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“Rory—”
“I’m joking.” I smiled.
Forced. Fake. Awkward.
God, it wasn’t supposed to be this hard. But things weren’t the same between us anymore. Austin had left Syracuse three years ago and never looked back. Too much had happened since to just forget.
“Have you spoken to Mom lately?” I asked him, deflecting the conversation.
“No, why?”
“She landed a new deal with a local jewelry store. Anyone would think it was a deal with Gucci or Chanel.”
“She still doing the Botox?”
The Botox… I snorted.
“Yep. And eating clean and working out like a hamster on crack.”
Austin frowned. “Whatever happened to aging gracefully?”
“It’s a foreign concept to Mom.” I shrugged.
Susannah Hart put more work into her appearance than she’d ever put into raising Austin and me. But I’d stopped dwelling on it a long time ago.
She was everything I wasn’t. Tall, slim, with delicate curves most women envied—a perfect complexion with a pearly white smile that brought out the flecks of emerald in her sparkling eyes.
She barely looked a day over thirty despite being in her late forties and the concoction of drugs she pumped into her body to stay young, beautiful, and functioning. But I didn’t bring that up.
I was all hips and ass and boobs. Much to my mother’s never-ending disappointment.
“Rory?” Austin nudged me with his shoulder. “Where’d you go just now?”
“Nowhere.” I smiled up at him. “The journey tired me out. Mind if I go rest for a bit?”
“You don’t need to ask. You live here now.” He grinned again, but there was a shadow in his eyes. “Now, there’s a sentence I never thought I’d say.”
“Aus—”
“Relax, I’m only messing with you. Head on up. There’s only one bedroom on the third floor; you can’t miss it. There are clean sheets on the bed, and we got you some girly shit for the bathroom.”
“Thanks. And Austin,” I hesitated, overcome with warring emotions, “I really appreciate you letting me stay here.”
“You don’t need to thank me, Rory. I’m glad you’re here. Perhaps later, I can give you the grand tour and introduce you to everyone.”
Panic tightened my chest, but I managed to force out, “Uh, sure. Sounds good.”
But it didn’t sound good at all.
It sounded like my worst nightmare come true.
The third-floor bedroom spanned the entire length of the house. With its own bathroom and walk-in closet, it was the perfect space to retreat. But my absolute favorite feature had to be the curved window seat overlooking the yard, a stunning view of Lake Erie far off in the distance.
After leaving Austin downstairs, I headed up here and unpacked a few essentials. Since my stay was only temporary, I didn’t see any point in filling the closet and dresser with all my clothes. I’d only have to repack them again when the call came through to say my apartment was ready.
Then I climbed into the freshly made bed and slept.
For three freaking hours.
