I love seeing her like this, though. Claud is often soft-spoken and shyer around her peers, but she lets her true self shine when she’s comfortable.
“What happened?” I ask.
She rolls her eyes. “Uncle Nate broke an egg, and it fell on the floor.” She throws her hands up. “Juliette tells us to keep everything clean. If you do, it helps with accidents, andddd I told him that. Then he slipped on it, and when he grabbed the counter, he hit the bowl of flour, and it went everywhere.”
Leo, Seb, and I can’t control our laughter, and when we calm down, I look around at my brothers. Although, at the moment, I’m murderous and wish they would disappear from my sight for their comments, I couldn’t be happier to be here with them this week.
Suddenly Claud sucks in a breath and points.
The four of us go entirely still.
I roll my lips and turn, watching Seb lock his jaw and run his hands over his face.
“Fuck,” he breathes out, holding back all his emotions while the rest of us watch in silence as a colorful butterfly flutters around and lands on his shoulder.
She’s here.
Never one to miss out on the fun.
My phone rings, and I smile when I see my girl’s name light up. “Hi baby, I’m leaving soon to see you.”
“Harrison,” she purrs. “I’m so excited you have no idea.”
What the.“Are you drunk right now?” I look at my watch. It’s one o’clock on a Friday.
“Mmm. Maybe?” She hiccups. “I went to brunch with Becks and Adriana. Becks took a personal day.”
Then I hear loud bursts of laughter coming from somewhere nearby, including men.
“Who is that, Juliette?” I snap into the phone.
“Who?”
Then I hear the voices again. “The fucking guys I hear in the background.”
“Oh.” She giggles but doesn’t answer.
“Juliette, so help me, God, answer the fucking question.” I clench my jaw from really losing it. I have no patience left in me after the last few days.
Fucking Nate and Leo were egging Seb on about Juliette, and I couldn’t say a thing about it.
“What was the question again?” She laughs, then covers the phone. “It’s Harrison,” she tells someone.
“Juliette,” I shout out of frustration.
“Oh yeah, sorry. I don’t know who the guys are. They keep trying to talk because they’re sitting next to us. They’re from Australia. How cool is that?”
I close my eyes and take a deep breath. “Stop talking to fucking strangers, Juliette. Especially men. What did I tell you about going out with Becks?”
Becks is a good friend. I can tell she cares for Juliette deeply, but unlike Juliette, she also has a wild side.
“I rarely drink. I’m just having fun. Don’t be such a stick-in-the-mud,” she sasses while the voices and the music get louder, so I can barely hear her. “I’m going to go outside. Hold on.”
“Oh my god, what the hell, you jerk!” she yells. Then I hear a big thud, and Juliette begins to yell out in pain.
Panic rushes in. What was that? “Juliette, what’s wrong?” I yell down the line while she’s yelling hysterically. “Jules, baby, please talk to me.”
“Hello?” Becks says down the line in fear.
