Page 30 of All Your Lies
Her fingers squeeze mine before she gazes back up at me.
I’ve never been closer to her than right now. My heart is beating a mile a minute. I lean in closer to her, and she does the same. Our foreheads touch, and our lips are inches apart. I move my mouth closer to hers until our lips are touching, just barely. Like a secret whispered between lovers.
Someone flips the switch, bathing us in light.
We jerk apart like we’re doing something wrong.
But why does it feel so right?
Alexa looks over at me with her fingers on her lips, and her eyes heated in a way I’ve never seen.
“What’s going on, guys? Why’re you in the dark?” I glare at Marco, conveying my annoyance.
The wrong twin is going to end up with the treasure.
ten
Alexa
The following morning, I wake up with aches in my muscles as I stretch. I open my eyes and sit up with a jolt.
Last night hammers into my brain with every devious memory on repeat. My eyes go straight to the slider, which now sits closed.
Was it a dream? Because if so, wow.
This has been by far one of the most eventful weekends I’ve had since leaving college, which was an impulse decision, but one I have yet to regret. Although my dad was hesitant about my choice to leave, he understood my reasons, which tipped the scales and made it easier.
I’m sure my mom influenced his decision. They’ve always been inseparable, and my dad has yet to tell her no. I fell under the same category the second I was born. My dad can be scary and a true hard-ass, but he’s always treated my mom and me like queens. Perhaps it’s due to my status as an only child and his being surrounded by girls. Two to one. He never stood a chance.
Still, I made a deal with him. I’d continue to accompany him to meetings to learn the ins and outs of the business and keep up with the books. A job I was given after finding discrepancies in the ledgers my dad’s accountant allegedly missed when I was sixteen. I’ll never forget that day in his office. I was going through the spreadsheets to familiarize myself with the companies we own and where our money goes when I realized the math wasn’t adding up. I checked it four times before I informed my dad, and within three hours, I witnessed the gruesome scene as my dad mercilessly tortured and killed his long-standing accountant, who had embezzled over five hundred thousand dollars from our businesses throughout the years. Though it was a rough day, it was also one of the best I’ve had since the fateful night I was almost killed. It was the first time I felt a glimmer of my worth to the organization, and the look of pride and respect on my dad’s face was everything I had hoped to have. It was like a craving, and I strive to continue to make him proud.
That leads to my next issue. The impending arranged marriage, or rather, lack thereof. My future was always set in stone, and I accepted my fate a long time ago. I knew I would take my dad’s place, and an arranged marriage was mandatory. Now, I have no clue what will happen, or who I will have to marry. Although Dad said it will be a cold day in hell before I marry Marco after he cheated on me.
It’s baffling how time shows you someone’s true colors. I built Marco up so high in my head after the kiss in college. It felt like a pressure lifted off my shoulders. I believed him to be everything I ever wanted and someone I could be happy with.
But as I look back, it’s almost like a stranger looking into someone else’s life. There were signs I’d missed while wearing my rose-colored glasses, such as the less-than-thrilledexpressions he sent my way over the years, or the subtle ways he showed me he wasn’t interested.
When I learned he was my intended, my dad told me he had known for quite some time. I can reflect now and find moments of Marco’s almost hatred toward the idea of it or, rather, of me. Probably both. From me being cold and him refusing to give me his jacket, only for Gage to give me his, to him dismissing me on the night of the dance, I now consider a black night. The night Gage was ripped away and never said goodbye.
Many times, I’ve wondered what it would have been like to end up with Gage. If he would have never gone away, if he would have been mine.
As I matured, the way I felt about him altered, and my childhood adoration gave way to more complex feelings. He was my best friend in so many ways, but often someone I would think about at night. His touches appeared more intimate to me, his hugs longer than usual, and his looks would set me ablaze from the inside out.
I would always hold his burning gaze like a war for who would avert their eyes first, and the gazes always lasted a little too long for just friends. It started small. First, it was recognizing how good he smelled, then it was the contoured lines of his Apollo’s belt that led to his swim trunks. It was then I realized it was transforming into something more.
I never said anything because I was worried it would ruin our closeness.
Then the game room incident happened. I remember noticing every time he looked my way. It was just us in the dark, listening to a new playlist he made for me. The lyrics hit differently than they ever had.
The selection of songs was for a lover, not a friend.
I felt his hand move closer to mine. The time it took was agonizing. He wasn’t even touching me, but I could still feelhim. Once his hand rested on mine and rubbed, I got a strange sensation in my core I can now deduct as arousal.
The moment our foreheads touched, I felt like I was one with him, imagining all these different scenarios of what we could be.
I let the feelings blossom in my chest, knowing he felt something for me, too.
The barely there kiss set my world on fire.
