Page 12 of Twins For My Bestie's Brother

Lily watches some birds overhead playing a game of chase through the trees. “She deserves it after all the shit she put us through in high school. Kayla and me, I mean.”

I bite on my lower lip and push my hands into the pocket of my fleece zip-up.

“Why did you . . . ” Lily stops.

“Why did I what?”

“Nothing, forget it.”

There’s a light breeze that pricks at my face. “Why did I date Tia?”

Lily tries to laugh. “Seriously, Jackson, forget about it.”

“I was jealous,” I say.

“Jealous?”

I take a deep breath. I can’t very well tell her the full truth, can I? “Kay was so busy with all her extracurriculars, and our grandfather was getting sicker. All my friends had their girlfriends, and you had just started dating Will.”

“Wish I hadn’t,” she says under her breath.

I resist a double take. “Everyone paid attention to Tia.”

“Everyone paid attention to you, too.”

This time Idoa double take.

“You were like Cider Bay’s star athlete. Everyone thought you were hot shit,” Lily goes on and then adds with a dig of her elbow in my side, “including me.”

I wish she wouldn’t say things that make me have regrets about not going for what I wanted back then. “They might have thought that, but everyone kept their distance,” I say. “But Tia had people running to her, and I wanted that. So being in hercircle was really a selfish thing more than anything. I didn’t really . . . I mean, she was pretty, but that was about it.”

“Dammit, Jackson.”

“What?”

Lily tips her head back, her eyes shining in the early morning light. “I’ve always been so pissed at you for dating Tia, and now that I understand why you did it, I can’t be pissed anymore.”

“You can be pissed if you want,” I say, though I hope upon hope she isn’t.

“Naw, if you’re going to be my fake boyfriend, I guess I have to get over it,” she teases.

I smile to myself and say nothing. As we walk, Lily starts walking off course of her straight trajectory, pressing her arm up against mine, and pushing me to the side of the path. I laugh and push back. She tips away, almost tripping over her feet, laughing. Her eyes crinkle almost fully closed, smile so bright.

“It’s sad she hasn’t grown out of all that,” I say. “She shouldn’t be using your breakup against you.”

Lily hums. “It is what it is. I don’t care.”

“Yeah, that’s why we’re faking a relationship.”

She pushes me on the arm. “Jerk.”

We take another bend in the path. Through the trees, the bay glimmers. “What if it was like an accident, you know?”

“Our relationship?” I ask.

“Yeah, what if you were comforting me or something, and then one thing led to another and—”

“It was a one-night stand?” I ask. I’m an idiot for wearing these joggers. The fabric is too thin and light to hide the half hard-on I’ve gotten at the thought of Lily and me tumbling into bed together. Not that this is the first time I’ve imagined it . . .

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