“All in good time.” Troian nodded. “So should we go shopping then? I mean I already know what looks good on us.”
The perk of being a twin. “I’m not sure I trust you to capture my style.” I chuckled.
Troian was wearing a black shirt that was half leather and half lace, with black slacks and shiny black shoes. With his buzzcut, he looked equal parts soft and edgy. It worked for him. But it wasn't really me. I was more into color, and I liked things that either were super plain or super looked like they didn't go together. I didn't play much inside the in between.
“I should be offended but I get it.” Troian smiled. “Madison is the only one who appreciated my style.” When he paused, his face let all the light in his skin leave him. “Well, and Alec.”
The mention of his former husband and mother in law tugged at my heartstrings. I knew how much of a sore subject it still was. He was healing, but I knew he was still struggling with the tremendous loss of losing the man he loved.
“Have you talked to Madison lately?”
Troian rolled his shoulders. “Just the other day, actually. Her siblings are giving her more grief about the fact that I left with family money.”
“Still?”
That's the only reason I had any money now, because Troian's late husband had left him a sizable fortune upon his death. Madison's family felt slighted that Alec had even promised money,family moneyin their eyes, to who they deemed an outsider. They'd been badgering poor Madison ever since. She kept telling them that her son wanted my brother to be taken care of, and she supported Troian one hundred percent. But I knew that didn't make the family turmoil any easier to navigate.
“Still.” Troian huffed back. “I thought they'd start winding down once I left the state. I feel terrible for leaving Madison to deal with it all.”
I nodded. “I get that. But it's not your fault her family is insane.” I didn't know that much about them, other than they were super rich and super dramatic. Which was all I needed to know about them and I kept moving. I didn't tend to ask questions I didn't want the answers to.
“True. But I don't know. This much discourse is just insane. She said she's trying to get them together but for me to stay alert, just in case. I might have to make a trip and help Madison wrangle them.”
“You're better than me.” I scoffed. “I’d stay as far away from the crazy as I could.”
Troian let out a non-committal grunt. I let the silence build. I'm sure it was a lot to deal with all at once. I'm sure it was hard enough dealing with the grief, and then to add the family drama. It sounded unbearable and I just wanted to be there for my twin. Now that we were back in each other’s lives, I hoped Troian felt like he had me as someone who would keep having his back.
He stopped glaring at my entire wardrobe and turned back to me as I quickly made my bed.
“Alright, let's go fetch this outfit. I'll keep my style opinions to myself and just tell you what looks good on you.”
“Now see, why couldn't you have started with that?” I chuckled. “We would've left a lot sooner.”
Shopping with Thayer had turned into a much longer excursion than I had anticipated. I'd wanted to try on a slew of different aesthetics and landed one that felt like it was really me, and Troian said it looked good on me. I was wearing a matching gold suit and pants, with a black undershirt and a pastel pink tie. I could tell by Troian's face that he thought it was a little too much clashing color but I was obsessed with it.
Which was why I was running a little late to meet up with Qwill outside of the restaurant. I wasn't technically late by missing the time the actual dinner was supposed to start, but I'd wanted to have more than a couple minutes beforehand to drag some initial details out of Qwill before I stepped inside the restaurant.
Qwill had texted me the address of the venue as I was swiping my card on my outfit, and I'd had to quickly run back home and dress before heading right back out the door. At least I was finally in a Lyft and was almost to the restaurant.
I was really excited. This was a nice, less intimidating way to get to know Qwill more. A lot of the time, people could be assessed by the company they kept, so I was intrigued to meet these friends of his. I briefly wondered if I was going to be meeting with Garth Lo or Teme, two virces friends of his I'd met at the club the same night I'd first met Qwill. He hadn’t mentioned that either of them were the Orb friend in question, leaving my imagination free to run countless scenarios.
The rideshare pulled up to a restaurant called Gulliver's, a quaint little Orb-run restaurant that boasted that it was the best Orb affiliated Italian restaurant in Piper. As the car rolled to a stop, I saw Qwill standing outside the restaurant sitting on a bench, head buried in his phone. I quickly thanked the driverand proceeded to exit the vehicle. It wasn't until the car drove off that Qwill careened his head in my direction as I moved to meet him at the bench. He smiled wide and stood as I approached, stuffing his phone back into the pockets of his black pants. He was wearing a plain black shirt, per usual, but this one had a collar. Qwill was also donning some gold jewelry hanging from his neck, joining the silver chained jewel that he normally wore. They weren’t nearly as intricate as the ostentatious nature of the jewel, just some simple gold necklaces, but they suited him. I loved that he had his aesthetic and he stuck to it.
“Hey handsome.” I said as I finally reached him, leaning in to give him a quick hug. After he swiftly reciprocated, I found the happiness practically visible in his golden eyes. “I planned on being here a little earlier, but I was running behind.”
Qwill waved me off, dragging his eyes over me. “I hope it's because of this outfit. You look great.” Warmth burned a spiral in my stomach at his words. When he leaned forward to whisper in my ear, the invisible flame reacted like his new words were kerosene. “Ilovethe gold.”
My body shivered with pleasure. He pulled back and gestured to the restaurant. Qwill was so effortlessly hot it was downright annoying.
I followed him, feeling some nerves throbbing inside my being but I quickly shook them off. This was going to be fun. I had no reason to be nervous. Whoever Qwill's friends were, tonight was going to be awesome.
That reminded me.
“Hey, you never told me who your friends were.”
We had entered Gulliver's and approached the waiting area for us to speak to someone about being seated. Qwill opened his mouth to respond, but a cute redhead walked behind the host stand and gave us a smile.
“Can I help you?” She asked brightly.
