The Spare - Part One (The Kings & Queens of St Augustus Book 1)

by Gemma Weir

  “What about it?”

  “Well your sister drinks pink drinks, fruity cocktails, and you’re drinking beer straight out of the bottle.”

  I shrug, not sure what exactly he wants me to say. I don’t think mentioning that I’m not my sister is driving the point home.

  His head tilts to the side and he assesses me impassively. “I can’t get over how fucking identical you and Carrigan are, it’s freaky.”

  I shrug again, swallowing my retort because ‘Duh, we’re identical twins’ probably isn’t that constructive.

  “Leave her alone,” Olly says. “Why don’t you tell us a bit more about you, Tally. Something more than just the fact you’re Carrigan’s twin.”

  “There’s not much to say.”

  “Who are you friends with at school? How many people knew there were two of you?” He asks.

  “I don’t have any friends, so no one knew other than the teachers,” I say dismissively.

  “You must have some friends, you’ve been at St Augustus for years,” Arlo says from his position behind me.

  I shake my head. “I’ve just kept to myself.”

  “Why do I get the feeling that Cruelligan likes it that way?” Olly asks and I’m shocked to hear a little anger laced into his voice.

  “It’s fine. I don’t want to be friends with people who don’t look hard enough to notice that there are two of us. Right now, I’m just biding my time until graduation.”

  “What happens at graduation?” Watson asks, sipping at his beer.

  “Freedom,” I say with a smile. “And a fresh start in a new country.”

  “Where are you going?” Arlo asks with a little bite in his voice that confuses me.

  “England. I’m going to go to school over there.” A happy smile slips over my lips as I imagine what my life will look like in a year’s time. No more pretending, no more family drama, just me being me.

  “Have you been sailing before?” Olly asks.

  “I went a few times when I was a kid. What kind of boat do you have?” I ask.

  “The Escape is a sixty-foot oyster yacht. She’s a real beauty, you’re gonna love her,” Carson says, his face coming alive with excitement.

  “Oh, no, that’s okay. You guys had this all planned out before Arlo decided to pull this engagement bullshit. I don’t want to gatecrash your day,” I say, shaking my head.

  “What? You don’t want to come? It’s all perfectly safe, we’re all experienced helmsmen and crew. We keep a professional crew onboard too, so you’ll be fine,” Olly assures me, reaching over to pat my leg reassuringly.

  “I’m sure you’re all very qualified, that’s not my concern. Look, Arlo only told my mom I was going with you guys tomorrow so I didn’t have to go home tonight, and to delay the drama that’s going to explode next time I see my family. You guys don’t need to feel bad for me and offer me a pity invite. I’m more than happy to camp out here, or I can go find a coffee shop and lose myself in a book for the day,” I stammer out, willing the blush that’s rising in my cheeks to dissipate.

  “You’re coming,” Arlo growls.

  “No, no, really I don’t have to,” I say.

  “You’re coming,” he growls again, silencing any more arguments I might have had planned. Twisting my head, I look up into his impassive face and wonder why he cares what I do. He’s coerced me into this sham of an engagement, but all of this is only real while people are watching. We hardly need to pretend the rest of the time.

  “Anyone else want another beer?” He asks, moving from behind me and walking to the bar.

  I shake my head as the others all nod, forcing myself not to follow him with my eyes.

  “We want you to come with us tomorrow,” Olly says, scooting up to take Arlo’s place beside me. “It’ll be fun.”

  “I literally have this dress and some jeans with me. I don’t have anything to wear,” I say.

  “I already told you that Fitzy is sending you some things over in the morning,” Arlo says, appearing in front of me as he hands out fresh bottles of beer to the guys. Glaring at Olly until he moves, Arlo sits back down beside me, pulling me into the curve of his shoulder and holding me in place.

  “What? I thought you just said that to shut my mom up.”

  Arlo’s laugh is low and rough as he inhales on a cigarette, blowing the smoke into the cool air away from me. “I spoke to him while you were getting ready and he was fucking ecstatic to put some things together for you. I wouldn’t be surprised if he turned up here in the morning just to dress you. You’ve completely got him in your thrall.”

