“Sebastian.” Gemma shuddered.
“What’s wrong with Sebastian?” I asked, betting the first thing out of her mouth was going to be that he wasn’t hot enough.
Kate winced. “Think of Austin, only ugly and no charm.”
Okay, that was actually worse than I thought it was going to be. “A stuck up snob with neither charm nor looks?” I clarified.
They both nodded.
“He seriously lacks either, but he tries it all the same.” Gemma wrinkled her nose.
Even knowing how shallow the two girls could be, I was inclined to believe them on this occasion. They were quick to judge a guy attractive on his ability to charm as readily as on the set of his features.
“Anyway, back to more exciting things. I’ve heard the boys from the Military College are all quite well off”
“What are they doing at a Military College, then?” I asked.
Kate looked around as though she were about to divulge some great conspiracy. “I heard they’re all the sons of wealthy parents who have misbehaved one too many times.”
I rolled my eyes. Just what we needed; bad boys with money my sisters could swoon over. “And, you think if you can’t find yourself a Rosings boy, you’ll take the next best thing and run off with a boy from Military College?”
Kate and Gemma actually tittered.
“Dear God, and what do you think of this, Anne?”
Anne shifted uncomfortably in her beanbag. “My mum is just the same as your dad, by the sound of it. She made us study like you wouldn’t believe so we won scholarships to Netherfield and could secure ourselves rich husbands… But, I hate it. Besides, no one ever noticed me until Jax-”
“And, he’s one of the richest guys here!” Kate squealed. “It’s so unfair!”
I looked around at them as though they’d lost their minds.
“I’m surprised Dad hasn’t given you the talk, Lil,” Gemma said.
“What talk?”
“The one where he tells you that you need to find a nice rich boy.”
“Are you serious?” I asked. “He really expects me to just find a rich boyfriend to eventually marry… Like it’s that easy? What are we? Living in the Regency?” I rolled my eyes.
“Well, Anne seems to have lucked out. She found a rich boy to fancy her.” Kate pointed.
“I’m sure he’s not serious. He’s a good guy, but he’ll want someone...more like him.”
More like him? What were this lot on about? I felt like I’d gone down the rabbit hole to another time. Could women not do anything on their own anymore? Not that I was a radical feminist or anything… It was all just so…old-fashioned.
“Anne, you are a perfectly good person and well good enough for the likes of the Coopers! Jax is as sincere as they come; you have nothing to worry about from him!” I said through gritted teeth. “And, you can tell Daniel that I am not just going to throw myself at any Rosings boys in the hopes I stick to one of them.”
“But, don’t you want a comfortable future, Lil?” Kate asked and I was actually a little depressed by the seriousness in her face.
“I don’t need a rich Rosings boy to have a comfortable future. If I’m going to marry anyone, it’ll be someone I’m head over heels in love with, and who feels the same about me.”
My phone rang and I saw the step-monster’s name on the screen. No, that wasn’t fair. I wished she was a step-monster. Then, I wouldn’t feel so guilty about loving her the way I did and feel like I was just stomping all over Mum’s memory.
I popped out into the hall so the others could keep talking. “Hey Claire, how are you?”
“Good, Lily. How about you? Settling in okay? The girls aren’t giving you too much trouble?” I could hear her wry tone.
I laughed. “No, they’re all right. Although, a shipment of Military College boys arrived today and, there Gem and Katie were, standing in miniskirts and halter tops, drinking it all in.”
I heard Claire sigh. “They will be the death of me, Lil, I swear. At least I have one sensible daughter! Honestly, those two are the most ridiculous flirts in the whole world. I sometimes wonder if they have a brain between them. Where does it come from?”
We both paused a moment, then said in unison, “Daniel,” and laughed.
“Ah, your father’s got a good heart, hun, he’s just a little…”
“Money hungry?” I asked.
“He wants the best for his girls.”
“Are you saying you don’t?” I laughed so she knew I was teasing.
