The Wright Brother (7 page)

“Please,” she said and then clasped her hands together before vocally saying, “Pretty please. I’m leaving soon. Please. Please. Please.”

Rolling his eyes, he held up a finger and turning on his heel, quickly trotted upstairs.

Fidgeting with her fingernails she peered inside the familiar door, preferring to stand on the stoop instead of going inside. When the Wrights had left after the death of Mr. Wright, rather than sell the house off, they’d locked it up. Tossing blankets over the furniture and only sending cleaners out twice a year to make sure it remained in good condition.

The Wrights, Elisa had learned in later years, were fairly wealthy thanks to oil stock Mr. Wright had bought into long before the boys were born.

Elisa still couldn’t walk into the house without getting a lump in her throat at how familiar everything was inside. From the wooden coffee and dining room tables, to the navy colored overstuffed couch and loveseat Mr. Wright used to favor.

Mrs. Wright had more of a country flare to her decorating, thanks to Mr. Wright. She’d actually been born and raised in New York, but Mr. Wright had been a country boy from Tennessee and she’d adopted his style; she didn’t decorate like most coastal locals did with pale blues and sea-foam greens and brilliant whites. It was woodsy and more Americana.

Julian returned less than a minute later wearing gray swim trunks and a white tank top. The black swirls of his tattoos looked so striking against the plain shirt and for just a second her heart thumped in her chest.

Snatching the car key off the hook hanging just inside the door, she jingled it in his face.

“I’m going to make you pay for this,” he signed to her after he closed the front door and pocketed the house key.

Grinning from ear to ear, she tossed him his key. “No, you’re not. You like me too much for that.”

For a brief moment she saw something that looked like a flicker of heat glimmer through the depths of his sea-green eyes. And it was like a deer being caught in the headlights of an approaching vehicle. Her hands were shaking when he finally turned away.

What the eff was that?
She hadn’t had another one of those weird Julian moments since the night of the homecoming dance. She’d thought whatever that’d been had passed, but apparently not.

She shook her head, hating how jittery she still felt.

Then he was starting the car and she got in beside him and for the first time Elisa wondered what she’d been thinking when she’d invited just him along.

But her worries vanished the moment they got to her favorite swimming spot. It was an abandoned quarry tucked away in the woods that had a rickety old pier jutting out toward calm waters.

Julian impressed her. He wasn’t as strong as she was, but he was good. Threading the water seamlessly with sure strokes. They swam back and forth along for a few hours. Laughing and splashing, until finally exhaustion made them both climb out. They laid out on a floating dock shaded by the large branch of an old oak tree.

The water had been frigid when they’d first jumped in, but now the day was getting warmer, and it was nice to close her eyes and sway up and down on the gentle tide as she inhaled the briny breeze.

Julian grabbed her hand and began to talk. “Do you remember the fireworks on the beach?”

She leaned up on her elbow, glancing down at him. His wet hair was plastered to his forehead and his breathing was smooth and even. Skinny as he was, Elisa could see that in a few more years Julian would be chiseled, and with his striking cheekbones and full lips there was a modelesque quality to his looks.

She frowned, uncomfortable with where her thoughts kept straying.

She’d just turned nineteen in May. This was really the very last thing she needed to be thinking about.

He shook his head and jerked his chin, indicating that he wanted her to lie back down. Nodding, she scooted over a little, needing to get some space between them. But he wouldn’t release her hand. It was the only way they could talk without looking at each other.

Ignoring the strange dips and rolls of her stomach, she closed her eyes. She was just nervous. Less and less, Julian, or even Roman and Christian for that matter, looked like the boys of her dreams. They were becoming men before her eyes and it was weird for her.

“Do you remember?” he asked again.

“Yes. Why?”

“Because we did this then, too.”

She smiled. “Did what?”

“We sat on the beach and we held hands and watched the fireworks.”

A huge grin cut a swath across her face. “I can’t believe you remember that.”

“I remember a lot of things, Smile Girl.”

It was the name he used for her. In sign there wasn’t always an exact way to replicate a name, so sometimes a name would become words that were associated with a person. Julian had told her that anytime he saw her she was smiling. Hence, she’d become Smile Girl.

