Perfection

Instead of going back to sleep after Freddy left, Gemma called her mom. Dee picked up on the second ring. “Hey, honey, is everything good?”

“Just seeing if you guys made it home.” Gemma didn’t want to admit she just needed to hear her mom’s voice.

“We just pulled into Florence a few minutes ago,” Deb replied. “Your dad and Kyle took turns driving on the way back—and I think they did a lot more than the speed limit when they caught me napping.”

“Sounds like them. Try riding on the back of a motorcycle with Kyle sometime,” Gemma replied, rolling her eyes fondly.

Dee laughed. “No thank you. That’s all you, sweetheart. Hang on, let me put you on speaker so you can say hey to your dad and brother.”

“Hey, Bug,” her dad called.

“Hey, Dad. Better slow down before you get a ticket,” she teased.

Then came Kyle’s voice. “Thanks a lot, Gemma. Now I have to give Tony fifty bucks.”

“Serves you right,” she shot back, grinning. She could practically see him close his eyes, pretending to be aggravated.

“Okay, honey, sorry to cut this short—we’re just pulling in at home and I need to get out of this van and take a proper nap. One where I don’t have to worry about flashing lights or having wings. We love you.”

“Love you guys, too.” Gemma hung up. Why did that call just pull all the happiness from last night right out of her spirit? It was supposed to be simple and cheerful, but now all she could think about was what she was missing. By five tonight—even though they had just gotten home—she knew her mom and everyone back home would be sitting down to the usual Sunday meal: pot roast and cornbread. She’d never realized how much she’d miss that dinner, or the company, until now.

She lay back and pulled the ties of Tony’s sweatshirt so tight that only her nose peeked out, then rolled over, burrowing into the covers and seeking sleep.

The rest of Sunday was uneventful in the best way. When Freddy got back from her jog, she and Gemma helped each other pick out outfits for the first day of classes. Later, they wandered down to the snack machine, bought doughnuts, and sat in the hallway, laughing and sharing stories about home.

Freddy talked about her brother Theodore and how everyone calls him “Adorable” instead, because he was just that cute—and he absolutely hated it. She leaned over, lowering her voice conspiratorially. “But honestly,” she confided, “I think he secretly likes it.”

Gemma told her about Kyle—how he and Tony had been the bad kids in school, always riding motorcycles and giving themselves tattoos. Eventually, they started giving tattoos to their friends. Then Tony really got into it for a while; he ran a little tattoo shop out of a back room at KT Spirits before he and Kyle took over the place. Now he hardly ever does tattoos. Except…” Gemma hesitated, then pulled the collar of her shirt down to reveal her shoulder. “He gave me this one right before my birthday last year.”

Freddy leaned in to see the small strawberry with a butterfly perched on it and grinned. “That’s actually adorable.”

She told Freddy how Tony wouldn’t even do the tattoo until he’d asked her parents for permission. “They told him they trusted him more than any tattoo parlor,” Gemma said, smiling at the memory.

Freddy shared about her cousin Mary, who’d just gotten out of an abusive relationship. “None of us knew,” Freddy admitted quietly. “We all thought he was super sweet. Boy, were we wrong.”

Gemma nodded, a little more serious. “If anyone ever messed with me, Kyle or Tony—either one—would kill the guy and not think twice about it.”

Freddy smiled. “That’s what big bros are for.” She nudged Gemma playfully. “I have four. Then my parents had perfection with me and finally quit.”

Gemma laughed. “Never really thought about it that way. I always tell people they waited six years for a good child. Now I know they just stopped at perfection—or maybe it was because I was a colicky baby. Mom always said I cried for three years straight, then learned to talk and never figured out when to be quiet.”

Both girls burst out laughing, the sound echoing down the dorm hallway.

By the time they’d walked across campus for dinner and made it back, both girls were exhausted—early classes looming in the morning. Gemma knew she’d need to be asleep before midnight if she wanted to be up by six and still be able to function. Freddy, in her usual way, kicked off her sneakers, pulled on pajamas, and flopped across her bed, out like a light within minutes, but also would be up with the roosters to go for her jog

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The next morning, Gemma rushed across campus, eyes glued to her schedule, trying to figure out where she was supposed to be. She wasn’t watching where she was going and collided hard with someone. Her phone flew from her hand, but a man’s hand shot out and caught it before it could hit the ground.

 

She looked up as he handed it back to her—black hair, clean-cut, blue eyes, a dazzling smile. The exact opposite of Tony.