Page 63 of Play With Me
It’s the cider my mom handed me and the comfort food. Mac and cheese, pulled pork sliders, and coleslaw.
I gobble it down as I speak, feeling my stomach and chest grow full at the same time.
“Here he is,” I say, pulling up the picture of the two of us.
He sent it to me as I made my way to my family.A reminder, he wrote.
Like I could forget.
“Oh, he’s so cute,” Hailey says, and Paulie frowns slightly. He’s sitting next to her on the couch, their legs touching. He must be in heaven. Or he was until she made that comment.
“Don’t get any ideas,” I murmur, feeling jealousy move through me.
“I’m not going to take your boyfriend. We have a twin code.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
My mom gasps and pulls the phone from my hand, blowing up the picture and showing Maya, who is just looking smug across from me.
“He sure looks at you like he is,” my mom says.
That makes me blush, and Desiree brings me another cider.
“You look like you need it.”
I do. I need it. I feel overwhelmed by these feelings inside of me. I could brush it off as lust for a while, but I know it’s more than that.
I like him.
My phone suddenly lights up, Colton’s name flashing on the screen, and before I can answer it, Maya squeals and grabs it from me, answering it with a flick of her finger.
I lunge for it, but she’s made her way onto the back of the couch, crouching down like some kind of golem.
She places it on speaker, and I nearly die.
“Hello, Colton Cavanaugh.”
“Who’s this?” Colton asks, his voice low and confused.
“Only the best and favorite sister of Myles.”
That makes him lighten up, and I hear him chuckle.
“How frustrated is he right now?”
“Oh, very. I snatched the phone right out of his tiny little hands.”
“My hands aren’t tiny,” I grumble, trying to swipe it from her, but she’s lithe and quick.
Colton laughs on the other end of the line, and then his voice grows steady. “Can I talk to him?”
“Only if you promise to come over sometime so we can properly meet you…and grill you with our questions.”
“We have so many!” Desiree shrieks, and I glower at her.
“All right. I can do that. If Myles wants me to.”
Everyone turns and stares at me, and the pressure of it has my shoulders dipping.
