Page 10 of That One Moment

“Yeah.” He nods and squeezes my hand. “Yeah, I am.”

Chapter Five

Jamie

Cooper Carrington is beautiful, smart, thoughtful and considerate. He is polished silver, and glittering gold, and the rarest diamond all rolled into one pale skinned, dark haired temptation.

He’s lying on his stomach on the grass, laughing at something he just read, his t-shirt riding up to show off a line of pale, freckle dotted skin on his lower back. His legs are crossed at the ankles and a backwards cap covers his dark locks. My eyes drink him in and my fingers twitch at my sides with the desire to swipe gently along the sliver of exposed skin.

We’re in our parents' garden, and though autumn is just on the horizon, the day is unseasonably warm. The house is large and welcoming, set in the leafy suburbs, not far from the town centre or the home I used to share with Mum. Cooper and I spend most of our weekends here, hanging out around the pool or raiding the kitchen. Cooper hates baking in his tiny shared kitchen so more often than not, I find him here, flour coveringhis clothes and the smell of chocolate or vanilla wafting through the house. And because my mum always wants us to feel like we have a place to call home, we both have bedrooms here too. Tastefully decorated by my mother and mostly unused, but ours nonetheless.

It’s been nearly five months since we first met and I’ve soaked up every minute we’ve spent together. We listen to music, go on walks, take the train to our closest big city - where I have to stop myself from chewing his ear off about architecture - and in turn, he’s taken me to an art class and shown me how to make vanilla sponge cake. And always, every single time we’re together, laughter is the soundtrack.

Some nights, after long days at school or work, we just sit and talk - on the phone, on the patio here or in the park between our houses. During each encounter, I've found myself growing more and more enamored with him.

He is without a doubt, the most spectacular specimen of a human I have ever met.

“Stop staring at him, you fucking weirdo,” Caiden snaps as he comes up beside me, taking me by surprise.

“Fuck off, Caiden. Don’t you have somewhere else to be? Maybe some weed to sell?” I look him over once, taking in his black attire - no surprise there - black jeans and black ripped band tee, the piercings in his ears and his disheveled hair. If his brother is the diamond, he is the rough.

“Oh fuck you, you judgemental piece of shit,” he barks back. “You seem to forget that I live here and he’smybrother. So why don’t you fuck off?”

I lift my hands in surrender because I have no desire to get into a pissing match with him. Not when I’d much rather be lying on the grass, enjoying Cooper’s company. It’s not that I haven’t tried to make nice with Caiden, I have. But he wantsnothing to do with me. Only two people matter to Caiden Carrington - his twin and his mother.

Cooper rolls over onto his back, narrowing his eyes as he looks at us.

“Must the two of you fight? It’s a beautiful day, the sun is shining and I have a cake in the oven.” He drops his book, stands up and comes closer until he’s standing in front of me. He’s wearing tight booty shorts and it’s all I can do to not trace the lines of his body with my eyes, from his sun kissed cheeks, all the way down to the outline of his dick behind the tight fabric.

“Sorry, little bro,” Caiden says, all earlier signs of animosity long gone, replaced now by affection. “Came to see if you wanted to party tonight, there’s a house party over on Tailor Row. Heard there’ll be some hotties there.” He bumps his brother's shoulder and my chest tightens, something akin to jealousy knocking on my ribcage.

Caiden smirks at me and I’m sure the fucker knows how I feel about his twin. I have both ninety nine reasons and no reason at all for not telling Cooper how I feel. Deep down, I guess it's the fear of rejection that keeps my lips sealed. I spend a lot of time telling myself I’m happy with this friendship we’ve built, that it’s enough. Adding feelings into the mix could ruin it, could make things messy where right now, they’re perfect.

“No thanks,” Cooper shakes his head but doesn’t get another word out before Caiden is in front of him, holding his cheeks in his hands.

“Please? I don’t want to go alone and you are the best wingman.”

I’ve seen this before - countless times. Cooper says no, Caiden begs, Cooper gives in. Sometimes he pulls the ‘I don’t want to go alone’ card and other times he plays on the fact that they're twins - two peas in a pod - and there's no one he'd rather hang out with. Cooper shrugs and I see the moment he relents, his headnodding before he turns to me. “Okay, I’ll go, but only if Jamie comes too.”

Maybe I preen a little, and maybe I look smug as fuck when Cooper playfully wraps his arm around my shoulders. Caiden glowers at me, his fists clenched at his sides, his lips set in a tight white line.

With an eyebrow raised in his twin’s direction, Cooper says, “Good?” and Caiden spits out ‘fine’.

“We’ll grab a cab around nine. Okay?” He chews on his bottom lip, his piercing glinting in the sun as he licks his bottom lip.

“I can drive us,” I say. My car is old and rusted, but it works, it was my mum’s for many years. A relic that is highly dependable.

“Or we can get a cab,” Caiden bites back.

“Or-” I start but Cooper jumps in.

“Or we can stop whatever this is,” Cooper points his middle finger between the two of us before continuing, “and enjoy the rest of the day together.”

Caiden looks down at his feet, a puff of air escaping his lips when his twin grabs him and drags him onto the lawn. I watch as the two of them play fight until they’re both precariously close to the edge of the pool, chuckling to myself when Cooper knocks Caiden’s legs from beneath him and they both go tumbling fully clothed, into the pool.

Caiden pops up from beneath the water first, swearing at how cold the water is. He shakes his head, his dark hair flying around his face before he jumps forward and grabs his brother and shoves him back under the water. The two of them push each other around until they’re both gasping and laughing so hard, they need to lean against the pool wall to catch their breaths.

Caiden’s laugh is loud and foreign to my ears and I realise it’s the first time since we met that I’ve seen him even remotely happy.

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