Page 76 of Twins For My Bestie's Brother

“We shall. Goodnight you two,” Carina says and, as they stride past, she touches Lily’s arm softly.

Lily smiles in return and wishes them goodnight.

I take her hand and tuck it up against my chest. “Ready,my love?”

She snickers. It’s been a long while since she’s laughed. “Don’t start.”

I keep her close as we head toward the bank of elevators. “How are people going to know I love you if I’m not calling you ‘my love’ all the time?”

Lily shakes her head. “I don’t know.”

I press the button for the elevators, then place my hands around Lily’s waist and pull her close to me. “What do you think? Could you call this place home?”

“Banff?” she asks.

“The hotel. Banff. All of it,” I say, rocking our hips side to side.

An elevator door pings open. Lily unwinds herself from my embrace. “I don’t know.”

I follow her into the elevator. “What do you mean?”

“I mean . . . ” She leans up against the back wall of the elevator and crosses her arms over her chest. “You didn’t even ask me what I wanted.”

I lean against the wall and try to figure out what to say. The doors slide shut, and the elevator starts to move upward. “You’re right, I didn’t. I got a little overly excited.”

“You sure did,” she says, her eyes coldly focused ahead of her.

“What’s going on with you?” I ask.

“What are you talking about?”

“I’ll admit I got ahead of myself, and that was a bit of a mistake, but you’ve been—“

Lily glares at me, her curls bouncing to emphasize her anger. “A bit?! You got abitexcited?! No, Jackson, you decided to uproot my life without even telling me.”

I swallow. “You don’t have to live in Banff. I can, and we can switch off taking trips and—“

The doors swish open behind me.

Lily storms out. “Un-fucking-believable.”

I am frozen in place for a moment, willing the warm drunkenness away. I need to have my wits about me. I must have lost myself somewhere in the excitement of tonight, and I . . . I did something bad. Did I do something that bad?

The doors start to shut. I lunge out of the elevator before I’m trapped inside and follow Lily down the hall to our suite. God, she’s already booking it. “Lily, don’t walk away.”

She ignores me and continues walking.

I break out into a run, slip past her, and cut her off before she can move forward. “Lily, talk to me.”

“Jackson—” She steps to the side.

I cut her off.

“Jackson!” She steps to the other side.

I cut her off again.

Lily throws her hands down in frustration and growls. “Why won’t you leave me alone?”

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