Page 5 of The Casualty of Us (Philosophies of the Heart Duet #1)

Chapter Two

“Yes, Mom.” I rummage through one of Ollie’s boxes, phone pinned between my head and shoulder while looking for his most prized possession. “Everything went fine, and we got the whole tour.”

“And you like it? The campus? Your room?”

“Well, I haven’t actually seen my room yet,” I admit, promptly closing the box and moving onto the next one. “Ollie conned me into helping him unpack first.”

“Of course he did,” my mom sighs before quickly regrouping. “But the rest of it?”

“Yeah.” I pull out a questionable-looking football jersey and scrunch my nose at the faint odor coming off it before dropping it to the ground. “The campus is pretty. Very woodsy.”

“You’ve got to give me more than that, Ophelia,” she scolds grumpily. “Longer sentences, more words. We both know your vocabulary is not lacking.”

“Fine, fine, but it’s going to be succinct,” I grumble back, resigning myself to the full report. “Like I said, everything went great. The campus reminds me of the old state house we saw in Boston last summer, remember?”

“Ooh,” she hums. “You loved that one.”

“Yeah.” I nod to myself, reluctantly pausing in my search to summarize quickly. “Lots of red brick, pretty arches, more updated and bigger, though, which makes sense, obviously. The library looks amazing, and there’s even a lake, apparently.”

“And your dorm?”

“We’re in one called Excelsior, there’s a theme here with those.

” I let my mind wander back through the layout of the building.

“The common room is nice, with forest green walls, lots of leather couches, and a fireplace at the back.” I take a breath and try not to rush through the rest because I know she’s as nervous about this move right now as I’m trying not to be.

“The entrance to the girls’ dorm is on the right, boys’ is on the left, and you need a keycard to get through. ”

“That’s good, secure.” She hums appreciatively again. “And what about Oliver’s room?”

“It’s nice, although he’s in a triple, and I don’t envy him with the two roommates,” I scoff, looking to the door on the right that sits open and gives me a peek into the suite.

“Basic kitchen and living room setup when you come in with lots of dark wood. The kitchen is small and the living room has a couple leather armchairs and a couch.”

“I’m sensing a theme here as well.”

“You would be correct.” I lift my eyes with a laugh escaping, trailing them from the right side of Ollie’s room, where his door sits, to the other side, where the bed is.

“His room is good, though. A totally unnecessary four-poster bed that he won’t appreciate with built-in shelves and a desk that he’ll appreciate even less. ”

“Don’t underestimate your brother.” She laughs, the sound like an echo in my ears, just a more practiced replica according to my father. “Who knows? He might discover the wonders of Voltaire there and decide to become a philosophy major like you.”

“Unlikely,” I snort, starting to dig through the box again. “Unless I can somehow convince him that he’s single-handedly responsible for the creation of football.”

I hear her take a breath through the phone before a happy noise comes through. “Well, if anyone can, it’s you, darling.”

“Merci, maman,” I tease back in her native tongue, knowing it’s true.

Because if there’s one thing I inherited from my mother besides the average height and attitude, it’s my mind. That without a doubt came from her.

We’re twisty in all the ways my father and brother are too genuine to understand.

Loyal to a fault to the ones we truly love.

I never understood that before, loyal to a fault. How could loyalty ever be a fault? Even now I’m not sure I do. It’s more of an inkling. That little drip at the back of my mind warning me of a coming realization that I might not like.

But it took weeks for my father to forgive her after the kidnapping for not calling him or notifying the authorities when she got the ransom call.

Instead, she handled things herself all while he was out of town and only alerted everyone after I had been recovered.

I’ve never seen them fight like they did after that.

That I do know. It’s factual in the same way that I knew they would be okay because he needs her like a tree does the rain. Loves her completely.

Twisty bits and all.

I told her thank you.

“There you are.” I grin in triumph, pulling Ollie’s favorite signed Patriots flag from the box and giving it a shake while informing her, “I’m putting Ollie’s prized possessions up for him while he grabs snacks.”

“You’re spoiling him too much lately.” The censure to her words makes me roll my eyes, knowing it’s true but unable to stop myself either. “And his protectiveness of you is growing to levels the world has yet to see, in case you haven’t noticed.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I mumble, pulling the phone away from my ear to put it on speaker and set it on the edge of the bed.

