My younger brother is still in love with his childhood sweetheart, and he’s letting life pass him by without doing anything about it.
When I can tell he’s more level-headed, I blurt out what’s been eating me alive all week. “I fucked up two weeks ago, and I can’t get it out of my head.” I take a deep breath and exhale through my nose. “I dry-humped a girl and ditched her right after.”
“First of all, what are you, fifteen? Second, who was she? The hot one from that Friday?”
I nod. “How could you tell she was hot from across the room with her mask on?”
“Masks can’t hide that kind of hot.” He shrugs. “And those legs. Fuck, they were nice.”
And this feeling right now, the burning jealousy coursing through my chest, is why I don’t understand anything going on in my head. I don’t know this woman from a hole in the wall, yet even having my brother talk about her legs makes me homicidal.
“So you just left her?” His eyes widen, and I cringe.
“Yes, and I’ve been sick over it since.” My stomach has been in knots anytime I think about Jules and the night we had together. If I were any other man, things would have been different with her becauseshewas different…the best kind of different.
Maybe it was the mystery of our masks or the forbiddenness of our ages, but something had my walls and inhibitions easilycoming down around her, and I’m not sure if I loved or hated it, but either way, she’s still affecting.
He takes another bite and mumbles, “So call her.”
I stare at him and don’t answer. His facial expression at my silence makes me feel like an even bigger asshole.
“You didn’t even ask for her number, you idiot. That’s a low blow.” He shakes his head. “I mean, even if you were never going to call her, you could have at least acted like you cared.”
“That’s the thing. I did care, and I freaked out.”
“You don’t normally do repeats with people you don’t trust, so does it even matter?”
How could he understand? I barely do. “That doesn’t excuse that I left her standing there not even a minute after she was screaming my name. The babysitter called about Claudina crying, and I panicked. I jetted out of the room, barely saying goodbye.”
He sighs, knowing I’m fucked. “So why do you need my help?”
“Have your assistant send me the guest list so I can comb over the names.”
“What’s her name?”
“Jules.”
His eyes widen. “Jules, what?”
“No clue.” I shrug, embarrassed. I’m never this careless.
“You really are fucked. Lizzy took off after the event. I’ll get it to you this weekend.”
I glance down at my calendar, and it’s blank beside Claud’s dance class. “What’s this weekend?”
“Seb texted the other day asking to switch his Claudina weekend. He’s taking her Thursday.”
“I know where my daughter will be. What does that have to do with me?”
“Now you’re childless. You can come out for Matteo’s birthday.”
I shake my head. “Nope, I’m not going out again. I’ve hit my quota for the month.”
He glares at me, “You should be there for Matteo.”
I hate that he’s right. “Fine.”
4
