Page 77 of Twins For My Bestie's Brother

“I left you alone all day! You’ve been acting weird all day, and you won’t talk to me, and I’m done with it, okay? I’m done.”

“Lower your voice,” she hisses.

I seal my lips together and glance at the nearby doors. Was I really talking that loud?

Lily’s face is bent with fury. “What about the shop?”

“Your shop?” I ask.

She nods. “Yes. What about the shop that’s supposed to open in six months? You want me to give that up and follow you to Banff?”

“No, I . . . I don’t want you to give it up. I just thought—” I take a step toward her, and she backs away. Fuck.Fuck. “Being with you is my priority, and I thought it was yours too.”

“If it was your priority, you wouldn’t be making deals that are going to uproot me. You’d know better than that.”

“Lil, come on, that’s not fair.”

Her eyes widen, beautiful hazel that now threatens to swallow me whole. “How is that not fair? You sat there and spoke for me like we’d discussed any of this, and we’ve never—you never—” Lily works to catch her breath. “You don’t need more money. You don’t have to work another day in your life. Why do you—”

“The idea excited me; I got excited. Maybe too excited. I’ll admit that,” I say softly. “But all day, you’ve been off, Lily. You’ve been—”

“So, you were retaliating?” she asks. “You didn’t like how I treated you, so you thought you could just fuck up all our plans for your own benefit?”

“That’s not . . . exactly how I thought of it. Fuck, Lil, I don’t know. Can we get to the suite and talk about this? I don’t want anyone—”

“I didn’t know what I wanted was so expendable to you,” Lily says.

Anger tightens in my chest. “Hey. It’s not. Don’t put words in my mouth.”

“Then don’t tell me I’m fucking moving to Banff without asking me if I want to move to Banff,” she spits.

“I’msorry, okay? You can’t keep relitigating—”

“I knew we were too different.”

The words hang in the air, causing a confusing pile-up of feelings. Anger, fear, sadness. And the amount of alcohol doesn’t help. “We aren’t,” I say.

“We are. Because I haven’t proven myself. And you have. So why bet on me and what I want when the proof is right there that you and Danforth can make fuck tons of money from—”

“You don’t understand how all this works,” I say and immediately know it’s the wrong thing to say. “That didn’t come out right, what I mean is—”

Lily laughs bitterly. “It’s okay. You meant it. At least a little bit.”

I’m talking to a brick wall. She isn’t hearing me. Doesn’twantto. We’re stuck in this loop where whatever I say is the wrong thing. But if neither of us says anything, we’re going to be stuck in this hotel hallway in a gridlock forever. “What do you want, Lily? Hm? What will make you happy?”

“Nothing,” she says. “Because if I ask you not to take the deal, then I’ll always feel guilty, and if I just try and move on, I’ll resent you.”

I can’t lose Lily. Not after how long it took to get her. For us to only have three months together . . . no. It’s not nearly enough. Anything less than a lifetime would be hell. “Those are the only two options?”

Lily blinks and tears spill down her cheeks. I didn’t realize how close to crying she was. She wipes her tears away. “What if I was—what if we were—” She exhales harshly. “What if I was pregnant? What would you do?”

Did I hear her correctly? If she was pregnant? That’s not even something we’ve discussed in the short term. My expression sours. “Lily, that’s such an extreme hypothetical it’s not even worth entertaining.”

“It’s not hypothetical, Jackson!” she says, more tears in her eyes.

It’s simple to understand. If something is not hypothetical, it’s real. Except my mind currently can’t grasp the subject. I blink at her.

“I’m pregnant,” she says. “Does that change anything?”

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