Page 18 of The Brothers Next Door

“Our date. She asked me out last night.”

“What?” This made no sense. Why in the hell would she make a date with me and him on the same day? I didn’t even remember telling her I had a twin brother.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, his eyes narrowing at me. “You know her?”

“Who was at the door?” We both turned to stare at Layla, who was now dressed, minus make-up. Though in reality she didn’t need make-up. All make-up did for her was accent her already stunning features.

Darrin stepped inside to stand to my right.

“Holy shit,” she gasped, her hand going to her mouth and her eyes widening as she stared from me to Darrin and then back again.

~*~TT~*~

Layla

Walking barefoot from the bedroom, wearing a pink sundress which featured a sweetheart neckline and a skirt that fell nearly to the knee, I stopped dead in my tracks as I stared at the two identical men before me.

So much made sense now. Nate hadn’t been hot and cold with me, it had been his brother. I gasped in horror as a further realization hit me. I’d invited myself into his brother’s house, kissed him, and then asked him out. What kind of woman did that? More than that, he must have thought I was insane, but then again why would he agree to a date with a crazy woman? Was he that desperate for a little piece of ass?

“You have a twin brother!” I managed to choke out. The only reason I even knew which one was Nate was because he had come in wearing a pair of blue jeans and black t-shirt stretched across his fit frame. The man beside him was also wearing blue jeans, but with a forest green button up shirt.

Ohmygod this is so confusing! I wagged my index finger at the two of them. “So, which one of you did I kiss last night and which one did I meet at the club last week?”

“She kissed you?” Nate turned to his brother and glared.

“She just came into my apartment and kissed me, what did you expect me to do? I’d just gotten off work and she caught me by surprise.” He turned his attention back to me. “Are you dating my brother?”

“No, we’re just…” I didn’t know what we were. Lacing my hands behind my neck, I groaned, closing my eyes and letting my head fall back for a moment, enjoying the feel of the stretch. A moment later I lifted my head, opening my eyes to see identical dark eyes still staring at me. Catching the brother’s gaze, I asked, “Who are you?” I gave my head a shake. “Your name. What’s your name?”

“I’m Nate’s brother, Darrin.”

“Do you normally kiss strange women and allow them into your house?”

“You surprised me. And for the record you kissed me.”

“Didn’t it occur to you that I may have thought you were your brother?”

“I honestly thought you were either a little unorthodox or just a little crazy.” He held up his thumb and index finger so they were almost touching. “I was going to figure that out either way tonight.”

I looked from one man to the other and back again. Redirecting my gaze to Nate, I asked. “Do you even live in this building? Or do you two live together… or… Perhaps it would have been useful information to inform me that you had a twin brother living next door to me.”

“Maybe so, I apologize. I live a few floors down, but I’m at Darrin’s place a fair amount.” He spread his hands out to the sides. “Look, this was just a simple misunderstanding, although I have an idea. We’re all here expecting a night out, so let’s all just go out for a bite to eat and get to know each other. Maybe put this mix-up behind us.”

It was at that moment that my cat decided to make an appearance. Looking from me to the men at my doorway, he plunked his ass down at my side on the floor and wailed at them.

“Is there something wrong with that cat?” Darrin asked, staring at the critter beside me.

With a shrug, I picked Zeus up. He immediately began to purr. “It’s a Siamese thing. He’s been under a lot of stress with two moves in just a few months. He doesn’t travel well.”

“I bet.” Darrin didn’t appear convinced and certainly didn’t seem to have much of a liking for my pet. Well, we were a package deal, take it or leave it.

“If that’s the plan then I’ll just be a couple more minutes.” Carrying Zeus in my arms, I brought him into the bedroom with me, closing the door behind us.

Placing the cat on the bed, I took a seat at the small vanity in my bedroom and took a moment to catch my breath as my mind whirled through the events of the past few days, attempting to figure out which experiences were with Darrin and which were with Nate. I was hardly a person to be brazen or bold. Leave it to me to choose the one time where it wasn’t even the right person. I was so embarrassed, I kissed a man for no reason other than I wanted to and invited myself into his home.

Running a shaky hand through my hair, I looked at my flushed face in the mirror. I may have been embarrassed a minute ago, but at least the flush gave my cheeks an alluring rosy glow, a glow I was about to recreate as I opened my compact containing blush and bronzer and quickly began applying it.

What in the hell were we going to do with three of us? Wasn’t the saying three’s a crowd? I didn’t know. Perhaps Nate was just being polite and since Darrin was my neighbour, it was a good way to get to know him. Both of them. I had technically made a date with them both.

Would that mean that I got two good night kisses? Two good night lays if the night went right, maybe two at once. I’d read about threesomes in romance novels and it always intrigued me. I laughed at myself. Who was I kidding? What I’d done with Nate had already taken me past my comfort zone. Two men at once, yeah right, only in my dreams.

My eyes locked with Zeus’ in the mirror, his bright blue eyes meeting my dark ones, and he meowed as if he knew what I was thinking and wholeheartedly agreed with me. This was insanity.

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