  “I met him for less than thirty minutes,” I scoff.

  “And you look like a fucking goddess,” he says so quietly I barely hear him.

  A tired yawn falls from my lips and I sigh, exhaustion pulling me under.

  “Come on, little ghost, it’s time for bed,” Arlo whispers, his lips at my ear.

  “Uh huh,” I agree, moving away from his warm heat and shuddering as a waft of cool night air creates goose bumps on my skin.

  The rest of the guys all stand and we shuffle off the terrace, someone shutting and locking the doors behind us. The rest of the house is dimly lit and I slide my shoes off, gripping them in my hand and padding barefoot across the room.

  “Am I sleeping in the room I got ready in?” I ask no one in particular.

  “Yeah, I’ll walk you,” Arlo says.

  “See you in the morning, Tally,” Olly calls, leaning down and pressing a light kiss against my cheek.

  “Night, Olly,” I say softly, lifting my hand and waving to Watson and Carson. “Night, guys.”

  They both smile and wave back and I’m surprised at how nice they’re all being. Maybe they’re all just really invested in Arlo not having to marry my sister. It’s the only reason I can think of that explains their behavior. I suppose it makes sense to be nice to me. Don’t want to piss off the girl you’re using.

  From the little I’ve seen of the four boys at school, they’re not bullies, they’re just the elite, the most popular kids in school. The richest, the most powerful, and usually that status comes with a sense of superiority, but the guys just seem normal.

  Arlo places his hand at the base of my spine, and I let him guide me through the house and up to the bedroom I used earlier. He twists the handle and opens the door for me, and I step into the room and then turn to face him.

  “I know you don’t want to marry my sister, but all this,” I say gesturing between us. “Don’t you think you’re taking it a bit too far? We could just tell them the truth.”

  “No,” he snaps. “We’re not going to tell them anything. This is happening, so just…” he sighs and takes a step closer to me. “This is the perfect solution for both of us.”

  Shaking my head, I point a finger at him. “No, this is the perfect solution for you. Don’t pretend like any of this has anything to do with me. You’re using me to fuck with my sister. You don’t care about me or give a crap about all the wreckage this will leave for me to clean up. So just be fucking honest. You don’t know me, you don’t care, and you did this to save yourself.”

  The door closes in my face and for a moment I just stare at the wood, shellshocked and actually kind of impressed. Tallulah is nothing at all like I thought she’d be. At first glance she’s meek and silent, like a watered-down replica of Carrigan. But when you look past the Carrigan painted façade, the girl beneath is kind of a firecracker.

  She’s playing along because I haven’t given her a fucking choice, because the Archibalds are the worst kind of people and because she knows that if I tell them she orchestrated this whole charade they’ll believe me, even though it would be a ridiculous story.

  Tonight, she made her sister look pale in comparison and I think I got my first glimpse of the real Tally. She drinks beer straight from the bottle, wears bright red lipstick, and looks like a walking wet dream in the dress Fitzy gave her.

  She’s not polished or false, she�
��s real and hot—really fucking hot. My dick has been hard in my pants all fucking night. I don’t remember the last time I wanted to fuck someone as much as I want to fuck Tally, and tonight, I made the most of every opportunity to have her body pressed up against mine.

  I stare at the closed door for another moment, wondering if she’s getting naked on the other side. My dick gives a little jerk of encouragement to open the fucking door and find out, but miraculously, I manage to keep my hands in my pockets. I asked our housekeeper to go and buy something for Tally to sleep in, but I wish I’d just given her one of my shirts or something, so I could fantasize about her naked body covered only by my clothes.

  Slowly, I back away from the door and head to my own room across the hallway, silently telling my dick to calm the fuck down, because as hot as she might be, I can’t fuck her. This is all just a game and fucking her would make this far too real. I can’t have her getting attached to me and then refusing to walk away on graduation. No, this needs to stay controlled and platonic between us. The reason I’m doing all of this is to make sure I never end up tied to that fucked up family, and as good as it might feel to bend her over and fuck her from behind, waving goodbye to the Archibalds completely in six months’ time will feel much better.

