Page 61 of Full Send

My twin powers aren’t kicking in. I have no sense of what is going through his mind.

Chapter 30

Tanner

Captain

Collin’s expression is blank. Between kissing Ronni, and the way Collin and Lizzy arestaring at us now, I can feel my heart trying to jump out of my fucking chest. He’s practically a brother to me, but I can’t read his face right now. I swallow, but can’t make the knot in my throat go away.

“Celebrating the New Year a bit early, aren’t we?” Collin asks, finally breaking the silence.

“Collin. I swear. We wanted to-,” I start to talk before he bursts out laughing. I look to Ronni, the terrified expression on her face is gone. She’s now eyeing Collin with suspicion, one eye squinting and an eyebrow raised.

Collin finally manages to stop laughing long enough to talk.

“Oh man, I had you guys. You should have seen your faces,” he says, still bent over at the waist, hands on knees as he starts laughing again. Lizzy now joins him, cackling maniacally.

“Um. What?” I ask, still not sure what the fuck is happening. Is he mad? Does he think this is a joke? Ronni looks at me, clearly wondering the same thing.

“Dude. You’re my best friend, practically my brother. V, you’re my literal twin sister. You guys think you could sneak around sharing little grins and winks for days without me figuring it out? That’s fucking cute.” He takes a deep breath before exhaling. I think he finally got the laughing out of his system.

“Well, I didn’t know,” Lizzy says, interrupting Collin while he revels in scaring the shit out of us for what felt like forever.

“You little fucking shit, Collin,” Ronni says. “That’s not cool.”

“Oh I beg to differ,” he snorts. “The look on your faces was totally worth it.”

“So, to be clear, you’re not mad?” I ask, finally able to exhale.

Collin straightens up, walking towards Ronni and me, putting a hand on both of our shoulders.

“Not at all guys,” he says, bringing both of us in for a hug, “not at all.”

He pulls back, looking at us both now.

“But I swear to god, don’t fucking hurt each other.” His face is serious, pointing a finger at me, then Ronni. We both nod.

“Alright, I’m all for this. But can we carry on now? I still want to see the rest of town and stop for ice cream.” The three of us turn towards Lizzy, clearly unashamed at interrupting the moment.

“What? I’m cold and about to get hangry. Let’s go. We got all week for touchy feely shit guys.” She waves for us to follow.

“You really want ice cream in this cold ass weather?” Collin looks back to Lizzy, waiting for an answer.

She huffs. “I guess I’m sort of like V with her iced coffee obsession. Maybe she’s not that crazy after all.”

“Alright, alright,” I say, holding Ronni’s hand walking past Collin and out in front of Lizzy, “if you guys want ice cream, let us lead the way.”

Well, that went better than I expected.

We walk through town, Ronni and I hand in hand, her head on my shoulder. I have to admit, it does feel better not hiding from Collin and Lizzy. I’m just glad I don’t have to worry about him now. It’s such an incredible relief.

After getting cones, we sit outside the ice cream parlor on a pair of benches. We’re on one of the boardwalks, opposite the town square.

“Jeez, this ice cream is great but I’m exhausted now. Roll me away and throw me in bed please,” Lizzy says, trying not to nod off on the bench with Collin.

“Yeah, it’s been a long night and I didn’t even have any tequila shots at the bar. I’m ready to sleep,” he says.

“We are so lame guys, we’re all getting old. You realize that, right?” Lizzy looks at all of us, still enjoying her ice cream in a waffle cone.

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