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“You know I’m there for you, except I’m not actually there. I’m going to be on the road with my stepbrothers.”
“Crap. What have I missed since this morning?”
“We can talk later. You’re welcome to crash at my place, and if you can help with the rent, that would be great. When do you want to move in?”
“It won’t take long to pack my suitcases. How about tomorrow morning? My dad gets back in town tonight. I’ll let the whole family know that I’m moving out.”
I add foil cupcake holders to the counter so I can save a few treats for Aurora.
“You don’t sound very happy about it.”
“It feels like my life’s been tossed into a blender. That thing with my stepbrothers exploded, but how can it work?”
“That’s a good question.”
“It’s crazy, right—thinking my fantasy could play out? How can any of us be sure it’s real?”
“That’s the difficulty of falling in love—ugh, let’s table that love word. I’ve heard it enough times today.”
“How many?”
Clunking around from next door tells me the guys came down from the roof.
Aurora sounds as flustered as I am. “Enough to know that it’s being tossed around too easily.”
“Why is this so hard, Aurora? I just need to prove to myself that I can take care of myself.”
“I’ll always have your back.”
Hanging up with her, I have a sense of pride. I’m going to live the way I want. No more letting my dad use his money to dictate what I do. I have to make this work.
Mentally rechecking the ingredients, I curse at myself.
Butter.
Fuck my life. Swallowing my pride, I head next door to borrow butter.
Their voices hit me in the lobby before I realize their door is open a few inches.
Carl says, “We can make it work.”
Mark adds, “Yeah, we lock the deal in. This investment from Frank’s company, it’s a huge pat on the back. It’ll draw in a lot of other investors. We need to capitalize on that.”
Sean adds, “We can’t lose sight of our priority.”
Right, their priorities. It must be nice to have siblings you’re close to. They can refocus so quickly.
As I suspected, they were just telling me things they thought a virgin needed to hear. We don’t have anything real. They didn’t rise to success by letting every pair of spread legs lure them in.
Having heard enough, I knock on their door.
“Hello?” I say sheepishly, pushing the door open. “Can I grab that butter?”
“Hey, yeah.” Carl hops off the kitchen counter and heads to the fridge, “How much do you need?”
“Half a stick.”
He hands me a full stick. “We told Mom we’d let you teach us. Mind if we come over?”