  Closing my door, I strip out of my shirt, dropping it into the hamper as I take off the rest of my clothes and slide naked beneath my sheets. My room is awesome, my bed is huge, my TV ridiculous; it’s like a mini bachelor pad and I fucking love it.

  I start to relax the moment my back hits the mattress and I cup my hands behind my head and stare up at my ceiling, a satisfied smile spreading across my face. Today has been fucking epic. From scooping Tally out of the car until now, everything has gone totally to plan. In twelve short hours I’ve untangled myself from Carrigan’s evil clutches, got my dad off my back and managed to convince an entire room full of people that I’m in love with a girl I only found out existed less than a week ago.

  I’m a motherfucking genius.

  A knock at my door wakes me up the next morning and I pull on a clean pair of boxers before I pad over and open it.

  “Sir, Fitzwilliam Van de Burg is here.” Our housekeeper Susan says.

  An amused chuckle falls from my lips and I nod. “Thanks, Susan. He’s here for Tally. I’ll go and wake her up.”

  She nods then walks away and I pull a pair of sweats over my boxers and cross the hallway to the room Tally slept in last night. Lifting up my fist, I knock at the door then wait. When the door doesn’t open after a couple of minutes I knock again, but there’s no reply. Twisting the handle, I gently push the door open an inch. “Tally,” I call into the dark room, before I push the door open a little further and step inside.

  It takes a second for my eyes to adjust to the darkness of the room, but when they do, I spot Tally curled into a ball in the very middle of the huge bed. Her hair is spread out like a halo around her head and she looks beautiful and fucking tiny.

  A slice of guilt hits me and for a moment I feel bad about this game I’m forcing her to play.

  “We’re not actually getting married, so it’s kind of creepy that you’re in here,” she says, her voice croaky and sleep filled.

  “I knocked,” I say dismissively. “Anyway, get up. Fitzy’s here.”

  She groans, rolling onto her back and stretching like a cat in the bed. The covers fall to her hips and the top she’s wearing lifts, showing me a glimpse at the smooth skin of her stomach. “I need to go home. It’s only gonna be worse the longer I stay away, so I need to go and try to somehow explain all this bullshit you’ve created.”

  “Fuck them,” I cry.

  She sits up in bed, her hair falling messily around her shoulders. “Fuck them,” she enunciates slowly. “I live with them. What do you suggest I do; move in with you for the next six months so I don’t have to deal with all the bullshit lies you word vomited last night?”

  I shrug. “You can if you want.”

  Her expression becomes incredulous. “Don’t be ridiculous. I don’t know you.”

  I shrug again. “Offers there if you change your mind.”

  She shakes her head, closing her eyes as she rubs at her temples with her fingers. “I need to have a shower, could you please let Fitzy know I’ll be down in ten minutes?”

  “Sure, you want coffee?”

  “So much coffee,” she replies, climbing off the bed and flashing me a glimpse of her toned sexy legs as she crosses the room to the bathroom.

  I watch her for a second too long, my dick already enthusiastic and waving hello, then I turn and grab my cell from my room before I make my way downstairs.

  “Arlo, darling, all the beautiful clothes that I send you and you still greet me wearing those sweatpants,” Fitzy says, using the word sweatpants as if it were an insult.

  “I just woke up,” I say, crossing the room to give my godfather a hug.

  “That’s no excuse, where’s your dad?”

  “Golf,” I say, dropping into a chair. “Tally’s just taking a shower, she’ll be down in a minute,” I tell him.

  “So, tell me about this girl. You’ve never brought anyone to me before,” Fitzy says, lowering himself into the chair across from me and staring at me pointedly.

  “She’s my fiancée,” I say.

  “She’s what?” Fitzy shrieks.

  “She’s my fiancée. We got engaged yesterday,” I tell him, bracing for his reaction.

  His laugh sounds like it comes from low in his belly, getting louder as it bubbles up until his eyes are closed and his whole body is vibrating with the sound. “What the hell are you playing at now?” He asks.

  “I fell in love and got engaged.”

