Page 22 of Fighting Fate

9

There’s a moment of silence as the server brings our order to the table, and the question hangs over us, unanswered. Although this is our girls’ brunch spot, I look around the small café, studying the pink walls draped with silk spring blossoms. It’s cute and kitsch at its finest.

“Well?” Dorian presses, a knowing smile teasing me when I look back at her. “Come on, Chooch, you’re never this quiet or reserved about anything.”

“It was…okay…” My shrugged answer earns me one of her narrowed stares that says she already knows I’m withholding because I’m not exactly sure of the way I feel.

It’s the truth. I’m not sure of how I feel or how I want to feel anymore. Not about Rory. I’ve tried focusing on all the cons, and as many as there are, I still can’t shake him out of my thoughts.

“Come on, Will.” Quincy smiles with a bat of her lashes. “Does he make you feel all giddy?”

“What does he make you feel?” Beth chimes in, topping up our mimosas. “How’s the sex? You are having sex…right?”

“It was one date.”

Dorian chuckles at my snappy reply. That’s the most annoying thing about being twins—we’re connected by a sixth sense that makes it impossible to hide anything.

“He’s got all that big-dick-energy thing going on,” Beth says, spearing one of the hollandaise-coated asparagus tips with her fork and twirling it in the air.

“You obviously like him,” Dorian states.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” I retort, pushing the mushrooms around my plate.

My stomach is in knots that I can’t ignore, and the conversation is only making it worse. “Rory’s nice. Too nice…maybe?”

All three of them look at me with wide eyes, as though I’m being wildly unreasonable. Perhaps I am, but…

“He’s not really my type.”

Quincy takes a sip of her drink before she asks, “What makes him too nice?”

Christ, their eyes are like a spotlight that I can’t step out of. For the first time ever, I’ve got the worst feeling of stage fright, and it’s all because I know my answer is ridiculous. Not to me, but it will be to them because they’re loved up and everything is rosy.

Their heartbreaks have been glossed over with second-chance love. Something I can’t begrudge them. However, it makes it hard to believe they’ll understand how I’m feeling right now. How hard it is for me to trust my gut or my head…my heart…

“Willow?” Dorian nudges my thigh beneath the table, yanking me out of my thoughts.

“Can we just eat, please?”

Focusing on my plate, I force myself to swallow down my food. The searing churn of my stomach makes it hard to get through half of my brunch, even though it’s a favourite of mine. However, it’s easier to ignore their concerned stares if I’m not looking at them.

“I thought Ellie was coming today?” Quincy breaks the awkward silence. Something we have little of between us.

“Yeah, she was.” Dorian takes the hook. “I think she’s meeting with Frank today about an audition.”

“How’s she doing?”

“Good. Jake is obviously apprehensive about her going back to work.”

“It’s understandable.” Quincy pauses for a moment before she asks, “Is it bothering you?”

I feel Dorian tense before she physically does it. She has an innate ability to push through her feelings and put on a brave face. It’s what makes her so successful in her law career.

“It doesn’t bother me that he’s concerned about her staying on track. It’s been a tough time for her with the whole situation with her ex and staying clean. I understand how he feels about it all, and to a degree, I think he’s more than right to be concerned.”

“But?”

“If it all blows up…” Dorian pauses, clearing her throat as though she’s trying to hold herself together.

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