I heard her laugh. “I’d rather you all be happy and poor, than rich and unhappy, hun. You know that.”
“I do, and I love you for it.”
I heard someone speaking to her on the other end. “Yep. Sorry, Lil, I’m going to have to cut this short.”
“No worries. I’ll try to keep the girls under control while the Military College boys are here.”
Claire sighed. “It shouldn’t be your job to look after them, Lil. But, they won’t listen to me or your father.”
“They barely listen to me, but I’ll do my best.”
“Thanks, hun. Love you.”
“Love you, too,” I replied and hung up.
I checked the time on my phone. The dining hall would be open now and my stomach growled. I headed back into the room.
“What did Mum want?” Kate asked.
“Just checking in. Shall we head down to dinner?”
Anne smiled and nodded, getting up.
“Can you at least get changed first, Lil? Please?”
I looked them over. “I’ll do you a deal. You cover up a little and I’ll change. I’ll meet you halfway.”
Gemma and Kate exchanged a glance, both rolling their eyes. They looked at me and nodded. “Fine.”
“Good, you go get changed. We’ll meet you at your room and go from there.”
****
Half an hour later, we walked into the dining hall.
Just as we did, Anne got a message.
“It’s from Cass,” she said, frowning.
“What’d she say?” I asked as we headed to our table, only there was Liam and some other boys with four empty chairs at the end.
“She’s asked me to go to out for lunch in London on Wednesday.”
“That’s tomorrow.”
She blinked. “It is, too.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You going to go?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. I’ll work it out later.”
We stopped at our table and Liam caught my eye. “These seats taken?” I asked.
He beamed at me. “Not at all.” He patted the seat next to him and Kate sat in it faster than I could even smile in response. Liam and I shared a knowing look.
“So, what’s an Aussie doing at Military College in England?” I asked him as I sat across from Kate.
“I could ask what an Aussie is doing at Netherfield,” he teased, his blue eyes alight with laughter.
“What sport do you play, Liam?” Kate asked, leaning over and thrusting out her ample chest.
I rolled my eyes at Liam, who winked at me and turned to Kate.
Kate fawned over Liam and his friends the whole way through dinner, with Gemma doing her best to keep up. Anne and I just watched, totally awestruck by their behaviour. Liam shared a few glances with me, and I read a very obvious ‘are they for real?’ look on his face. Not that either of my sisters seemed to notice, or Liam seemed to mind too much.
Anne and I talked a bit to a guy next to me, called Dane, who seemed nice and kept looking at Gemma. He didn’t say much about themselves, instead talking about a few of the sports line-ups – they were entirely lost on me – and asking us about ourselves.
When we’d finished, I tried to get Kate or Gemma’s attention, but they were entirely engrossed in Liam and Dane. I shrugged, linking my arm with Anne as we started to leave.
“Lily!” I heard a voice call an
d saw Liam striding towards us.
“Hey.” I smiled.
“I was just wondering if you wanted to get a coffee tomorrow?” he asked.
I ignored Anne’s nudge. “Sure, sounds great.”
“Shall I pull past your dorm? Say about eleven?”
I nodded. “Okay, I’m in Longbourn, room thirty-nine.”
He bowed. “I’ll see you there, then.”
“See you, then.” I bit my lip to hide a very excited smile.
Anne and I hurried back to our room, trying to stifle the giggles I felt were going to erupt.
Chapter Eight: Austin
Cassandra had decided it would be a great idea to invite Anne for lunch. Naturally, then, Anne had got food poisoning, spent the night, and was currently violently throwing up in one of our guest rooms while Lily was on her way over.
We were at our aunt’s place in London, and she was thankfully nowhere to be seen. Neither, for the moment, was Fleur… Although, I expected she was going to turn up at some point; she usually did at the worst possible times.
“The place has a great reputation, how was I supposed to know?” Cass asked as Jax paced. "You can believe I'll be giving them a terrible review."
