My Brother's Five Friends Page 4

  Which just speaks to him wanting me so much. I don’t get it, not at all. He’s so far out of my league that it’s not even funny, and yet he’s acting like I’m the one worth chasing after. James is gorgeous, intelligent, sweet, talented, and funny, and yet he wants plain old boring me .

  I don’t understand it. Even Aiden was flirting with me, which blows my mind even more. Aiden is beautiful and rich as well, although he’s humble and muscular. He’s a blue collar kind of guy, even though he owns the construction company now. But I can respect that. He’s rugged and rough where James is an artist .

  And the others, well, I don’t know them yet. I had a brief conversation with Ryan during the party, and I think Daniel was flirting with me a little bit, but otherwise I haven’t gotten a chance. To be fair, I’ve barely been here, and Henry seems to be keeping them busy with his little games and tasks, but still. I want to know all five of them, including my brother .

  Things are complicated, though. I don’t know why they would be. It seems like it would be simple, but I can feel this tension in this house and it’s overwhelming .

  My phone starts ringing and I look down at it. I grin to myself. It’s a FaceTime message from my mom .

  “Hello?” I answer it .

  My mom and my dad appear on my screen. “Honey?” dad says. “Can you see us ?”

  “I see you both,” I say. “How’s it going ?”

  “Hi from Italy!” my mom practically yells .

  “You don’t have to talk so loud,” I say, laughing .

  “She says don’t yell,” dad repeats. “Honey, you should see it here. Everything’s so European .”

  “I bet,” I say. “How are you guys doing ?”

  “We’re doing great, sweetie,” mom says. “Your father’s been drinking too much wine .”

  “No, I haven’t,” dad says. “She’s just jealous .”

  “Jealous? Of how much you love the wine?” Mom rolls her eyes. “Anyway sweetie, how’s Henry ?”

  “He’s good,” I say. “He has a few friends here .”

  “Oh, honey, I know,” mom says. “He told me that.” The screen is suddenly filled with my mom’s face as she gets way too close to it. “Are you outside by the water ?”

  “By the pool,” I say .

  “Why not the ocean? Are you wearing sunscreen? Where’s Henry ?”

  “Henry’s inside,” I say. “And I’m wearing sunscreen .”

  “Okay, good. Are you comfortable? Is he being nice ?”

  “He’s being great, mom,” I say, laughing .

  “Honey, we gotta run,” dad cuts in. “We gotta eat. Pasta !”

  I laugh as the phone goes crazy on their end. Dad’s face appears, also way too close. “Bye, honey. I’m going to eat pasta and drink wine and your mother can’t do a thing about it,” he says, like he’s whispering .

  “I heard that,” my mom says in the background, laughing .

  The phone hangs up and I grin to myself. I’m glad they’re having a good time .

  “They seem nice .”

  I look up, surprised, and Carter smiles at me, hands in the air. “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you .”

  “No, I just didn’t hear you approach .”

  “That’s because your parents were screaming,” he says, sitting in the chair next to me. “I have a theory about that .”

  “What is it?” I ask him .

  He’s wearing a loose white button-down shirt and a pair of short swim trunks. He tilts his sunglasses down to look at me. “Well, old people fundamentally mistrust technology, right? Plus, they’re going deaf .”

  “True,” I say, “on both accounts .”

  “So I think they think phones hear as well as they do. They can’t imagine a world in which things can hear better than they can. So they scream all the time .”

  I laugh a little bit. “Sounds like my parents, all right .”

  “Figured,” he says. “I should write a paper on it .”

  “Are you a writer ?”

  He shakes his head. “Physicist .”

  I raise an eyebrow, “Really ?”

  “I teach over at Cal Tech .”

  “Wow,” I say. “That’s pretty interesting .”

  “It’s a good job. I get to talk physics all day long and hang out in the sun .”

  I notice that he’s perfectly tan, which makes sense, since he’s from California. But he doesn’t look like he teaches physics at a university. I’d normally expect more pocket protectors and way fewer muscles .

