Page 28 of Twins For My Bestie's Brother

“I will.”

She starts to close the door on me, but I call out, “Wait!” I swipe her clutch off the passenger seat and hold it up to her.

Lily smiles and takes it from me. I watch each of her fingers clamp around the clutch, all of them covered in tiny tattoos I’d love to know the stories of. “You’re a lifesaver, Jackson.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

We say our goodbyes. Lily scampers around the car and up the front walk to the door of the Bolton house. I stay and watch until she’s inside, and the door is shut safely behind her. And then I force myself to drive home. Alone.

Something has to change. And whether or not it’s fair or kind of me, I have a month to make that happen.

I want Lily Bolton. And if Will fucking Scortello can fly across the country to chase after her, I can convince her that a real relationship would feel just as good as a fake one.

Better.

Chapter 9

Lily

“Okay, tell us everything.”

We’re at the kitchen table, the usual spot for a Bolton family post-mortem. Mom and Dad have stayed up, their curiosity getting the better of their exhaustion. And to my delight, she baked a fresh batch of cookies which are still warm when I sit down.

“Well, you’ll never guess who was there,” I say, picking up a gooey chocolate chip cookie.

“I don’t care about who was there,” Mom scoffs. “I want to know how things went with Jackson.”

My heart hasn’t stopped beating since . . . since the dance floor really. I’ll pass out eventually from all the excitement. Given how news travels in this town, I’m not sure I can keep it a secret from my parents very long. I’ll be honest. But later. “I promise, you’ll care about this person.”

Mom and Dad exchange a look across the table.

“Will,” I say, then bite the cookie.

Mom puts her hand over her mouth. “Oh, no.”

“Oh, yes. He’s apparently staying in town for a month. To get me back.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Dad grumbles.

“Darryl.”

“No, I’m tired of being nice about the whole situation. He needs to leave you alone, and if he doesn’t—”

I smile. “You’ll prescribe him to death?”

My dad tries his best to be the ‘what-are-your-intentions-with-my-daughter’ type but fails at the execution considering the fact he’s a spindly pharmacist with an astigmatism. “I don’t want you with him, Lily,” he orders. “I’m a pretty easygoing guy—”

“As evidenced by all my tattoos,” I say.

“But he’s bad news. I should have seen it back in the day, but—”

I roll my eyes. “Dad,that’sridiculous. No one could have known he’d be . . . ” I shake my head. I don’t want to get into it.

“I should have. I’m your dad. I know how men work, and he’s no different. And if he thinks he can walk into the drugstore without having to deal with me, he has another thing—”

Mom grabs the plate of cookies and shoves it in his face. “Eat something, you’re getting cranky.”

Dad glares. “I’m not cranky, I’m . . . ” He resignedly takes a cookie and shoves it in his mouth.

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