"My father owns a bunch of car dealerships back in Reno, and Adam's been working with him for as long as I can remember," Alex replied. "Washing windows, answering phones, sweeping the service bays. He started at the bottom, for sure, but that didn't matter. He just liked being involved in thebusiness."
"But youdidn't?"
She shook her head once. "Not really," she said. "I didn't have any major objections or issues with it, but it wasn'tforme."
"That's how I felt about Cornell," I said. "My brothers all went there. My father and his brother, and their father, too. I would've been fine there, but it didn't give me any warm fuzzies." I plucked some almonds from the tray and munched on them before continuing. "Cornell was our tradition, but it wasn't too much of a problem for me to choose RISD. My family had its hands full with other issues when I was going off tocollege."
"I hear you on the tradition." Alex set her wine down and smiled at me, her eyes bright. "My entire family, all the way back to the pioneer days, went to the University of Nevada in Reno. My grandfather called it Nevada State University even though the name had changed before he was born. We never corrected him because he was a sweet old man, but that should tell you something about how long my family has been part of theWolfPack."
"And yet you went to the University of South Dakota,"Isaid.
"And you went to RISD," she replied. "I guess that makes us a couple ofrebels."
That forced a laugh out of me. "I'm not sure that's how my family would tell the story. How did your people handle it when you broke with thecustom?"
"They were really cool about it. I mean, that's how I view their reactions now," she said. "At the time, I viewed it as them meddling and being controlling and not respecting my wishes, and all that bullshit. It actually took me a really long time to understand that it was none of those things." She reached for her wine, bobbing her head as she drank. "They pushed me to consider UNR and doubted whether I truly wanted to go out ofstate."
I tapped my inner arm, in the corresponding location of her tattoos. "They wanted you to pick onestate?"
"I think they expected me to change my mind at the last minute, especially since it was the first time that Adam and I were attending different schools." She brushed her hair over her shoulder andfuck, I loved it when she wore it loose like that. "Hell, we'd been in all the same classes right up until the last year or two of highschool."
Alex was one big web of contradictions, and I liked wandering down the bumpy roads of her stories. Within the same instances, she was bold and self-assured but also guilt-ridden. She knew exactly what she wanted and where she was going but she had a revisionist's view of the past. She was sweet, and more than a littlesalty.
Just like Dorothy and her sparkly redshoes.
"Was it difficult?" I asked. "Being away from yourbrother?"
She stared at the table for a minute, her chin propped on her fist. I watched as her lashes fluttered against her cheeks and her teeth sank into her bottom lip, and I thought about brushing my thumb over the dusting of freckles on her nose. She was lovely, justlovely.
My cock wasn't the most disciplined creature in existence. There were times when it would stir to life with every warm breeze and short skirt, and others when it would perk up for no discernible reason. It was an attention whorelikethat.
And now, with the knowledge that it would be sleeping an arm's length away from the pretty girl who kept saying and doing things that brought to mind sex, my cock was like Lassie. All hopped up on adrenaline and bouncing again becausethis is go time!There was trouble in the pretty girl's dark, wet cave and we had to save thedamnday.
"It was different because I was accustomed to considering his opinion on everything, and I didn't have to do that anymore. But no, it wasn't difficult. Actually, we're the worst twins," Alex said. "There were two other sets of boy-girl twins in our graduating class, and we were the worst by far. It's like we spent nine months together and then determined we needed to go ourseparateways."
"I didn't realize there was a ranking system for the best twins," I replied. "Is there aprize,too?"
Alex laughed at that, and dragged a hand through her hair. "There's no prize, but there's an expectation that twins have a connection unlike any other," she said. "The sixth senses, the kinship, the bond. Adam and I aren't like that. We've never had anyofit."
"So what?" I asked. "I don't say that to be flippant. But…so what? Why does it matter? Why hold onto that as a ding against yourself or your brother? And don't tell me you're not because I can hear it in yourvoice."
Alex paused, her lips pursed and her brow wrinkled. I wanted to smooth out those wrinkles. Kiss them away. There were all these things I wanted to do to her—spank her, fuck her, lick her, all of it—but perhaps my greatest desire was to touch her without reason or restriction. And not like I was permitted to touch her now with the casual arm around her shoulder, the easy leg squeezes, the friendly hugs. But touch her with meaning andintention.
"During my third year of residency, I was on a pediatric surgery rotation. A set of boy-girl twins were born, and one of them had required surgical intervention because he was born with his intestines outside his body,"shesaid.
"Please don't continue," I begged, a shudder moving through my shoulders at thethought.
"The worst is over," she said, reaching across the table to pat my forearm. I layered my hand over hers, keeping her there. "Gastroschisis isn't uncommon, but this case was rather severe and even after the surgery, he wasn't getting stronger. The parents wanted the babies to spend as much time together as possible because it seemed like he wouldn't survive. He was in the incubator with his twin a matter of hours and his heart rate was up. That night, a few of us watched while they wiggled out of their swaddles to hold hands, and the next morning, he was eating. He was fighting, and the only explanation was that he'd been withhistwin."
I stared at her for a moment, studying the way the light hit her hair and waiting for her to acknowledge that saving her brother's life wasn't the primary marker of good sibling relationships. Itnevercame.
Eventually, I said, "You know, you expect a lot ofyourself."
With the hand that wasn't trapped under mine, Alex reached for a chunk of cheese and popped it in her mouth. Her eyes sparkled as her lips turned up in a sharp,deviousgrin.
"I expect a lot ofeveryone."
* * *