  “You see that over there?” he asks me, pointing at the pool .

  “Sure,” I say. He’s motioning toward the ladder that disappears under the water .

  “See the way it cuts off ?”

  I nod a little. “Always wondered about that .”

  “It’s the light bending in the water, which I’ve always thought was fascinating. I mean, light is so fluid, it’s both a wave and a particle. And the way it interacts with water can keep me talking all day long .”

  “Do you work with light much?” I ask him, not sure what else to say. I don’t know a thing about physics, I realize .

  “No,” he says. “Mainly I do stuff with black holes .”

  “Black holes?” I grin at him. “That’s awesome .”

  He shrugs. “I’m on a research team tasked with trying to find them. Big, scary suckers, but very difficult to spot. They don’t emit any light, not any at all, and they suck up all the light around them .”

  “How do you find them ?”

  “It’s call gravitational lensing,” he says. “Basically, light that passes around the black hole bends slightly, so we look for that .”

  “Crazy,” I say .

  “Boring,” he counters. “A lot of it is just staring at the sky, hoping to spot something odd .”

  “Don’t we do that all the time?” I ask him .

  He grins at me. “Good point. When I was a kid, I used to obsess about the stars .”

  “I used to read a lot of Sci-Fi novels when I was younger,” I admit. “I wanted to go to space .”

  “Me too!” He laughs and puts his hands behind his head. “But my parents wanted me to do something more practical. So here I am, thirty and teaching physics .”

  “Sounds practical to me .”

  He grins at me and shakes his head. “It’s not. But I love it .”

  “I’m jealous. I hope I can find something I love when I finally graduate .”

  “You will. I have a feeling about you .”

  “Oh yeah? A good one ?”

  “A very good one,” he says, staring at me again. I’m suddenly very aware of being in nothing but a white bikini and sunglasses .

  He sits up and pulls his shirt off. I stare at the muscles on his body and as he leans back, he catches me looking, but he only just smiles. Clearly, he doesn’t mind .

  “What do you think of this place so far?” he asks me, gesturing at the pool and the house .

  “It’s crazy,” I admit. “I didn’t know Henry had all this .”

  “You should see his place in New York. Gorgeous penthouse. James decorated it for him, so you know it’s impeccable .”

  “Are you all close?” I ask him. “I mean, you’re all clearly close with Henry, but what about with each other ?”

  He nods. “Henry is like the glue that keeps us together, but we’d still be friends without him at this point. Truth is, we’re all pretty similar .”

  “Really? You all seem so different to me .”

  He nods a bit, watching the pool. “Maybe on the surface, but underneath it all, we’re the same, we have the same values. It’s why we’re all so close. We don’t all get together like this as often as we’d like, since we live all over, but we’re constantly in contact .”

  “Playing fantasy football?” I ask him .

  He laughs. “Among other things, yeah .”

  “Don’t tell me you guys have a group text .”

  He
cocks his head and grins at me. “Of course we do, like a bunch of teenage girls. And we send gifs .”

  I groan. “I thought you were adults .”

  “You’re never too old for a perfectly executed gif joke .”

  I groan again and laugh as he sits up and stretches. I watch the muscles in his back and suddenly I get that feeling, the same one I got with Aiden and James. Except this time, I have a sense of dread. I can’t be feeling this for three of the guys, no way. It’s not possible. And yet Carter’s definitely flirting with me, and he’s definitely handsome, and definitely interesting …

  “Party’s starting soon,” he says, and I realize I’m staring. I look quickly away .

  “Another party?” I ask .

  “Get used to it,” he says. “Henry’s not fucking around. Although I suspect this one won’t be so lavish .”

  “I’m not going to get much relaxing done out here, am I?” I ask him .

  He takes off his sunglasses and shakes his head. “Absolutely not. But are you so upset about that ?”

  “No, I guess not .”