“Do you think she’s okay?” Jax asked, his brow furrowed.
“She’s unlikely to die from food poisoning, brother,” I said, returning to my book.
“She’s been throwing up since they got back yesterday.”
“Yes, but only if she eats anything,” I replied testily.
“She has to eat to live, Oz.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m sure she’ll recover, and then she can go back to school and it will all be fine.”
“God, what the hell has you in such a mood today, Oz?” Jax asked, finally sitting down.
I ignored him, but I could feel his eyes boring into me.
"Leave him be, Jax," Cass laughed. "You know what he's like."
"I will not, he's being even more of an insufferable prat than usual."
"One of us has to be an insufferable prat, brother. It's what lets the other one do what he likes. Or shall I be the happy-go-lucky twin and you can be the heir Aunt Celia dreams of?" I snapped.
It wasn't fair to Jax, I knew that. But, sometimes it irked me that I'd wordlessly decided to be the one who followed all Aunt Celia's stupid rules and acted the way she deemed appropriate. Most of the time, I was happy to sacrifice whoever else I may have been so Jax could do what he wanted. But, for the last couple of weeks, it had niggled at me, and I wasn't sure why. All I knew was that I was snapping a lot more at my twin recently, and, as much as I couldn't stop it, it didn’t sit well with me. We rarely fought, and even more rarely fought over nothing.
"You? The one she dreams of? Minus the tattoos and hair, maybe." Cass grinned.
I sighed. The tattoos Aunt Celia rarely saw as I made sure to cover them up whenever we saw her; I don't think she knew just how many I had. The hair though, that was something she complained about frequently. I was sure my aunt only condoned it because Fleur went on about how she thought it made me more handsome. Comments like that made me want to cut it, but that would have appeased Aunt Celia too much.
"Am I not allowed some personality, Cassandra?" I asked. "It's still better than the way he gallivants around."
"Gallivant? I don't gallivant!"
"You sort of do-" Cass started.
"Not helping, cousin!" Jax pointed at her, then turned back to me. "What's put you in this ridiculous grump, Oz?"
The door burst open and I was saved answering by the very thing that had me in such a ridiculous grump. I flew out of my seat. Lily stood in the doorway, looking like a drowned rat. Albeit a very adorably angry drowned rat; her eyes flashed in annoyance as she looked around the room.
“Lord, what happened to you?” Cassandra cried.
Lily scowled. “A very kind car drove through a puddle as I was waiting for my second bus. Suffice to say, the driver was not pleased I was dripping all the way through his precious vehicle.”
“You caught two buses to get here?”
Lily glowered at Cass, but I didn’t think my cousin noticed. “How else was I supposed to get here? Fly? Where’s Anne?”
“She’s upstairs. Fourth door on the right,” Jax said.
“Of course, because you probably have a thousand doors,” she muttered, then caught the look on Jax’s face. “Sorry, Jax, I’m just tired and cold.”
Jax smiled. “It’s fine. There should be some spare things in with Anne, get changed and warm up.”
She nodded and I realised she’d avoided looking at me. “Thanks.”
She turned on her heel and strode away. I sat down and went back to my book as Jax started pacing again.
“God, that was unfortunate.” Cass winced.
“She can hardly help it,” Jax answered.
“She looked like she’d jumped in the lake.”
“Oh, she looked fine!”
Cass laughed. “What do you think, Oz? Are you attracted to the drowned rat look? Or are you finding her pretty green eyes less admirable?”
I smirked at my page. “On the contrary; her pretty green eyes are only brighter when she’s angry.”
“Don’t let Petal hear you saying that,” Cass said, then paused. “You know, I was talking to them the other week, Anne and Lily…”
“I know you were,” I replied, flicking the page.
“You do know Daniel Brewer is a Rosings groupie? And Linda Macklin isn’t any better.”
“That doesn’t mean Lily or Anne are,” Jax commented.
