her and hooted some more.
“Mrs. Right? I’ll be the judge of that,” Eric said waggling his eyebrows.
Emily faked a big grin and waved over their heads. “See you tomorrow!” She went outside, and decided not to get a cab. She could use the walk home to clear her head.
***
Eric went home before midnight. When’s the last time he did that? Sure, locking lips with some hot chicks had been fun, but he was surprisingly down that he hadn’t found the girl. He’d had plenty of offers to help him forget his mystery woman; he could’ve brought at least ten different girls home that night. But what was the point anymore? They’d have sex—possibly great sex—she’d leave in the morning and he’d avoid her phone calls for the next week or so. It had become depressing.
He thought about calling Emily, but he didn’t want to wake her. Luckily, he had a back up for Emily and he didn’t care at all if he woke her. He grabbed his phone and dialed her number. “Kyla, you awake?”
“Of course I am. I’m talking to you.”
“I mean, did I wake you?”
“No. Stone and I are having a moon party.”
“Get out. You’re mooning people? I like him better already.”
“We’re looking at the moon with some friends.”
“Funny. What are you really doing?”
“That’s what we’re doing.”
“Shit. What happened to you?”
“I’m in love. Now why are you calling me so late?”
“I don’t know. I’m just feeling down. I kissed some girl in a bar yesterday and I don’t know who it was, but I really want to find her.”
“Find another girl. Shouldn’t be hard.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “I want this girl.”
“What’s wrong with you? You don’t sound like you’re drunk.”
Eric gritted his teeth. “I’m not.”
“Shit, you must really be upset. Why don’t you come over?”
Eric took a cab to his sister’s new place in Cambridge. She’d finally relented and started spending some of the money their mother left her. Somehow, she’d made peace with the tense relationship she and their mother had had. Kyla had leased an incredible penthouse with a rooftop garden so her astrophysicist boyfriend could look at the stars. Then she found out the light pollution would make it really hard to see anything, so she bought a house on the cape, too, so they could do their stargazing down there.
Luckily, Eric and his brothers liked Stone, or there could’ve been an accident on that roof. Or so they liked to joke, in a way that left Stone wondering if they were serious. Always good to keep your sister’s boyfriend guessing.
Eric walked out onto the garden and got a few funny looks. Kyla grabbed Stone’s hand and ran over to Eric. “Dude, what’s that?” she said, pointing to his shirt.
“Damn, I forgot I was wearing it.”
Stone looked at Kyla. “Why didn’t we try this when you were giving me pickup lessons?”
“I think our lessons turned out just fine,” Kyla said, wrapping her hand around his shoulder.
Stone laughed. “A shirt like that could have helped. I should have come to your brothers for help. They’ve got some good ideas.”
Kyla put her hand on her hip. “Wouldn’t it be interesting to see the rate at which your telescope plummets to the ground from up here?”
Stone paled. “You’re right. Your lessons were just what I needed. I ended up with you, didn’t I?”
Kyla smiled and kissed him and Eric was going to suggest they get a room, but it was his sister and that was gross. Instead, he cleared his throat. “So, don’t you want to know why I’m sober, wearing a kiss me t-shirt at my sister’s star party?”
Kyla pulled away from Stone. “Right, I forgot. What’s up? Toby and Nick are here. Let me call them over. I’m sure they’ll want to hear this.” She ran and got her brothers and Eric knew he was going to regret turning the search for his lost love into a family affair.
After handshakes and back pounding, the four of them sat down on a pair of outdoor couches staged around a fire pit. A table was set up behind them with all the fixings for a gourmet marshmallow bar, but the rest of the guests were with Stone who was adjusting the telescope. Even so, Eric kept his voice down. “I kissed a girl at a bar the other night and now I can’t find her.”
Nick snorted. “Did you look under your bed?”
Eric rolled his eyes. “We didn’t make it home. I left her at the