  He grins and stands up. “I’d better get inside. It was nice chatting with you, Emily. Come find me tonight. I can tell you more about black holes .”

  I nod. “Okay, yeah .”

  He turns and heads back inside. I watch him go, my stomach doing weird flip-flops, and I don’t know what to do about it .

  This is getting dangerous. I’ve already kissed one of Henry’s handsome friend, and now two more of them are actively flirting with me .

  If I’m not careful, I’m going to end up kissing more than one gorgeous guy .

  That would be such a travesty .

  6

  Daniel

  I hate these big parties. Too many people, too much noise. It’s not my scene. Normally, I like to hide away somewhere with a few guys that have huge wallets but tiny brains and make some money, but tonight I don’t feel like gambling. Maybe that’s a first for me. I sip my whisky and watch the party from the upstairs balcony, looking down at the great room .

  It’s not as huge as the last party, but it’s still pretty big. Say what you will about Henry, he loves himself a good party .

  I have to admit, I’m in a good mood. I can’t help myself. The whole group seems more energized than normal, although I hate buying into that group shit. I love these guys like brothers and would do anything for them, but I’m just not a group kind of guy .

  I spot Emily down near the ping-pong table, drink in hand. She’s talking with some Swedish record producer, some guy named Sven or something like that. She looks bored, constantly glancing away, and I smile to myself .

  She’s the reason the group’s excited, or at least I’m pretty sure. I keep catching the guys looking at her, flirting with her, and I can’t blame them. She’s a delicious little thing, blonde and bubbly and sexy as fuck. I sip my drink again and decide to go have a little fun .

  I head downstairs and march right up to Emily and Sven. “Excuse me, I’m sorry, are you Sven Johansson?” I ask him .

  He looks bewildered. “Ah, uh, no, no,” he says .

  “Yes, you’re Sven,” I say .

  Emily’s grinning at me .

  “No, no,” he says .

  “There’s a car waiting for you outside,” I say to him. “Please, if you could only come with me ?”

  He shakes his head, totally bewildered, and backs off. I grin at him as he excuses himself and quickly walks away .

  “What was that about?” Emily asks, smacking my arm .

  “You looked bored,” I say. “Thought I’d scare him off. How’s his English ?”

  “Not great,” she admits. “I think he was talking about techno beats. Or maybe tasty meats, I can’t be sure .”

  “Careful, those Swedes are a shifty bunch .”

  She grins at me again. “You’re kind of a jerk, aren’t you ?”

  “Guilty,” I admit. “But you’re not stuck with him anymore, are you ?”

  “No, I guess not. I should be thanking you .”

  “You’re very welcome,” I say .

  “Maybe you can do me one more favor,” she says .

  I raise an eyebrow. “Now you’re getting greedy .”

  She grins at me and holds up her empty glass. “Please ?”

  I sigh and take it from her. “You’re lucky you’re cute .”

  I stalk off and get her another glass of wine. I find her standing closer to the wall, one arm crossed over the front of her. She has this interesting way about her, somewhat closed off and reserved, but when she talks, her whole face lights up. It’s surprisingly attractive, and I feel myself drawn to her again .

  “I knew I could count on you,” she says .

  “That’s me, Mr. Dependable .”

  She laughs lightly. “You’re the gambler, right ?”

  I screw up my face. “Gambler, huh ?”

  “I mean, you’re a professional card player .”

  “That’s better, but gambler isn’t too far off .”

  “What’s that like ?”

  I glance out the window, across the sand and toward the ocean. “Exciting,” I admit. “And not for people that can’t take uncertainty .”

  “What’s the most you’ve ever lost ?”

  I look back at her, eyebrow raised. “That’s an unusual question .”

  “Is it? I thought I was just being nosy .”

  I laugh, surprised at how funny she is. “Okay, it’s nosy too. Most people ask me how much I’ve won .”

  “Oh, winning’s boring,” she says, waving her hand. “Anyone can win .”

  “What do you mean ?”

