Ariel closes her book and shuffles along to the end of her bed so that I’m within touching distance. “How much of your assignment have you written?”
I glance at the laptop screen. “Five words.”
“And that’s the title, right?”
I suck on my top lip.
“Speak to them, Rem. Hear them out. Then perhaps, we can both get on with our lives.”
Her words hit home. Ariel is invested in this pregnancy because she’s been with me every step of the way. She’ll be my birth partner. My shoulder to cry on when my hormones are all over the place. My best friend. Of course, her life is on hold too while I figure this out, and that isn’t fair.
“Okay. Next time they call, I’ll speak to them.”
Ariel’s smile is wide. “Hallelujah!”
I smile back at her. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think that you were in cahoots with them.”
“Girl, if I were in cahoots with them, you wouldn’t be sitting here right now. You’d be choosing furniture for a swanky penthouse apartment with a spare room for your best friend.”
I switch off my new cell during my morning lecture.
Then I work a four-hour shift at the café in the afternoon.
By the time I finish, I’m shaky with hunger and caffeine withdrawal, and not thinking straight when I power up the cell and hit the green button on the next call.
“Remy?” The voice at the other end sends a shiver straight through me despite the balmy evening heat. “You answered.”
I don’t speak. Pedestrians walk around me, too engrossed in their own lives to pay me any attention or even notice that I’m in their way. I realize that I didn’t check the Caller ID, and I don’t know if I’m speaking to Cash or Bash. The excitement I felt at the sound of his voice clashes violently with the reminder that they come as a package.
Two men for the price of one.
“How are you? On second thought, don’t answer that on the phone. I want to see you. I want to speak to you in person, Remy. Where are you? I’ll send a car to pick you up.”
This is Cash.
I don’t know how I know this; it’s a thought that I’ll have to unpack later in the comfort of my bed while Ariel is asleep, but I’m confident that I’m right about this.
“Why?” I might be a little confused right now, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to accept whatever it is he has to say.
“Because I understand that we were assholes, but we’re in this together, Remy.”
How can he have this effect on me through a cell phone? Or are my trembling knees purely down to the sugar crash? I should be stronger than this. I’m pregnant—with twins. I’m going to be a mom next year; I should have the willpower to say no and mean it.
“I’m outside Cakes and Cooks. I just finished work.”
“Stay right there.” Pause. “And, Remy. Thank you.” The call ends with a click.
I’ve never traveled in a chauffeur-driven car before. The interior is cool. The glass partition separating me from the driver is smokey. No one on the street glances at the sleek black car, but it feels as if they should. I can’t explain it but sitting on the backseat of this obviously prestigious vehicle, I feel set apart from the rest of the world.
I’m tempted to text Ariel and tell her where I am, but I don’t. Seems I can show restraint with everyone else apart from the Murray twins. And look where that has gotten me.
They’re both waiting for me in Bash’s penthouse apartment at the top of the Rinse.
Coffee is brewing. They’re both wearing pants and button-down shirts, no ties or suit jackets. They both look out of place, waiting for me in the living room as if they discussed the best way to greet me and chose keeping it casual as the best option. I catch the nervous-as-hell vibes the instant I step out of the elevator.
I don’t want to gloat but… they deserve to be nervous. How many twins forget to introduce themselves before they get naked and tell someone that they can’t let them walk out of their lives? It should be standard procedure, right?
I make a mental note to my future self to make this a rule for my twins. Never assume that other folks can tell you apart.
