your insane ability to avoid a question, I need you to clarify, Ezra. Are you just friends?”
There was a loud thud in the room and I missed his answer. Poop on a stick!
“Fine, whatever,” Milo said. “I’m making a move then, ’cause girl is fine as a dime.”
“Can you just stop regurgitating crap?” Kai asked Milo. “Please, your stupidity is starting to infect Bear.”
“Hey!” Bear shouted, his voice breaking.
“I’m gonna hit the showers,” Ezra said. “Y’all chat it up like a couple of chicks.”
I heard him stand, walk, and a door shut.
I got nothing out of eavesdropping. How is that possible? If Frankie were here, she’d would have gotten every detail imaginable because that’s her luck. I get squat crap. I grabbed my shower stuff and hit up the bathroom, showered, and dropped into the Brandons’ guest bed. I wished I’d had my phone. I wanted to text Frank right away. I also would have fallen asleep to the album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill because I didn’t, no, couldn’t think anymore, and needed a badass chick to tell me what I was worth.
“Good night, nurse!”
Chapter Twenty
I woke up to a light knock on my door then looked out the window to see if the sun was out and was startled to see tall buildings bathed in streetlight instead. It was still really dark, though. I went to grab my phone then remembered I didn’t have one.
I stood up, pulled my T-shirt over my bare thighs, and cracked the door a few inches. I peered out into a softly lit hallway.
“Ezra?” I rubbed an eye, trying to wake up. “What time is it?”
He stood there, his hair a mess, wearing a pair of track pants and no shirt. I opened the door a little farther but still stood behind it. It was uncomfortable, but there was no way I was going to open it fully.
“I see you’ve brought a six-pack,” I joked, gesturing to his stomach.
He smiled down at me. “You’re funny.”
“What time is it?”
“Three.”
“In the morning?”
He rolled his eyes. “No, the afternoon.”
“Sarcasm? Really? Is that why you woke me? I need every second of beauty sleep I can get.”
He looked taken aback. “What are you talking about?”
“Nothing, what’s up?”
“No, tell me what you mean by that.”
I sighed. “I didn’t mean anything by it, really. Bad joke.”
“You know you’re beautiful, right?” he asked. I swallowed. “If you didn’t, you should.”
Get in the Car, Jupiter Page 15