Page 62 of Twins For My Bestie's Brother

“You know I’d never do that to you. Tear you down and make you feel less than. You know that, right?”

“Yes! And that’s exactly the issue. It scares me.” She places her hand on her chest. “Safety doesn’t feel safe yet. And I don’t think it’s fair to put that on you, I really don’t. I have so much to work out on my own before I’ll be good for anyone.”

“You’re good for me.”

“Jackson.”

I grip her waist harder. “You are.”

Her lower lip trembles. “It’s not fair to you.”

“Tell me you don’t want to be with me, then,” I say.

Lily’s body tenses.

“I’m telling you, I can take it. Fuck, I want you exactly how you are now. It’s up to you to walk away if you don’t want it.”

Tentatively, Lily places her hand next to me on the bed, unable to risk touching me, but wanting so badly to be close.

Fuck it. What is more vulnerable than telling her I’ve wanted her since we were kids? I’ve put my heart on the line . . . put all my cards on the table.

All except one.

“Lily, I love you. Exactly this way. You could stay this way forever, and I’d love you.”

Lily tries to laugh. “Jackson, that’s ridiculous.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s . . . we’ve . . . ”

I slide my hand from her waist to her back, pulling her closer. “Fourteen years. I’ve wanted this, wantedyoufor fourteen years. Why would loving you be ridiculous?”

Lily blinks, a few tears rolling down her cheeks, streaking through the dusting of blush. “You don’t even know what it might be like to bewithme.”

“I don’t care. I want to know.”

She starts to shake her head, but I can’t tell if it’s dismissal or disbelief.

“I love you,” I say again because I’m compelled to, not because I’m trying to force the message.

“Jackson . . . ”

“I love you, Lily,” I repeat. “And if you walk away now, I still will. So it’s up to you.”

The next few moments are too slow for my sanity, but I won’t press her any harder than I already have. She takes the wrist of my hand holding the compress and pulls it gingerly, lifting the ice from my skin. Lily examines the wound like there’s something objective about her decision. “God, Jackson, I don’t want you to do anything like that again.”

“To be fair, he sucker punched me. That was out of my control,” I say, again, trying to infuse levity into the room.

Lily traces her fingers across the swollen parts of my face that are numb now thanks to the cold. Eventually, her hand splaysout to cup my cheek. She leans in, and, thank fucking God, she kisses me.

I wrap my arm further around her. Pull her closer. If I could get her closer, our hearts would be merged as one. They beat in time, in lockstep, just as I’ve always dreamed.

The kiss is tender and short, but afterward, she does not pull away or apologize.

I slide my hands up her back, soft and slow, back and forth. “I’d do it again. I’d do anything for you.”

“That’s silly.”

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