“This is Valerie.”
I nod at the dark-haired, waif like goth with my classic golden boy of a brother. “Hello,” I say to her.
“Hi. Sorry.” Her hair is disheveled, but her perfectly lined cat eyes are still holding strong.
“I had a difficult day. Turn that down please.”
The volume of the television significantly decreases as I cross the penthouse to my bedroom. Before I can close the door, however, Jake slides in behind me. “Hey,” he says, shaking his dark golden hair from his eyes.
He and I are technically half-brothers. We share a father, but our mothers look nothing alike, and at least in our coloring, we take after them. My mother is dark-haired, dark-eyed, and on the paler side. While I religiously try not to remain pale, in the winter months, it’s difficult.
Jake, however, has a platinum blonde mother with minty green eyes and tans easily. He’s handsome, my half-brother, with a winning smile and a well-maintained look. I like to think he gets the attention to detail regarding his personal appearance from me, but it might be trending these days.
“You should have texted,” I tell him.
“I lost track of time. She was about to head out?—”
“That’s not what it looked like.”
“Got side-tracked. Sorry. She started kissing me, and I got a little—you know.”
“Horny?”
“Intrigued? I wasn’t expecting it. We’re supposed to be writing a paper together.”
“Cute,” I say.
“I just mean she’s not my girlfriend or anything.”
“Jake—I don’t care. I need to take a shower.”
“You want to watch the hockey game tonight?”
“Sure,” I say.
“How bad was your day?”
I sweep my hand out to indicate the penthouse in general. “Turns out, I don’t actually have it all.”
“Everybody knows that.”
I give him a glare.
“I’m only saying you’re thirty five and single. It’s obvious you don’t want to be.”
“Maybe I want too much, then.”
“You deserve it all,” Jake says. “Just like you’re always telling me I do.”
“Maybe it’s me. Maybe I’m the one who’s not enough.”
He snorts. “I don’t think that’s it. You’re a lot.”
“Too much then,” I say.
“Someone’s gonna really be into that.”
“And what ifthey’renot enough?” The sinking feeling I’ve had since getting off the phone with Evan is unshakeable.
