Page 60 of My Twin Sister's Extremely Famous and Incredibly Hot Neighbor

“No.”

He smiles. “Good surprise?”

“Absolutely,” I say as I stare at the building. It’s a work of art in and of itself, with curved lines and interesting form. I’m so thrilled Dustin thought of this.

“We can stay as long as you’d like. I mean, until it closes.”

I laugh. “This is so awesome.”

We make our way into the building. It’s a Wednesday afternoon and the place isn’t crowded, which I really appreciate. Still, I grasp onto Dustin’s hand as we pass by a gathering of people who are milling about.

Dustin holds my hand firmly, giving me something to focus on. I cling to him as the anxiety from being around people rises in me. He pays for our admission, and he guides me away from the crowd. We find an empty room, and my anxiety immediately eases as we enter the serene environment, surrounded by blue and green artwork depicting sea life. The lighting is a bit dim. I take my sunglasses and put them on my hat.

The first painting is large, taking up the entire wall. I laugh when I see it’s sea turtles swimming under the water. I point at the painting. “Sea turtles.”

He smiles. “That’s funny. I guess the sea turtle is our spirit animal.”

“Or it’s a symbol of our love.” I freeze when I realize what I’ve said. I didn’t mean to say the L word. That’s huge. Colossal. It’s a massive thing to toss out there into the void. Now I don’t know what to say. The word hangs in the air between us as the tension grows awkward.

“I think it is,” Dustin says quietly. He kisses the top of my head and slides his arm around me. Warmth threads through me. He didn’t say the word, but he meant it. He dispelled my fear and let me know I hadn’t said the wrong thing. Not only that. He softly confirmed that he’s feeling the same way I am. My heart swells.

As we walk by all the sea creatures, I’m emotionally closer to him than ever. He radiates warmth and comfort. I’m safe when he’s with me. It’s been so long since I had that. I just want to spend forever basking in his glow. I don’t want to think about what I have to do tonight.

I don’t want to tell him I’m not Jera, and ruin all we have.

CHAPTER32

Iwalk beside Dustin as we navigate our way through the museum. I slide my sunglasses back on as we near others. Dustin shields me from people, checking on rooms and walking me through crowds quickly so we can get to an empty area. I love how aware he is of our surroundings and how he talks to me softly when we can’t avoid a crowd.

We find a room with watercolor paintings, and I’m in heaven as we study them. “These are amazing,” I say.

Dustin asks me a few questions about technique and how to get a desired result, and I explain things to him. He seems absorbed in what I’m saying, even though he doesn’t paint. I love that about him. He genuinely wants to know about what I’m interested in.

“What made you think to bring me here?” I ask as we walk past another wall of paintings.

He shrugs. “You had a memory of your father taking you to a museum, but it seemed like that got tainted with what happened between you. I just thought I’d give you another good memory to hold onto.”

Tears spring to my eyes. What a kind thing for him to do. “Thank you,” I manage to say.

He hugs me to his side. He doesn’t make a big deal of my tears. He silently supports me. There’s no way he could know how much that means to me.

As we advance, looking at the art, I can’t control my tears. I try, but they keep coming. The hole in my chest is going to swallow me up. I feel so terrible for lying to Dustin all this time. He’s such a good man, and I’m a horrible person.

We pause before a painting of a waterfall, and it reminds me of being in Jera’s living room with Dustin while I make him stand far back so he can’t see my signature. I let the tears silently fall down my cheeks. With these large sunglasses on, I hope no one can tell.

I should have told him as soon as I started having feelings for him. It’s too late to back things up and do them over. I’ve messed everything up, and I can’t fix it.

He runs his thumb over my side. “Are you okay?” he asks softly.

I’m not okay, but I want so desperately to be. I have to be okay, because this is it. This is all we get. “I’m okay,” I say.

We continue walking, and I get a hold of myself. Today I’m with the man I love. I need to focus on that and not worry about I have to do later.

We move through a room with all black and white paintings. They are stark and garish, and I’m sure the artist intended them to be this way. I stare at one filled with squares.

Dustin looks down at me and squeezes my hand. I don’t need words to know what he means. He saw my tears, and now sees they’re gone. He’s just showing me he cares.

“Can I ask you something?” he asks.

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