Page 8 of Twins For My Bestie's Brother

Mom glances back at my father, one of those married looks.

“It is!” I say.

Dad grabs a bottle of wine from the wine rack and starts to uncork it. “Okay, then explain it to us.”

“Okay, TL;DR.”

“What’s that mean?” Mom asks, eyes glued to whatever concoction she’s got sitting in the stockpot.

The cork pops on the bottle of wine. “Acronym!” Dad calls out.

Mom tsks. “I know it’s an acronym, but what does it stand for?”

“It’s an internet thing. ‘Too long, didn’t read’,” I explain. I’ve done so much explaining of acronyms and slang since I’ve come home. “Basically,CliffsNotes.”

Mom smiles. “CliffsNotes, I know.”

I shake my head. This is all ludicrous. “Tia Worthing came into the store to rub in my face that I wouldn’t have a date to the reunion and—“

“That girl is a piece of work,” Dad says as he pours three glasses of red wine.

Mom admonishes him with a soft, “Darryl.”

“That’s the nicest thing I could say,” he replies as he hands me a glass of wine.

I swig the red wine. Just what I needed. “You’re a real one, Dad.”

“You hear that, Sue? I’m a real one,” he says.

“Oh, hush.”

“Anyway, she was being apiece of workand implying that I didn’t want to go to the reunion because I wouldn’t have a date. And Kayla was there, and she, well, she was trying to be helpful, but she told Tia I had a new boyfriend and Jackson justhappenedto walk in right at that moment, and I’m sure you can put two and two together from there.”

Dad groans as he takes a seat at the kitchen table. I can almost hear his knees creaking. “Kayla offered Jackson up as your fake boyfriend, huh?”

“Precisely.”

Mom scoffs, “Oh, my goodness, that’s ridiculous.”

“Yeah, that’s what Jackson and I said.” After we pretended to be a couple without batting an eye. “But, I don’t know, it was kind of great to see the look on her face when she found out we’re ‘dating’.” I had air quotes around ‘dating’ for obvious reasons.

“I’m sure she was upset, to say the least,” my mom says, trying to tread carefully with her language.

“It’s been over ten years since they dated,” I say. “And she’s married.”

Dad laughs. “Sometimes it’s the married ones you have to watch out for.”

Mom shoots him a look. He holds up his hands like she’s got a gun trained on him. “Your father’s right. When people don’tget married for the right reasons, it’s easy to think the grass is always greener elsewhere.”

“Anyway, my point is, that Jackson Roy is my boyfriend on Saturday night. Not a moment before and not a moment after,” I explain and go sit at the kitchen table near my dad.

My mom sighs. “Well, I have to say, I’m a bit disappointed.”

I shake my head. “If Jackson and I dated, it would be a mess.”

“Oh, come on, he’s successful. Don’t tell me your type is unemployed,” Dad teases.

I don’t laugh. “Will was only unemployed for like . . . a year.” Or two.

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