I huffed. “You honestly think that, when every other girl…hell, even the boys, of Longbourn and Meryton are? They, like the rest of them, are looking for only one thing; Rosings’ money. Made all the more worse by the fact we all know they’re doing it.”
Cass nodded. “The kids in Rosing know the kids from Longbourn aren’t worth much more than a shag.”
I winced. “Bloody hell, Cass. Do you need to be so vulgar?”
“You know it’s true. Who was the last person in this room to wake up with not one, but two Longbourn girls? You even remember who they were?”
I ignored her and went back to my book.
“By your silence, I will assume not and you’ve only proven my point.” Cass sighed, “God, can’t we do anything more exciting?”
“I can put a game on?” Jax replied, finally standing still.
“Anything is better than just sitting here.”
We played for a while and I stewed on what Cassandra had said about Longbourn kids. To a degree, she wasn't wrong; it was most definitely common knowledge that parents sent their children to Netherfield in the hopes of securing a wealthy husband. I felt like we were all living in a Jane Austen novel the way people went about it. As I'd said to Jax on far too many occasions; why parents felt the need to force us into finding our marriage partners before we'd even finished school was beyond me.
Still, even suspecting that Daniel Brewer was no different to every other parent of a Longbourn child, it didn't stop me thinking about Lily in a very inappropriate capacity. Which also led me to think about Jax and Anne. I still wasn't sure what was going on there; Jax seemed enamoured, where Anne just seemed like she was going through the motions. I really wasn't looking forward to having to pick up the pieces of my overly-trusting brother's broken heart when I convinced him she was just after the money. I decided it was better to reserve judgment for now, though.
Eventually, Lily walked back into the room. Her hair was braided and she wore what I was sure were my jumper and tracksuit pants, the pull cord cinched at her waist. I tried to focus on the fact that Jax had yet again not known whose clothes were whose, instead of wondering what my clothes would smell like after Lily took them off. Which, of course, led me to thinking about her when she did take them off.
Get a grip!
“How is she?” Jax asked.
; Lily sighed heavily and sat on a couch to the side of us. “Asleep. I told her to stop forcing food and let her stomach rest. She’s trying to get some sleep and told me to stop staring at her like I thought she was going to burst into flames.”
"I'm sure she'll be fine, Jax. Just relax," Cass said. "Do you want to play with us, Lily?"
She looked over at the screen and her nose wrinkled in a way that made my stomach clench weirdly. "Thanks, no. I'm seriously awful at those games. Give me a computer and I'm good, but I just mash keypads with them." She mimicked holding a controller, her thumbs moving rapidly, her tongue poking out the corner of her mouth. "Although, makes me not too terrible at things like Tekken," she laughed.
"We can teach you?" Jax smiled and held out a controller.
"Thanks, I'm right with my book," she replied, holding it up. "Besides, I’m more of a zombie-killer myself." She winked at Jax and I was taken aback. I hadn't guessed that would be her sort of thing.
"You prefer...?" Cass started, her eyebrow raised.
"Totally love it, if I'm honest. Nothing like a good hack and slash," she wielded an imaginary sword, "to burn through frustration. I find it much more useful than a stress-ball."
"And, in real life?"
Lily laughed. "I'm pretty useless at things in real life."
"So you're not into sports, then? Music? Art?"
She laughed again. "Sport, I'm all arms and legs. Music, I can't hold a tune. And I'm as artistic as a block of wood."
"Oh, I don't know, a block of wood could be very artistic." Cass turned to me. "Amanda could do amazing things with a block of wood, couldn't she, Oz?"
"Amanda?" Lily asked.
I nodded, looking at her momentarily. "Amanda was my father's ward. He adopted her when she was about five. She grew up a sister to us, didn't she Jax?"
"Yep, Manda's great at everything. It's bloody annoying," he said, grumbling. I knew he was still pissed at me for snapping at him before.
"There's nothing wrong with being accomplished, Jax," Cass replied.
Jax huffed. "Accomplished? More like over-achiever."
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