Page 61 of Twins For My Bestie's Brother

“Done what?” I ask, squeezing my one good eye open.

“Let Will get to you like that. He’s . . . you shouldn’t have done that on my account.”

I place my hand on the top of her thigh, a touch of comfort and presence. “Of course I did.”

Lily’s brow tightens. I notice one of her sleeves has fallen to the wayside, showing off the curve of her bare shoulder. “I’m not worth all that.”

“Yes, you are.”

“Jackson—”

“Yes, you are,” I repeat, feeling blood rushing into my face, the throbbing growing. I’ll remind her for the rest of her life if I have to. But . . . “Why don’t you believe me? After everything?”

Lily sighs. “Because, Jackson, we’re—”

“If you say different, I’m going to lose my mind,” I say, trying to add some humor with a half laugh in the back of my throat.

“We are.”

“We’re not.”

Her shoulders slump forward. “Jackson, you’re lying in my bedroom right now. Not my childhood bedroom. Mycurrentbedroom.”

“Why are you so hung up on that?”

“Because you deserve much more than a woman like me.”

I take the cold compress from her but keep my other hand on her thigh. I won’t let her walk away. “This is because of him, isn’t it?”

Lily’s eyes narrow. She’s so tired. I can see how the evening has worn her so very thin.

“Your mom and dad told me about why you left him,” I explain.

“Oh, my God,” she says, trying to pull away.

I move my hand up to her waist and hold her tighter. “Don’t be upset with them, please. They told me not to tell you, but I need you to know that I know.”

Lily’s hands lay limply in her lap, not only her eyes downcast, but her whole head hanging.

“Why didn’t you tell me, Lily?”

“Because I didn’t want you to think he was right.”

“How could I think that?”

She shakes her head. “I don’t know.”

“Look at me, Lily.”

Lily exhales. Her pain is palpable. But she does as I ask. The light of the room splays out around her, casting her in shadow, but the tears in her eyes are impossible to miss.

“I’ve told you how much I adore you over and over again. As you are now. As you were then. Why won’t you believe me?”

She swallows. “Why? All this time. Why?”

“You don’t have to see beautiful things to know they’re there,” I say, echoing her words as best I can.

Lily’s eyebrows lift, and then she laughs. It is a pitiful noise. Trapped in a place between sadness and hope and . . . incredulity. “I’m trying to understand, Jackson. I’m trying so hard. To believe you. To accept . . . the truth.” Her voice starts to shake. “I left Will because I know that’s not how love is supposed to be. And yet, at the same time, it’s the only way I’ve ever known love to be. I’m in this catch-22, and I don’t know how to escape it.”

---