Page 34 of Totally Played
I shake my head.
“You are a big sook when you are sick, you know that?”
“We’re twins, so that means you are, too,” he replies, sticking out his tongue like a toddler.
“It doesn’t work that way. We might look alike, but your personality is all yours, baby brother.”
“Hey, you are like three minutes older.”
“Still older.”
“Shut up so I can watch you lose already.”
“Harsh.”
“Yeah, sorry,” he says, and I wiggle my butt forward a little so that I can lean back more in the bean bag. “You really think he’s going out of town?”
“Yeah, I do. He said he’s off to Belgium for work. He doesn’t know when he’ll be back, but he’s keen to come to another game when we play at home again.”
“So he’s a Banana Ball guy, nice.”
“Actually, he’s only recently…discovered Banana Ball. He’s more of a hockey guy.”
“Urgh. I guess I can let that slide. He’s so fit. I keep checking his profile to see if he’s uploaded more photos. He’s tall, right? He looks tall. Was he wearing a corset when he met you for his date?”
“Yeah, he was. He is tall too, about a head taller than us. You’ll see for yourself, if you just hit play on the remote.”
“What do you mean?”
“He came to the game, sat with Mom, Dad, and Rachel.”
“How many dates have you two had? I’m going to need all the details if we are going to switch back for the future ones. I need to know everything you said. Everything you did.”
“Don’t worry about that, he knows I’m not you.”
He turns in his seat, staring at me, mouth wide open.
“He what now?”
“He knows I’m me and you’re you.”
“Now see, that’s why he rain-checked me, isn’t it? You took him to game night and the guys spoiled it,” he says, and I’m a little disappointed he’d think that I was the reason he got a rain check on a date.
“No, I told him right at the start I wasn’t you.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. It just didn’t seem right. But we had a few drinks at the bar, and it turns out he’s a really cool guy.”
“So you’re now what? Friends with him?”
“Yeah. Is that okay?”
His face lights up in a giant smile.
“My ride or die is friends with the guy I want to date. It’s perfect. Now, if Ashley and I become a thing, I won’t have to worry about him getting along with you.”
Is that what Ash and I are? Friends. I guess we have to be. I can do that. I mean, I already am doing that. Sure, a pang of jealousy hit my chest when Tony requested that date, which isn’t fair, because he is his date. I was never really dating Ash. We agreed to be friends. But why is it that all I can think about is how great he looks in those corsets and how his smile widens and crinkles at the corners of his eyes when he looks at me? Maybe he’s thinking of Tony, and finally getting past the fill-in brother to the real thing? Urgh, why does that thought make me want to hurl?