She still hadn’t given him a name yet. She just called him Jules, which he never seemed to mind.

Not sure what to say to that statement she decided to confess something that’d been nagging at her for the past few weeks.

“I don’t know what to do.”

His fingers moved furiously as he asked, “About what?”

“School. Life. Plans.”

“What?”

Rolling to the side, she saw the confusion that scrawled across his forehead.

“I thought you wanted to be a doctor.”

“No.” She sighed. “That’s not me. That’s my dad. He’s the one that wants me to go into sports medicine. But that’s not really my passion.”

“Then what is?”

She plucked at his thumbnail with her fingers for a second. Why had she never noticed how calloused his thumbs were? There was still a lot about Julian she didn’t know. Like his time in New York and what he’d done there. Why the Wrights had packed it all up to come back to Sunny Cove. That was still a total mystery to her.

“I don’t know,” she finally admitted.

He gave a soft throaty chuckle, which tugged a smile to her lips. It was always so easy to talk with Jules. He just seemed to get her.

“That’s not good. Isn’t there anything you love?”

She paused. “Not really. I mean, I love swimming. But that’s not a career.”

“It can be.”

She shook her head. “Yeah, but I’m not sure I want it to be. I don’t want to be my dad and chase one race after another.”

Opening her palm, because now she was getting frustrated and didn’t know what else to say that wouldn’t come off as sounding bad, Elisa gazed up at the sky. She hadn’t told that to anyone. Not her mom, her dad, not even Chastity. Everyone thought she had everything so together. Elisa the goody two shoes, the champion swimmer, the perfect daughter, perfect friend… She was terrified of what was coming. Terrified of the unknown, of moving on.

“Smile Girl.” Julian’s fingers danced across her palm a minute later.

Not wanting to sign anymore, she slipped her hand out of his and stuck it between her thighs. His pretty eyes studied her face for several breathless seconds. His eyes had always drawn her.

The way they were so blue around the outer edge but how right by the pupil they turned a dark shade of green. Like he’d captured the best parts of the ocean and sealed them inside himself.

Her lips tingled as she was bathed in a sense of déjà vu. As the world seemed to take a collective pause, suspending her and Julian inside a bubble where it was only the two of them and nothing else.

His throat worked hard and she couldn’t help but wonder what he would have said if he could hear his words.

He scooted close to her and her stomach dropped to her knees because she knew what he was going to do.

She should move away.

But she didn’t. She was frozen, almost paralyzed by her conflicting desires.

Her lashes fluttered when his large, warm hand framed the side of her face and his touch wasn’t just friendly. It wasn’t the kind of touch she was used to from him. This one was a slow, gentle stroke. Her pulse thundered in her ears as the calloused tips of his fingers traced the soft lines of her face.

Elisa had every intention of making him stop. This wasn’t right. They shouldn’t be doing this. Julian was her friend. Her brother.

She was too old for him. She knew better, knew how wrong this was. He was only sixteen, but his touch didn’t feel unsure or hesitant. His body heat brushed against hers.

Stop, Jules, please stop
.

But the words never left her tongue. Her brain and her heart were in utter chaos from the sensations wreaking havoc within her.

His fingers tapped out her name on her cheek.

“What?” she huffed, wishing she hadn’t come out here with him by herself. Wishing she hadn’t admitted what she had. Wishing so many things that she’d never confess to herself even within the privacy of her own thoughts.

He tried to grab her hand, but she refused to let him. “Don’t, Julian.” Somehow she managed to pull the words out from the depths of her soul.

His lips turned down into a deep frown and she hated that she’d hurt him, but she didn’t like how she was feeling right now.

“Are you mad at me?” he signed quickly.

She squeezed her eyes shut. “No. I’m just. I’m…”

Rolling onto her back, she flung her arm over her eyes. She needed to get away from here, from him, from Sunny Cove. She was terrified of the future, but Elisa was also terrified of the things that Julian sometimes made her feel.

She was a woman now. What the hell was wrong with her?

