A Summer to Remember(4)
“Listen, you gotta stop sleeping with every available guy I bring home. It’s starting to get downright embarrassing. Brandon left so fast it made the Airbus seem slow and I can only guess why,” Jude explained in a no-nonsense manner.
I rolled my eyes. “Listen, you act like I raped the guy or something. Believe me, he was a very willing participant.”
“I know that, Jerrica, but still…you’re my sister and it really does hurt me that you are behaving like a slut just because of what Kevin did to you.”
“Wow.” I glared at my brother with cold eyes before I stood and walked over to the state-of-the-art power press coffee machine and poured myself another cup of coffee. “What the hell do you think I am doing? Mom told me to check on the Southampton guest house and that is exactly what I plan to do. However, since it is empty, I am inviting Talia, Savannah and Autumn along. We haven’t seen one another in ages and I can get out of your hair. Happy, dear?”
“I guess…if that’s what is going to make you less likely to jump the bones of every available guy friend I have.”
I turned toward him as I leaned against the spotless marble countertop. “It will. I need to get out of the City and get my life straightened out…somehow. I know the path and where I am heading isn’t healthy. I can’t stop feeling guilty about what happened between Kevin and me yet I know it wasn’t my fault. None of this is…I just need some time on my own with my friends.”
Jude finished his coffee in record timing before he stood and began to rearrange the document folders in his briefcase. “I’ll try to make it out there for a weekend or two but work is crazy busy at the moment. I won’t promise anything but…take care of yourself, all right?”
I smiled slightly though it never reached my eyes. “I always do.”
Chapter Two
After I finished making all my calls and my girlfriends had agreed to meet me at the summer house in Southampton, I quickly got on the road. I owned a 2013 Firenze red Range Rover I rarely drove in the City and since space was at a premium, it cost a mint to park but I didn’t regret it one bit.
The ride to Southampton took me out of the City and through Long Island. I enjoyed the windows down, the wind in my hair and listening to my favorite artists including Rihanna, Scarlet Fever, Pink, Deftones, The Pretty Reckless and many others from my wayward—and current—youth. I was still young since twenty-four was not considered old or older by any stretch of the imagination.
It had never been easy for Jude or I, growing up in the lap of luxury and never knowing who our real friends were and whether they liked us because we were part of the same society crowd or because they truly liked us as people. It didn’t matter that we were surrounded by other teenagers our age that also came from prestigious backgrounds. The fact was everyone was always trying to outdo everyone else and that was no way to live.
When I met my best friends in college, I didn’t discuss money with them at all and because of this, when they found out my parents were loaded, they genuinely didn’t care and that was a great feeling. It was the precise reason why we’d bonded our freshman year at Vassar and never let go.
It didn’t matter we had all decided such different career paths. All that we were concerned about was our friendship was genuine and we made time to get together each and every quarter, regardless where life had taken us.
By the time I arrived in Southampton and my parents’ summer home, I breathed a deep sigh of relief. The house, more like a mansion, was large and pale gray with two stories, six bedrooms and six and half bathrooms. It had private access to the beach but it was shaded by plenty of trees therefore it provided absolute privacy. There was a large, outdoor swimming pool and there was plenty to do inside as well in the oversized game room surrounded by glass where there was a pool table, a sixty-inch television with an X-Box attached, a library of films on both blu-ray and DVD as well as darts board and several antique arcade game machines my father collected as a hobby including Pac-Man and my ultimate favorite, Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
The mansion was built purposely to allow a lot of natural light so there was an abundance of windows on both the first and second floor.
The kitchen was massive and the place required constant work which was why there was a small staff available at all times. I had called Monique, the head housekeeper, and asked her to have the place ready ahead of time but when I arrived, the staff were still cleaning and dusting.