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“Maddie would probably like that,” Rory says.
“Oh, I almost forgot.” He looks to Rory. “Ennis Ainsley invited us again for tea at four p.m. today. Will you guys be done rehearsing by then?”
“Probably, if everything goes well.” She eyes me.
“Now that Jesse’s finally had a good night’s sleep, it’ll probably go well.” Brock glances at me. “Anyway, I’d love for you to come along. It’ll just be you and me, Donny and Callie, and Brianna and Maddie.”
She turns to me. “Yeah, I’d like to. Do you think we’ll be done by then, Jess?”
I mimic holding a cup with my pinky extended. “Sure. I won’t stand in the way of you getting the full high tea experience.”
Rory laughs. “Why don’t you come along? You think that would be okay, Brock?”
Brock shrugs. “Yeah, probably. I mean, he’s your brother. Maddie and Callie’ll be there.”
Brianna will also be there…
“I’m not sure high tea is my thing,” I say.
“Suit yourself,” Rory says, “but I’m sure he’d love to meet you. The fourth Pike sibling and all.”
I shake my head, rolling my eyes. “Why the hell would he want to meet me?”
“Because he’s a nice guy,” Rory says. “And you’ll get to experience high tea with a real English butler in an actual English mansion rather than in some restaurant. This is local color, Jess.”
I sigh. “Fine.”
I do enjoy a cup of tea, though the whole high tea experience isn’t something I thought I needed to have.
But I can’t avoid Brianna forever. This way, at least I’ll be with everyone else too—including her brother, who would probably grind me to a pulp if he knew what I’d done. I should have pummeled him for touching Callie—but at least she wasn’t twenty-two and a virgin.
As if our high school rivalry weren’t enough.
“When do we order?” I ask.
“We already ordered,” Rory says. “Classic English breakfast.”
“Which is…?”
“Eggs, ham, bangers—”
I cock my head. “Excuse me?”
“Sausages,” Brock laughs. “Plus roasted tomatoes and potatoes.”
“Sounds fine to me.”
“And coffee,” Brock adds. “Rory and I tried tea with our breakfast yesterday, and though it’s delicious, we both need our coffee.”
“Thank God.”
Our coffees come in a moment, and within another minute, our breakfasts are served. “You’ve got eggs sunny-side up,” the server says, pointing, “streaky bacon, sausage, blood pudding, baked beans, and roasted tomatoes.”
I take a bite of the bacon and then the sausage. Delicious. The roasted tomato is surprisingly good. It accents the other food nicely.
“You’re hungry today,” Rory says.
I try the blood sausage this time. Not bad. “Yeah, I am. I had a decent meal last night. I ordered steak and fries from room service.”
