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“I promise to take up at least a few of your dances.”
“Thank you.” Maybe between both my older brothers and Papa, I wouldn’t have many opportunities to be approached by other men.
My phone buzzed in my jeans pocket, and I pulled it out to find a text from Nacio. That’s what he was doing on his phone—texting me from across the room? Seriously?
Nacio:Your room in 5?
I glanced up, and Nacio winked at me.
I rolled my eyes but nodded.
Nacio downed the rest of his coffee, dumped the mug in the dishwasher, and kissed Mamma’s cheek on his way out of the kitchen.
I hung around a little longer, finishing my apple and downing a vegetable juice I found in the fridge before heading up to my room.
I’d been in the room less than a minute when a knock sounded on the door and Nacio walked in.
“This feels familiar,” I said with a grin. “Only now you’re the one sneaking into my room.”
The bathroom I used to share with Nacio and Orlando connected my room to the one they’d shared. When we were younger, I used to sneak into their room through the bathroom after I was supposed to be asleep, and we’d watch R-rated movies together. Looking back, I can recognize that Nacio never showed me a movie my parents would have deemed too inappropriate for fourteen-year-old me. We watched a lot of paranormal movies with an excessive amount of blood and guts and a surprisingly low amount of sex. But it had made me feel so grown-up at the time.
“We can go to mine if you’d rather, but I don’t have these nice armchairs.” Nacio dropped into one of said armchairs and looked pointedly at the other one.
I sat down. “So what’s up? How is the empire building going?” Nacio was involved in a number of businesses. I wasn’t sure exactly what he did, but I knew it involved him spending a lot of time in meetings and on his phone.
“It’s fine.” Nacio waved off my question. “And also not nearly as important to me as you are.”
“Right, because I make you a salary to rival Papa’s,” I said sarcastically.
“No, you’re one of the people I believe would like me even if I lost my entire fortune tomorrow. What have you been up to? Still taking psych classes?”
“Yeah, but I’m still not sure what I want to do when I’m finished. I want to be able to do something that’ll make a real difference for kids.”
Nacio nodded. “You’ll figure it out. I have faith.”
I laughed under my breath. “Thanks. So who are you taking to the ball next weekend?”
He dropped his head onto the back of the chair. “No one special. She’s just a date, and I already kind of regret asking her.”
“Oh?” I felt my eyebrows rise up my forehead.
“I think you may be onto something with your rule against asking dates to family events. I could just chill with you and Orlando and not have to put up with some girl who doesn’t really matter to me.”
“Maybe Orlando will bring someone this year. I haven’t asked him.”
“Maybe.” Nacio didn’t sound convinced.
“Do you think the rumors about him having a girlfriend are true?” How sad would it be if the world found out he was dating someone before we did?
“I suppose it’s possible. But I trust Orlando can take care of himself either way. I want to hear about your date last night.”
I narrowed my eyes at my brother. “Are you saying you don’t trustmeto take care ofmyself?”
He just grinned at me.
I leaned forward and swatted at his head. He caught my hand before I could make contact.
“Are we five?” he asked, still grinning.
