“I’m meeting...someone, yeah. I can’t be late.” My face flushed. I was lying to my sister about seeing our dad, but I knew if I mentioned him, she’d tag along, and the conversation would be all about her and dancing. Not the idea I’d come up with.
My throat felt tight, like I swallowed six pairs of socks as she stared at me. Her eyes, so similar to mine, seemed sad. What did she have to be sad about?
“Gage told me he wanted to ask you a question at the bar and you were rude. Is that what Michael meant when he said Gage was bothering you?”
Even with that question, she loaded it likeIdid something wrong. Like I was horrible to Gage because he’d spoken to me. “Cami, I can’t… stop the bullshit. Please. It’s me.”
“What are you talking about?” she asked, her mouth forming a perfect oh. She looked pretty when she was confused, angry, or hell, even when she cried. Not me. Never me.
“You got Dad. You have the dance team. Why… why do you always have to go after guys I’m dating?” My voice came out just above a whisper, but I might as well have shouted. Cami blinked and tilted her head.
“What?”
“Brandon from sophomore year. Tyler from senior year. Gage. All three of them I dated. I went out with them. Then, weeks later, you’re with them. I don’t get it. Do you hate me?” My words were shaky, and my eyes stung.
This was horrible. Everything I’d avoided the past week or so because I knew. I knew whatever I said would cement the fact we weren’t those sisters who called each other every week. Once we graduated, we’d see each other at holidays and that was it—same as the rest of my family.
I sniffed as my entire body pounded from the confrontation. The greens of the trees seemed brighter, the smell of fall clogging my nose, and my tongue was too big for my mouth.
“You think I hate you?” she asked, her voice hollow.
“Why else would you do that to me?”
She stared at me, her jaw tightening as her grip around her phone turned white. My sister paled and the red lipstick made her look like a vampire. “You dated those guys...before me.”
“Cami. Please. The clueless act works for Dad but not on me. You’re better than this.” I wiped under my eyes, regretting wearing mascara because I rivaled a raccoon with school spirit. “I need to go.”
I looked down and walked by her, refusing to glance back at my twin. The divorce sucked for a lot of reasons, but the biggest one was how it changed us. It’d been six years, but the hurt only got worse. I’d experienced one big break up before and cried for a week until I realized I would be okay.
A sister break up was worse—especially my twin. This person was created at the same time as me, shared DNA with me, yet...we couldn’t be more different. The girl who used to share her sleeping bag with me, brushed my hair, and helped me paint my nails was gone.
I stumbled on the sidewalk, righting myself after my feet flirted with the crack in the ground, and I held both hands out in the air like a surfer. I didn’t fall, thank god, but it was a close one.
“Add another point to the tally, Fletcher.”
Michael.I wiped under my eyes again, annoyed at Cami for making me cry. I didn’t have time to clean myself up, so I put on my best smile before facing him. He wore a backwards hat and short sleeves, the dark ink of his tattoos covering his whole arm. My god, my tongue felt too large again but for different reasons. Lusty, wanting to lick him reasons. “Hello.”
Hello?
Could I be any cooler?
“Hello to you too. I’m going with my gut on this one and saying that’s four. Four to zero.” He neared me, but once he got closer, his smile dropped. “Hey, what’s going on?”
“It's nothing. Sorry. Ignore me, please. Especially the racoon eyes.”
He reached over and wiped a tear off my face with his thumb. My stomach swooped at the tender way he touched me, and his frown deepened. “You’re a pretty raccoon, if that helps.”
I snorted and swatted his hand away. “Shut up.”
“Seriously, the prettiest raccoon I’ve ever seen.”
“You’re not helping,” I said, even though my lips curved up and I was already letting go of the tension.
“Yes, I am.” He narrowed his eyes as his gaze dropped to my mouth for a full second. My breath lodged in my throat, and my lips tingled from his attention. But then he put his hands in his pockets and sighed. “Please tell me you’re not sad because of data and hockey.”
“No, that’s not it.” I took a shaky breath just as the sun hit his face, amplifying the strong jawline, the wavy brown hair, and the slight crookedness to his nose. His blue eyes had flecks of brown in them, and his lashes were longer than I expected. He was honestly the most attractive guy I’d ever been around.
No wonder my stomach squirmed and my pulse raced in my neck. I placed a hand over the evidence so he couldn’t see how I reacted. “I ran into Cami just now.”