“It’s understandable after everything,” she starts again with a sigh, and I grab the couple thumbtacks I already set out on the bed before climbing on top of it. “I just don’t want you two to allow it to develop into a habit, is all.”

“We’ve always been this way, Mom,” I toss back, walking to the head of the bed and lifting up onto my tiptoes.

“You had twins, in case you forgot. I’m pretty sure Ollie has been protective since we were in utero, and I’ve always indulged him, which is why I let him be born first.” Still having to reach high to pin the right corner of the flag up, I blow out an irritated breath. “It’s just part of how we work.”

My defensiveness at any form of criticism of mine and Ollie’s relationship immediately flaring even as the grudging acknowledgment of her wisdom sets in. I mean, he did have an entire application process in place for if anyone even wanted to take me on a date by the time we went to high school.

“I am aware of the children I birthed and let loose upon this world, Ophelia,” she retorts, sarcasm heavy in her voice. “I’m just saying don’t allow him to get away with anything to the point where either one of your feelings is getting shoved to the side. Everyone needs boundaries, even family.”

“Noted.” I huff, finally getting the right corner pinned in place and dropping back down to argue. “But considering it’s only been a few months and that our entire lives have essentially been upended—”

“Ophelia—”

“I’m just saying you could consider giving us a pass,” I cut back in. “I think we’re allowed to be both overprotective and indulgent for the foreseeable future.”

“Attitude, Ophelia,” she chides softly. “I concede your point, though.” Silence comes from the phone then, and I take advantage of her pause, moving over to the left side of the bed and lifting back up to start the whole process over again.

“I’m sorry. I’m not trying to invalidate either of your feelings or force you to heal before you’re ready. Just be cognizant of it, is all.”

“Got it.”

“So,” she starts again, the lightness of her tone telling me that she’s trying to rally. “What did you think of Sutton? I know it’s been awhile since you’ve seen her.”

“She’s uh.” I lift even higher onto my tiptoes, leaning over the edge of the bed and trying to get the pin in place. “She’s nice, cheery, really happy to see us, I guess.”

“Well, she would be—”

“Please tell me I’m in the right place.”

A shriek leaves me at the unfamiliar male voice, and I jerk around to see who it is, instincts overriding my brain and momentarily making me forget that I’m suspended halfway over the side of the bed right up until my body goes airborne.

Toppling over the side with gray and white flitting in my peripheral and landing on the hardwood floor with a loud thwack .

My hip and ass battle it out over which will take the brunt of the fall as my hands grasp uselessly at the mattress and another loud clatter fills the air.

“Motherfucker!”

“Ophelia Sage!”

I groan at the dull pain in my hip that won the battle, blinking a couple times to clear it away before looking over at the cause of my fall.

My eyes lock with a hazel pair that are glinting down at me with clear amusement and I go still for a split second before quickly moving them to run over the rest of him.

Taking in the messy black hair that’s longer on the top and the dimples that frame the grin he’s aiming at me.

The white Rolling Stones shirt and gray sweatpants he’s wearing contrast with his deep olive skin that’s all warm undertones, and the laces on his shoes hang undone.

All of it adding up to something careless that makes it look like he just rolled out of bed.

I raise my gaze back up to his face and quickly take in the pretty features that most guys can’t pull off, but there’s a strength to his jaw and mouth that battles against it all to create something that’s…

Well.

His eyes snag mine again, lighting up further at my appraisal like he already knows what the verdict will be, and it has another curse slipping past my lips. “Shit.”

“Ophelia!” My mother’s voice crashes in again, seeming farther away than before. “Language!”

“Sorry,” I finally manage, jerking my gaze away from him to see that my phone is no longer on the bed and immediately ducking down to spy the lit-up screen under it. “One of what I’m guessing is a roommate got here and surprised me.”

I lower myself down to grab it and she hums, “Ooh,” continuing excitedly just as I’m about to close my hand around the phone. “Tell me, is he cute, darling?”

“Gotta go, Mom.” I pull it back, hurriedly rushing out, “Talk later—love you—bye.” Quickly ending the call before she can get another word out.