Page 41 of Bait and Switch
“Is that right?” he said, cool as the cucumber I held for dear life.
“That’s right,” I quipped. “I’m pretty sure I never mentioned that.”
“Hmm.” His mouth twisted to one side, forehead crinkling as he pretended to think about it. “Well, I guess you must have at some point. Otherwise how would I have known?”
“Gee. I don’t know,” I said, now unable to control my irritation. “Maybe I did tell you some other time.” I stared menacingly but he looked like he was on the verge of laughter. I was ready to strangle him.
“Well it doesn’t really matter, does it?” He held my gaze, still looking amused. I knew that he knew, and he knew that I knew, and we were both daring the other to say it.
Shifting to a fake-nice tone, I said, “No, it doesn’t really matter. Memories can be fuzzy. That’s totally normal.”
“Alright, well, good.” He waited, probably hoping I’d leave. I stared him down instead. “Have fun with that,” he said while motioning his chin toward the vegetable I was strangling.
Reef went about studying the two packs of steaks, pretending like I wasn’t there. I almost left, but I was mad. All rationality left me before I blurted, “You remember don’t you?”
He looked up innocently. “Where your parents’ house is? Um, yeah, we established that.”
Looking at me like I was delusional, gaslighting the fuck out of me, that asshole was going to make me say it. I was calm, but cold. “You remember when I told you.”
A smug smile tugged at his lips. “You remember when you told me.”
“Fuck!” I shouted as loud as one can in a whisper, shaking the cucumber between us.
Reef’s wide eyes, almost identical to Kai’s, grew serious. “Calm down, this is a small town,” he scolded, his tone low but firm.
“I don’t need you to remind me how fucking small Smugglers Cove is, Reef. I discovered that in a big way.” I drew an arc in the air with the cucumber.
“Will you put that thing down and chill the fuck out,” Reef said, hushed but urgent, reaching for my wrist. “Seriously,” he said sternly, pushing my arm down to my side.
He was right. The last thing I wanted was to make a scene in the only place in town you’re likely to see half the people you know in any given moment. “Sorry.”
“Let’s go outside and talk.” He put the steaks back in the case and waved for me to follow.
His cool confidence needled my last nerve. I stared at the cucumber for a second before chucking it into the cooler beside the ribeyes and trotted to catch up. Once we were outside, he walked me over to a bench facing the parking lot and held out his hand waiting for me to sit.
I crossed my arms in front of me and let out a huff. “Summer after my junior year. You said summer, the other night, just before you said Angler’s Reef.”
“Sorry, I was messing with you.”
“Asshole. So you’ve known all along?” I said, genuinely annoyed.
“So have you!” He shot back.
I wasn’t sure how much truth I wanted to share. It was embarrassing, to put it mildly. “Not exactly all along. I only knew when I met you—again—in Kai’s kitchen.”
“So wait, you didn’t remember hooking up with me, and by some strange coincidence you ended up in bed with my twin brother?” He laughed to himself. “I guess you have a type.”
I hadn’t even thought of that scenario. I liked it much better than the truth since it absolved me of both confusing Kai for him and of hiding it from his brother. I was preparing myself to go along with that narrative when I saw it in Reef’s eyes—the other, more likely possibility dawning on him. “Or… oh shit.” His grin got so wide his eyes were just slits. “You thought Kai was me that night you went home with him.” He laughed louder than he should have. I was mortified. Humiliated.
“It was years ago, and we were drunk,” I stammered. “Really drunk.”
His smile faded a touch, an acquiescence to the truth. For some reason I felt the need to explain myself further. Even though it was the last conversation I wanted to have, I couldn’t stop myself from trying to talk my way out of it. “I remembered you,” I said, adding, “vaguely,” to minimize the ego boost. “But it was wasn’t a huge surprise that you didn’t remember me. Of course once I knew that Kai wasn’t you, it made a lot more sense. But by then I’d already been held hostage with your brother.”
“He always has to outdo me,” Reef said, totally deadpan.
I burst out laughing. “It was a pretty epic first date.” I paused, expecting Reef to say something, but he just waited for me to go on. “Kai and I really did hit it off from the start. Honestly, that’s why I gave him a pass for not remembering our drunken one night stand, which of course wasn’t him after all.” I was talking in circles, and felt a sudden impulse to run out into traffic on US1. Maybe my brain thought it was the only way to stop my mouth. It didn’t help that Reef was completely fucking mute. Iwrung my hands together in my lap, swallowing hard. “When it seemed like you didn’t remember, it was easier just to pretend like it didn’t happen.”
“Well, I’m glad you hit it off,” Reef said with a genuine smile. “You guys seem really great for each other.”