  “Well, anyone can win and keep playing, right? I think the real interesting people are the ones that lose and keep going .”

  I lean toward her, drawn in by her conversation, or maybe by her gorgeous fucking lips and the way she’s staring at me. I completely agree with her, and it’s actually something I’ve always felt instinctually but never really put into words. The guys that do what I do are all used to losing and going on. Truth is, we lose almost as much as we win, but the trick is to win just a little bit more. The really good guys can win maybe sixty percent of the time, at best .

  “It was this back room game,” I say finally, deciding to be honest with her. “The sort of thing you only get invited to .”

  “High stakes?” she asks .

  “Very,” I say. “I was playing with some shady guys. They liked having a pro player around, I think because they think it’s more interesting to try and beat me .”

  “I’m guessing they do,” she says .

  “Not usually. But this time, there was a new guy playing, some Russian dude I’ve never met before. Big scar on his eye, constantly eating Oreo cookies .”

  “Oreos?” She laughs at that. “Really? Like from that movie ?”

  “Just like that,” I say. “I mean, I couldn’t believe it, I thought the guy was insane. But the more we played, the more I realized that he was a hustler. Oh, he pretended to be a loser at first, but I could see right through him. All the other guys kept getting greedy, and as the night wore on, he slowly won more and more .

  “So it’s like four in the morning now, we’re all tired, the guys are all drunk except for me and this Russian. I get a good hand and I bet big. He calls me right away .”

  “Scary,” she says, eyes wide. “Are these like …”

  “Mobsters?” I finish for her. “Yeah, they are. Harmless guys really, unless you’re a dick. Anyway, he calls me and we get the flop, which actually looks decent for me. So I bet again, and he calls me again. Next card, same deal, but I’m sweating at this point. He’s just staring at me, no emotion on his face. I can’t read him at all .

  “So I bet again, and he calls me again. I think the pot’s at like fifty grand at this point, which is big, but not that big. Last card comes, and it’s exactly what I wanted. I mean, I’m over the moon, freaking out. I went all-in .”


  Her eyes go wide. “Really ?”

  “Really. And the fucker calls me. I can’t believe it, there’s nearly three hundred grand on that table, and everyone’s still, totally fucking still, because this is huge. I mean fucking massive .”

  “Oh god,” she says .

  I grin at her. “Yep. We flip the cards, and he beats me. Seriously, the only hand that could beat me, and he has it. I can’t believe it, but he takes the money without gloating .”

  “How much did you lose ?”

  “Buy-in was like fifty grand so…” I shrug a little. “Afterward, he came up to me and says in this thick Russian accent, ‘Friend, best game of my life, da? You play me again sometime, you win back your money.’ He pats my shoulder, leaves, and I never see him again .”

  “Wow,” she says, laughing and shaking her head. “I almost don’t believe you .”

  “Believe it,” I say. “That fifty grand fucking hurt.” I laugh and lean up against the glass. It’s not a good memory, and I leave out some of the tougher bits, like how that game left me so fucking broke I had to sell my car to make rent that month. Things improved for me after that, and I don’t play cards with mobsters anymore, but that still haunts me .

  “What about you?” I ask her. “Any stories about you losing ?”

  She grins at me, shakes her head. “Nope, none. I’m a winner, plain and simple .”

  I laugh and step closer to her, almost by instinct. Without thinking about it, she tilts her chin up at me. My hand finds her lower back, I pull her closer, and I kiss her .

  Right here in the party, where anyone can see. Fortunately we’re off to the side, and the place is crowded enough that we’re just two more people in the sea of people, but I can’t believe what I’m doing. It just felt so natural to kiss her like that, all the signs were pointing toward it, but still. Henry would cut off my balls if he knew I was doing this .

  It feels fucking good though. Her taste is incredible, and her body pressed against mine just feels right, like she belongs there. We slowly break apart and she blinks up at me .

  “That was surprising,” she says, taking a deep breath .