His touch was gentle as he swept his fingers up her arms. Stroking her bicep and causing her flesh to break out in a heady wash of goosebumps.

Wanting to jerk away from him, even while she wanted to lie still so that he could continue to glide his fingers over her skin, she growled.

“Julian, stop.” She glared at him and jerked away. “This is wrong, okay?”

“What is?” He asked, and she noted his heavy breathing. The way his dark pupils were now dilated.

All she would have to do was move in just a little bit closer, wet her lips, any sort of a hint on her part and he’d be all over her. She could sense it, feel it in the way his body was so tight and tense beside her.

“You’re my brother.” She tried one more time to let him know they couldn’t do this.

He shook his head. “I’m not your brother.”

“Julian, please.”

“Smile Girl, I—”

“No!” She jumped to her feet and, with a graceful swan dive, slipped into the waters, working her muscles furiously as she swam as fast as she could away from him and the things he made her feel.

Elisa wouldn’t allow herself to be alone with him anymore after that. When they came to dinners, she’d smile and play nice, but she always made sure to sit as far away from Julian as possible.

And even when she’d be sunbathing in her back yard and could feel his stare on her from across the way, she wouldn’t look up, she wouldn’t encourage him. Whatever this thing was, it was wrong. And she was suddenly so grateful to be going away.

~*~

The night before her parents were to take her to campus, a knock sounded on the door. It was past eleven at night, way too late for a casual visitor.

Mum looked up with a frown dappling her brows.

“You expecting someone, Elisa Jane?” Dad had asked.

Muting the silly reality show she was watching to help waste time before bed, she shook her head.

Chastity had already come over earlier in the day. They were both headed off to the same campus, which was great. Even better was that Mom and Dad had surprised her by saying they would help rent her an apartment off campus so that she and Chas could room together. Chas had squealed like a little girl when Elisa had told her the good news.

But apart from that, Elisa hadn’t been expecting anyone else.

“Not really.”

A knock sounded again.

“Hm.” Getting up, Dad went to the door and Elisa heard his surprised, “Loribelle? What’s wrong? Are the boys okay?”

And just the thought of it caused her gut to wrench almost violently.

“They’re fine, Dean. I’m…um…well, I’m actually here because I wanted to talk with Lisa if I could.”

She frowned and glanced at her mother who only shrugged. Apparently she had no idea what this was about, either.

Clicking off the TV, Elisa glanced up just as Mrs. Wright came in. Her tiny form was swallowed up by the long, amber-hued turtleneck she wore, which, coupled with the dark gray stretchy pants, made it obvious to Elisa Mrs. Wright hadn’t planned on dropping by at all.

“Mrs. Wright?” Elisa made to stand, but she held up a hand and shook her head.

“I told you, hun, call me Lori.”

“Oh…okay, Lori. What’s wrong?”

Turning on her slippered foot, Lori glanced down at Elisa’s mother. “Bethy, could I have about five minutes with your daughter?”

Mum glanced up at Elisa with a soft little frown.

“I promise it’s nothing bad, it’s just sort of private is all.”

Feeling as though she might puke, Elisa waited until her mother and father had walked out of the room before turning back to Loribelle.

She was now sitting on the section of the loveseat her mom had just vacated and was staring at her mother’s glass-sculpted collection of seahorses hanging on the wall.

“What’s wrong? Is Julian okay?” Elisa cringed the moment she said his name. The problem could just have easily involved either Roman or Christian, but deep down she suspected Mrs. Wright wouldn’t have come over for either one of them.

Picking up a wrapped mint from the candy bowl her mother always had set out on the coffee table, Loribelle flicked at the plastic tip. The room was pregnant with unspoken words.

Elisa had no clue why Lori was here, but she really, really hoped it wasn’t about the other day. She and Julian hadn’t done anything.

“I don’t know what—” she started to say, but Lori held up her hand.

“I’m just going to come out and say it, because I trust that if there is anyone in this world who might love my boy as much as I do, it’s you.”

It was like she’d swallowed a bag of stones. Her eyes flicked toward the kitchen where she suspected her mother and father listened in.