Page 56 of Twins For My Bestie's Brother

Sue gets to her feet. “I’ll put them in some water for you, honey.”

“No, that’s alright,” Lily says, pulling the bouquet tighter into the cradle of her arms. Her cheeks redden. “I . . . no one’s ever brought me flowers.”

If it wasn’t enough to hear how Will tore her down with his words, this is the thing that breaks my heart in two. “They’ll last longer if you put them in water now. Besides, these won’t be the last flowers I get for you, I promise you that.”

Lily’s hazel eyes twinkle like stars. She reluctantly hands them over to her mother. “I guess, we should—”

“Yes, we should—” I gesture to the hallway.

It’s an awkward dance of helping her coat on, bidding goodbye to her parents and Kayla, and getting out the door, but once we’re in the cool night, the silence is surprising. Even more surprisingly, I don’t know what to say until we get to the car, and I say the very boring, “Let me get your door.”

I open the door for her and, before she climbs inside, she lifts herself onto her tiptoes and kisses my cheek. “Thank you.”

I’ve kissed her. Touched her. Been inside her. And yet a tiny kiss on the cheek almost has me shaking.

I’ve wanted this moment for so many years. Now, the wait is over.

And I will not hesitate to make it perfect.

Chapter 17

Lily

Everything has been perfect. A fairy tale. The way I always saw it in romcoms as a child.

Dinner at the nicest restaurant in town without any constraints on the bill, the best champagne, oysters, caviar,anddessert. I know dessert doesn’t sound like a luxury, but let me tell you, I spent years looking at my bank account every time I made a purchase. Dessert was never in the cards for me back then.

Afterward, we had walked off dinner on the boardwalk, me on Jackson’s arm, the whole town as our witness on a temperate autumn evening.

As wonderful as it is, it’s also awkward—in the best way, though. In that tittering first date way. Jackson and I have a lifetime of memories together, even as intimately as being in bed together. And yet this is uncharted territory.

Conversation comes and goes. The silences are scary but comfortable. Jackson eventually looks at his watch.

“What time is it?” I ask.

“Almost eleven if you can believe it,” he says, sounding surprised himself.

“Time flies, I guess,” I reply, leaving off the “when you’re having fun” bit. Gotta have some air of mystery, right?

“It does. Too quickly.”

My heart swells.

Jackson slows us to a stop and turns to face me. He touches his chin thoughtfully, rubbing his fingers through his beard which I can tell was freshly trimmed this morning. “I should probably take you home.”

“Yeah, we don’t want to break curfew,” I tease.

He chuckles. “Your parents will hate me if that happens.”

I giggle, but the laugh fades to quiet. This is it, I guess. The end. And it was lovely. It was perfect. I just don’t want it to end.

“In all seriousness, I . . . ” Jackson stops. “I don’twantto take you home, but—”

“I don’t want to go home,” I reply.

His eyes widen. “Oh. Okay. Good.”

I nod. “Good.”

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