  “So that sweet girl yesterday is the Archibald girl? The one you hate. The one you have been refusing to even entertain the idea of marrying and bitching about constantly for years?” Fitzy cries between giggles.

  “No, she’s not.”

  Fitzy frowns, cocking his head to the side.

  “Carrigan Archibald, the evil, soon to be heiress, has a twin sister.”

  “You didn’t?” Fitzy hisses.

  “Didn’t what?” I ask with an innocent smirk.

  “Tell me you didn’t seduce one twin just to get away from marrying the other one,” Fitzy asks, his hand dramatically clutching at his suit lapel.

  “No, he blackmailed me into it,” a small sweet voice says from the doorway.

  Both Fitzy and I turn to look at Tally and she squirms a little under our appraisal. She’s wearing the jeans and shirt she had on yesterday, her skin free of makeup and her hair wet from the shower and pulled up into a knot on the top of her head.

  “Just kidding?” Tally says, but it almost sounds like a question.

  “That sounds like the kind of despicable thing my godson would do,” Fitzy coos, jumping up from his seat and bounding across the room to pull Tally into a hug. “Goodness, how is it possible that you’re even more beautiful without a scrap of makeup on?”

  Tally smiles a little unsurely but lets him pull her further into the room.

  “Arlo said you needed something to wear sailing today, but then, well I got a little carried away, so I thought I’d just pop over here and see what else you might need.

  When he steps to the side of the room, I notice a white changing screen set up in the corner of the room and a rail of clothes in white garment bags to the side of it. This room is so fucking white that anything in that color blends in like it’s been camouflaged.

  “I’m so sorry you came all the way over here. There’s been a change of plans and I’m not actually going sailing today. I need to go home, there’s been a bit of a family crisis,” Tally says, lying so effortlessly.

  “Well just try a few things on, then I’ll have the rest delivered to your house,” Fitzy says, hooking his arm through hers and pulling her toward the screen before she has a chance to argue.

  Once she’s stepped behind the screen and out of sight, Fit
zy charges across the room to where I’m sat, his hands on his hips as he glares at me angrily. “You blackmailed that girl into getting engaged to you?”

  Glancing away guiltily, I shrug. “Sort of.”

  “What is wrong with you?” He asks, his eyes bugging out of his head.

  “I needed a solution to a problem. She…” I say, gesturing to where Tally is changing behind the screen. “Is the solution.”

  “Do your parents know?”

  “Dad knows I met Tally, fell in love and gave her the Lexington diamond, and you know I haven’t spoken to Mom in well over a year.”

  Fitzy’s lips purse together. “And what about Tally’s family?”

  “I’m fairly confident they’re going to kill me,” Tally says stepping from behind the screen dressed in tiny, fitted, navy-blue shorts and a yellow halter-neck top that buttons down the front and hugs her curves perfectly.

  My eyes move to her and I swallow thickly. She looks fucking sexy.

  “Tally, you look hot,” Wats says as he walks into the room followed by a sleepy looking Carson and then Olly who grins wickedly at Tally as soon as he spots her.

  Fitzy flashes me one last glare then makes his way over to Tally, giving her a pair of slip on boat shoes and a long cardigan that she slips on over the yellow shirt. “I also have a sailing jacket for you in case it gets chilly.”

  Tally nods, letting Fitzy bustle her back behind the screen as Susan appears with coffee and breakfast.

  “How do you want your coffee?” I call to Tally as Fitzy hands her the next outfit he’s selected for her.

  “Just creamer please,” she calls back and I head across the room to make us both a cup. Olly nods at me, holding his own cup as he moves to sit on the couch, his eyes fixed on the screen as he absentmindedly sips his coffee.

  Susan re-enters the room carrying more food platters, arranging them on a warming plate in the corner of the room before she disappears again, and I saunter over to them to see what she’s made. Mounds of fluffy pancakes, crispy bacon and eggs are spread out and my stomach groans in response.

  I make myself a plate then move back to the couch just as Tally emerges from behind the screen again in a pale pink sundress. “No,” I snap, and both Fitzy and Tally turn to look at me.