Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 60309 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 302(@200wpm)___ 241(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60309 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 302(@200wpm)___ 241(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
I tug at the strings to my hoodie. “Jane’s likely still upset because it took Farrow and Moffy kissing for your Mom and Dad to believe her.”
“Ridiculous,” Eliot says darkly. “Where’s the allegiance?”
“They’re rooted in logic, dude,” Tom takes off his fingerless gloves and warms his hands over the fire. “There must’ve been some logical thing that was pointing them in the wrong direction.”
“Am I not rooted in logic?” Eliot questions, taking another hit.
“When it comes to our family, you’re all heart, brother,” Tom grins.
Eliot wears a softer smile, one that vanishes too quickly.
“It’s strange that they won’t be here for Christmas,” I mutter. They know I’m referring to Jane, Moffy, Charlie, Beckett, and Sullivan. They’re all on a tour bus for a H.M.C. Philanthropies FanCon event. It’s basically a Damage Control Tour to reestablish the crumbling fact that Moffy and Jane are just cousins.
The three of us are seniors, so there was really no talk of us joining them.
“I still can’t believe Beckett decided to go,” Tom says, staring dazedly at the crackling flames. “He almost never misses a performance—dude is an inspiration.”
I secretly hope Tom never becomes that much of a workaholic. But that’s largely why he didn’t join the FanCon tour—he’s been super focused on his band and couldn’t miss months of time.
“Charlie is more shocking,” Eliot counters. “When has he ever done anything for Jane?”
“When has he ever done anything for any of us?” Tom says, almost resigned to the fact that Charlie is the most self-centered among them.
“When’s the last time you asked him for help?” I ask them, because I wonder if Charlie just hasn’t been tested as much as he could be.
Eliot picks up a stick. “Last week. I asked him if he had a copy of Othello I could borrow.”
“And…?”
“And he said, Why? You can’t read it.” Eliot begins to smile. “I’d call him a little shit, but he’s more like a big shit since he’s my big brother.”
“What’d you need Othello for?” I ask.
Tom shakes his head. “Don’t ask.”
Eliot is quick to tell me. “I was trying to take a selfie for someone, and we talked about Othello for fifteen minutes.”
“A girl he met at Superheroes & Scones,” Tom clarifies since I’m out of the loop. He glances at Eliot. “What’s her name?”
“Natalya.”
I smile over at Eliot, wondering if this is it. Cosmic love for one of us. The universe is finally drawing hearts around Eliot. “That’s very Aunt Willow and Uncle Garrison, you know. Running into your soul mate at Superheroes & Scones.”
“No,” Tom cuts in, eyes widening. “Not a soul mate, Luna. She challenged him to take a naked selfie.”
“Tastefully, I did it,” Eliot says. “Without Charlie’s copy of Othello. I used The Taming of the Shrew instead.”
“You sent it to her?”
He nods.
Oh no. “What if she leaks the pic?”
Tom tips his head to Eliot. “Yeah, dude, what if she leaks the pic?” He says it in a way that he must’ve asked his brother this before.
Eliot rests his forearms on his knees, leaning forward. “So what if it is leaked?”
Is he counting on it? Or is he just okay with that fate?
“It hasn’t been,” Tom tells me, “which makes me think she’s never going to do it.”
Eliot doesn’t look too disappointed. It’s like he escaped the burn of the fire. He likes tiptoeing the edge of danger more than most people. I’m not too afraid of getting close to the flames, but I am disappointed in myself when I do feel a scorch. Like I know better.
I wish I could be that confident every time I near a fuck-up. I guess Eliot wouldn’t even consider a leaked nude a fuck-up. Should I just rewire my brain to perceive every failure as a purposeful achievement? How do you even do that?
The only sound comes from the cracking wood and a hoot of an owl in the distance. We’re all in deep revere until Tom breaks the silence. “About, uh, my long-lost…long-lost feelings on Farrow, can we promise here and now not to mention them ever to Moffy or his new boyfriend?”
“Who happens to be Farrow,” Eliot says with a rising grin.
Tom pales more. “Yeah. That. Promise, right now.”
“On my deathbed, I won’t tell them. I swear to it, brother.”
“I promise.” I extend my pinky to Tom beside me.
He hooks his pink with mine and nods strongly with Eliot.
While Tom relaxes, I ask Eliot, “I thought you’d go on tour with them.” I haven’t heard him even considering going.
“I have…matters to attend here…” He’s sort of cagey, avoiding my gaze and poking at the charred logs. Embers burst at the bottom of the fire. “And you? Why aren’t you going?”
I shake my head slowly, unsure. “I don’t think my parents would let me.”
His lips begin to rise. “When has that ever stopped us?”