I take that back—the paparazzi aren’t dumb enough to make a threat like that.
Opening one eye, I spot a couple around my age, marching over to me. The girl couldn’t be taller than five-foot-five, but her boyfriend—I’m assuming that’s what he is, or this would be an awkward situation—is around my height, filled with a fury that could envy any Hollywood starlet throwing a tantrum.
His eyes, however, catch me off guard. A vibrant pale blue that I’ve only ever associated with Carly. Thinking back to our past conversations, she mentioned how she and her twin brother look fairly identical for a pair of fraternal twins.
This must be him. Hell, they even have the same hair color, even if his is slightly darker.
“What did you do to my sister?” He fumes, and I take two large steps back for fear of getting beaten to a fucking pulp.
I glance at the girl standing next to us for reassurance. To be honest, I’m a little more intimidated by her than by Carly’s brother.
“Don’t worry,” she assures me. “He’s harmless.”
The guy turns his head to his girlfriend. “Diana!”
“Carson, I love you, and you know that,” she assures him, patting his shoulder. “But you’re, hands down, theleastfrightening person I’ve ever met.”
“Way to burst a guy’s ego,” he mumbles.
Diana glances at me and playfully rolls her eyes. Now that I know I’m not about to die in my place of work, I try to loosen up slightly.
“Carson’s just worried,” she explains to me, rubbing her boyfriend’s shoulder. “He thinks you did something to Carly because she lashed out at dinner last night.”
I raise a brow. “So you’re trying to squeeze information out of me.”
“Pretty much,” Carson answers, shrugging.
“Wait, you don’t know where Carly is?”
“No! That’s literally why we ambushed you. Carly mentioned you interned at an aquarium, and we assumed it was someplace like this.” He gestures to the large building we’re standing in front of.
“Sorry, dude,” I apologize. “But I called her cell phone this morning and she didn’t answer.” Which I’m pretty sure hurt more than when she ran off after I kissed her the first time.
Her not answering felt like the final nail in the coffin.
“Odd,” Diana mutters. “That hardly ever happens.”
“Was it that bad?” I ask Carson. “The dinner?”
He squints his eyes, probably thinking about the events of last night. If it’s anything like my dinner with my parents, then I’m going to assume that it was pretty bad.
“She lashed out at Bailey, which was a long time coming,” he muses. “I don’t know how much Carly has told you about her relationship with our cousin…”
I nod, acknowledging how much Carly told me. Not every little detail, per se, but enough to grasp how badly she needed to tell her how she felt for the past year and a half. Even though I’m not sure if she’ll speak to me right now, I’m glad that she was able to stand up for herself.
“But that’s it. I was worried she was going to freak out and leave in the middle of dinner, but she hasn’t responded to any of my texts or calls today.”
“You just want to find her?” I ask. “You’re her brother, so don’t you have thisthing?”
Carson frowns, probably sick of hearing this question. “Okay, just because we’re twins, that does not mean we have twin telepathy. I don’t believe in that.”
“Did you call Ali?” I suggest.
“She didn’t even know Carly wasn’t home because she’s been out since last night.”
“And you didn’t think to check her location before ambushing me in my place of work?”
Carson opens his mouth for a second before closing it. Wow, a few minutes into meeting him for the first time, and I’ve managed to render him speechless. He grabs his phone out of his pants pocket and starts tapping away at the screen.
