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“Assuming I live ‘till eighty-two.”
“Seems like a safe bet.” Remi grins. “I’m sure you’re tracking your blood pressure.”
“I’m notthatold,” I say, though I do track my blood pressure weekly.
“Aren’t you going to ask my age?”
“I can already guess it—twenty-seven.”
“How did you know?” she cries.
“Simple deduction—you said Jude was ten when your parents passed. You were eighteen then, and now he’s two years out of school…”
“Has it really been two years?” Remi says in wonder. “Time flies.”
“You really think you’re going to bully him into going to college?”
“It’s not bullying,” Remi scowls. “He needs to go.”
“Because you didn’t?”
“Touché.” She sighs. “That’s not why, though.”
“Sure it isn’t.”
“It isn’t! He’s never had a chance to really use that brain of his—“
“And why is that going to change at college?”
“Because it’ll be an actual challenge! He was bored in school, that was the problem…” She trails off. “What are you smiling about?”
“The way you defend him.”
“I’m not! Jude’s incredible when you get to know him—he’s prickly, but he’s the smartest person I’ve ever met, and he’s funny and a sweetheart at his core. You’ll see.”
What I actually see is the love in Remi’s face—that crazy, all-consuming love that shapes everything she sees and everything she does.
It was that capacity for love that made me want her so badly. I saw it burning in her face. And I thought,No one’s ever loved me like that. Like they’d love me in spite of anything.
I wanted it.
I coveted Remi.
And now here she is, on my arm.
Looking up at me not quite with love, but with a brightness that eclipses any sun I’ve seen.
“What?” She grins.
“I love how much you love him.”
She beams at me. “You always know what to say to make me feel so good. Some people talk shit about Jude, and it really upsets me. I know he has his flaws, but he’s like my kid as much as my brother. Gideon never really got that.”
“What’s Gideon like?”
“Oh, you don’t want to hear about that.” She ducks her head. “I already talked too much about my ex.”
“I told you, I’m obnoxiously curious. All the way to nosy, really.”
