“I’m excited to take a break from the gym for a week,” he says, stretching his shoulder.
“How’s the routine going?”
“I don’t know who thought doing a triple Russian into a handstand was a good idea, but whoever did was a dick.”
“Didn’t you think adding that element would help with your starting difficulty?” I ask. Caden has his eye on the Olympic team this year, so he needs as high a starting score on the pommel horse as possible to have a chance at making the team.
“I did think that, didn’t I? Do your parents know you’re dating such an asshole?”
His easy smile spreads wide across his face, crinkling the corners of his eyes under his thick black-framed glasses. A flurry of butterflies take flight in my stomach as his laugh lines make an appearance.
If there’s any scrap I cling to most, it’s that I know Caden enjoys my company—a fact I don’t take for granted. My brain is itchy when I’m with most people, overanalyzing every word and action out of their mouth in case I’ve somehow missed that they secretly hate me. While under-thinking every word that leaves my mouth until I’m alone and can spiral over everything, and how I’m obviously a terrible human being.
“No, my parents think you’re the drop of sunshine you are,” I say. “If I wanted them to think I was dating an asshole, I would have just said I was dating Cole.”
I didn’t believe in evil twins until I met Caden’s brother Cole. He’s the grump to Caden’s sunshine, the slob to Caden’s neat freak. He’s well known on campus for his one-night-in-heaven policy, while Caden told me that he, himself, hasn’t ever been on a date, (which is why I think he might be nervous to act on his feelings.) And if that weren’t enough to verify Cole’s evil status, his nickname is literally the Prince of Blood.
“I don’t think dating my brother would be that bad,” Caden says.
“Meh, I’d like my significant other to love someone other than a reflection of themself.”
“In all fairness, we share the same reflection, and it is pretty nice.” Caden runs a hand through his thick, wavy brown hair. A cut identical to his brother’s.
“Sure, the reflection is fine. It’s the conceited, self-absorbed ass of a hockey player thing that makes me want to vomit when I think about dating someone like him. Seriously, I think he might be the last man on earth I’d consider having a relationship with.”
“Well, this conversation has been a great way to wake up.” A voice thick with sleep interrupts us from behind.
CHAPTER
TWO
With a turn,I find the captain of the Pine Valley Bruins hockey team, shirtless and his pants rumpled with sleep. If it were anyone else, I’d be embarrassed he caught me talking shit about him. But considering Cole’s always looked down on me and my presence in this apartment—complete with a sour mood he doesn’t flash to anyone else on campus—he probably doesn’t give a shit what I think about him.
Generally, I try my best to be polite and treat people with kindness, even if they’re assholes. But Cole…Cole is always the exception to that rule, because he formed an opinion of me without saying a word to me first.
The day I bought Caden a coffee to thank him for his bathroom heroics, he invited me to their shared dorm room. Cole walked in, shaking snow off his coat. He briefly looked at Caden and me on Caden’s organized side of the room, and then at his messy side, then back at us with a dumbstruck look on his face.
Caden introduced me, and I told Cole how much I owed his brother. And Cole? He stood there, his expression a mix of disbelief and indifference, then shook his head, mutteredsomething under his breath, and walked away with a slam of the door.
I tried to tell myself I was reading too much into one interaction and decided to give Cole a second chance. A few days later, though, when I went to share a tin of my mom’s immaculately decorated Valentine’s day cookies with both of them, I overheard Caden and Cole fighting through the door. Cole’s annoyed tone as he shouted at Caden is still burned into my skull. “You can be friends with anyone, Cade. Please, I’m begging you, not her, not Natalie. It’ll kill me to have her around all the time.”
Cole lit his second chance on fire. I don’t give out thirds.
“Sorry, does it hurt wittle Colie’s feelings to hear that not every girl is falling at his feet?” I flutter my eyelashes as he shuffles into the kitchen. With an eye roll and a dismissive shake of his head, he pours himself a cup of coffee.
Begrudgingly, I admire the way his biceps flex as he raises the cup of black liquid to his mouth and takes a small sip.
I can’t help it. I’m a mere mortal and he’s an imposing hockey player with the same gorgeous, chiseled jawline and effortlessly mussy hair as the man I’ve fallen for. Of course I’m attracted to him.
But Caden? He’s the golden boy, and I’ve always preferred the Prince Charming types to the Prince of Blood or Darkness or whatever Cole is reigning over these days.
“Rough night, bro?” Caden flashes his trademark carefree smile as he flips his eggs with a flourish.
“Yeah. For fuck’s sake, Cade, would it kill you and your house guests to keep it down?”
My shoulders tense. You’re too loud. Too big. Too embarrassing. Too much. It’s what I’ve heard repeatedly in my life, but I don’t know how to tone it down. Down feels itchy. Down feels impossible when my appearance is loud. Is my hairauburn? Red? Brown? Nobody knows. What color are my eyes exactly? Hazel? Amber? Mud. And good luck trying to count the freckles smothering my cheeks and the bridge of my nose. I’m tall. I’m clumsy. My existence takes up space a daintier woman would never dream of inhabiting, and I’ve tried to put my personality in a box, I really have, but it won’t stay put.
“I can be louder next time, if you want.” I bite back.
