Page 12 of One More Round

Before I get even two steps toward the door, I'm yanked to a stop.

Marci has a hold of my arm and there is fire in her eyes. She hisses at me.

“Because I was trying to show you some common decency, I didn't mention in front of your friends the dark, not-so-nice half of you. The part of yourself that you hide so fiercely is about to shake things up. So, you better start preparing for that. He's not going to make it easy on you."

And with that she drops my arm, pushes me the rest of the way out of the room, and shuts the door.

I stand there, flabbergasted at her confession, staring at the now closed door.

How did she know? I have a twin and he's definitely a dark, not-so-nice version of me.

"Hey, Gia. You coming?"

Morgan stands quietly at the end of the hall, a look of concern etched on her face. I shake off the chills I just got as I mutter yes and head down the hall. As I pass, she starts to say something, but I lift a hand.

"No. Let’s not."

I know she was about to ask if I wanted to talk about it. But I can't. Not now at least. I need to wrap my head around the fact that Marci just told me that my twin—that no one is aware of—is about to fuck my life up to the extreme.

Not to mention the fact that I've got the soulmate comment to deal with. Ruby is going to be all over that one.

Chapter Eight

Simon

Then

It's been four days since Gia found out she was moving.

We are sitting up in our too-small-for-us tree house. I don't know why we are up here, but this is where I found her.

"I'm going to miss this place," she says with a sigh and leans her head on my shoulder.

"Yeah. Me too," I mutter. She snorts at that.

"Si, you're not the one leaving. Plus, the tree house is inyourbackyard. How are you going to miss it?" She lifts her eyebrows at me. I shrug.

"Well, since it's not really cool to hang out in tree houses at sixteen, I doubt I’ll come up here much after you leave."

She lifts her head; a look of concern etches her face.

"You don't plan on coming to our spot anymore?"

I study her, trying to figure out why she is starting to freak out.

"Simon, this is our spot. You can't abandon it."

I try to hold in the chuckle, but she must see the laughter in my eyes because her eyes narrow.

"This is not funny. Why are you laughing?"

"Because you are getting upset on behalf of a tree house."

"I'm getting upset because I won't be able to come up here anymore and you’re just going to walk away from us!"

Whoa.

All sense of mirth is gone. This just took a turn.

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