“Mhmm.”
The sound of the door unlocking halts our conversation. Jules lets himself in, untying and retying his man bun before he sits down next to Gabe. “I don’t want to rush this, but I do need to go help Cole at the shop this morning.”
My head snaps toward him. “What’s Cole doing at the shop?”
Jules looks at me like I’m an idiot. “Working… You’re the one who got her the job,” he replies.
“But, she shouldn’t have to—she shouldn’t need another job anymore.” Did they fuck something up? I thought she would have?—
“Is that why she said we need to talk today? Is she already quitting?”
I immediately feel defensive over Cole. “She’s not quitting. Well, I mean hopefully she is, but she’s not a quitter. She’s an extremely hard worker.”
Jules holds his hands up in supplication. “I’m not implying that she’s not.”
“See what I mean?” Gabe directs the question to Jules.
“What are you talking about?” The kettle beeps indicating that the water is ready. I turn away from my brothers to finish making my coffee—I have a feeling I’m going to need it for this conversation.
In a rare moment of silence for Gabe, they don’t answer my question until I have completed my task. Once they have my attention again, Jules starts talking. “Gabriel is slightly concerned about you.” I start to protest but Jules gives me a look that says,shut up. “Would you like to hear what we have to say or would you like to explain what’s going on with you and Cole?”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to say,Nothing’s going on with me and Cole!But that would be a lie. I’m just not quite sure how to answer that question truthfully. “Go on,” I reply instead.
Jules looks momentarily disappointed but continues anyway. “We just want to make sure you aren’t going to get hurt. Obviously you two have a history. What was once an academic rivalry seems to have turned into some sort of mind game. And we want to make sure that you’re not getting too wrapped up in something that she’s not putting the same effort into.”
“Just because her effort looks different, doesn’t mean she’s not putting in effort.”
Gabe quirks his eyebrow at me. “Is she?”
I turn to Jules. “I know that you get it. You’re going through the same thing with Thea.”
“It’s different,” he immediately replies.
“Is it? To me it just looks like the Bardot brothers are attracted to partners that are scared of commitment.” I look meaningfully at Gabe, who gives me the smallest shake of his head.
“Thea’s been through a lot.” Jules’ hackles are raised and I get it.
“So has Cole.”
My twin takes a deep breath, centering himself before he continues. “I believe you. And you know that I’ve always liked Cole. She kept you on your toes all through school and it seems like that hasn’t changed. Just… don’t do anything impulsive, alright?”
I ignore the very impulsive purchase that is sitting in my nightstand drawer. “I won’t.”
“He got a tattoo!” Gabe snitches, seemingly upset that he hasn’t been able to contribute anything to this conversation.
“What the fuck, Gabriel?”
Jules, who has more tattoos than I can count snaking up and down both of his arms, looks betrayed. “I’m the tattooed brother,” he states.
“It’s one tattoo! Don’t worry, I’m not about to get matching sleeves to yours.”
“Good, that would be extremely creepy.” He smirks, which is Jules’ version of a full on belly laugh. “What’s the tattoo?”
“It’s a bunch of lines,” Gabe answers. “Does it stand for something? Is it like how many people you’ve…?” He bounces his eyebrows suggestively.
I roll my eyes. “That would make me a world-class jackass if I got a tally mark for every person I’d fucked.”
“They’re tally marks?” Jules questions in a way that makes me think he sees way more than I want him to.
