Fool Me Once

by Ash, Nikki

  “Wow,” Sierra says, “I didn’t see it before because I wasn’t looking for it, but damn, you look just like my nephew.”

  Keegan/Kolton gives her a confused look, but when he notices me, his lips turn down into a frown. “Am I missing something here?”

  “Who are you?” Sierra asks, ignoring his question. “Keegan or Kolton.”

  His eyes widen, and then his lips curl into a grin. “I’m Kolton.”

  My stomach fills with lead. He lied to me. “Why did you lie to me?” I ask, needing to know why he wouldn’t just give me his real name.

  “About what? When?” His gaze flickers from Sierra to me.

  “When you slept with my sister!” Sierra bellows. “And don’t try to act like you don’t remember her. You tried to get her attention earlier.”

  “I didn’t sleep with her,” he says, his eyes locking with Sierra’s. “I don’t even know her.”

  “Is this a game to you?” I ask, my voice filled with confusion and sadness. Did he know Sierra and I are sisters? I don’t get it.

  “You think you slept with me?” he asks.

  “I think I slept with Keegan,” I volley.

  “And you think… I’m Keegan?”

  “Do you have a split personality disorder?” I ask in frustration. He only laughs, which pisses me off.

  “I think I know what the problem is,” he says, “but it would probably be best if I show you.” He pulls out his phone and dials a number. Sierra and I stand in the doorway, neither of us inviting this guy in, while he asks whoever he called to come over and then gives him, or her, our address.

  Not wanting Zane to hear anything, I tell Sierra we should close the door so we don’t let the air out. She understands what I’m implying and steps outside, closing the door behind us. I have no clue what to expect, but it’s obvious this guy in front of me has some issues. He hasn’t brought up my son, and I’m not about to expose him to some crazy person.

  We all stand in awkward silence while we wait for whoever he called to arrive. And then a few minutes later, I hear it before I see it. The sound of wheels rolling along the concrete. We’re on the second floor, so I have to look down, and I see him… dressed the same as earlier. He pops the front of his board up and takes it in his hand as he runs up the stairs, and my breath catches in my throat as I put the pieces together.

  Holy. Shit. My gaze goes from Kolton to Keegan and back again. That’s right. There’s two of them. Both with brown hair and green eyes. Both with the perfect set of dimples. But that’s where the similarities stop.

  “Jailbird,” Keegan says, a huge smile on his face. “I knew that was you earlier.”

  “Keegan?” I question in shock.

  “I see you’ve met my brother, Kolton.” His brother…

  “You didn’t tell me you had a twin brother,” I say dumbly.

  “There’s a lot we didn’t tell each other,” he says back.

  “You never called,” I point out. “I… I waited… but you never called or texted.”

  Tears prick my eyes, my emotions in overload. Keegan is here in front of me. He has a twin brother. He remembers me, which means he chose not to call me.

  Keegan steps toward me and says, “I wanted to. I swear I did.” He shakes his head. “You wouldn’t even believe me if I told you what happened, though.”

  It doesn’t really matter now what happened. It’s years later. Our son is here, and too much time has passed to think we would ever be together, like the happy little family I used to envision. But a piece of me still wants to know what happened. Why Keegan never called.

  “Tell me, please.”

  Keegan

  Four Years Ago

  “All right, man, we’re all checked out,” Mitch says, clasping a hand on my shoulder. I’m standing outside by the pool, watching Blakely walk down the wooden path and across the beach back over to her hotel. “Keegan,” Mitch says, and I nod so he knows I heard him. But my eyes can’t seem to leave the woman walking away from me, her perfect body disappearing the farther away she gets, until she’s no longer visible.

  “I should’ve asked her for her number… demanded it.” It doesn’t matter where she’s going to be in a couple months. I need more time with her even if it’s long distance.

  “You had a good time, and she was a great distraction, but you have a lot of decisions to make when you get home,” he reminds me. “Do you really think right now is the best time to start something you can’t give your full attention to?” Damn it, I know he’s right, but it doesn’t stop me from wanting to try. Maybe nothing will come of it, but what if something does?

  “You’re right,” I say, reluctantly turning around and heading back through the lobby. Holly is waiting for us next to the vehicle with our luggage. Mitch clicks the fob and the trunk door rises. We throw our bags inside, then get in. Mitch is driving, and Holly is riding shotgun.

  I’m listening to them talk about what they’re planning to do when we get home. We’ve all been living in the dorms, but Mitch and Holly will be getting their own place next month. It makes me wonder where Blakely lives—where she’ll be living. Does she know anyone where she’s planning to go to school? She seemed so alone this week. Not a single person texted or called her from what I could see—aside from that one time that guy asked her to join them for lunch and she looked like she’d rather eat nails than go.

  Mitch says something to Holly, and she laughs, leaning over and kissing his cheek, and it hits me that I’ll never be able to feel Blakely’s lips on me again. I’ll never be able to run my hands along her soft skin.

  Closing my eyes, I recall her every feature, what she wore… didn’t wear. How she felt in my arms. What her laughter sounded like. Holly laughs again, and I want to tell her to shut the hell up. She’s fucking up my memory. In a week, in a month, she’ll be nothing more than a distant memory. Every day it will become harder to remember the details. My eyes open, and I breathe out a panicky breath. This can’t be the end.

  “Turn around,” I tell Mitch.

  His eyes meet mine in the rearview mirror, and he sighs, not even bothering to ask why. He knows.

  Holly looks back at me sympathetically. “Are you sure, Keegan? You said you didn’t want anything serious.” She’s right. I did say that. But that was before I met Blakely. There has to be a reason she’s come into my life when she did, and I’m not ready to let her go yet.

  “I’m sure.”

  Mitch turns the vehicle around, and we drive back to our hotel. I should’ve told him to go to hers, but that’s okay, I can walk over. “I’ll only be a few minutes,” I tell them, jumping out and running across the parking lot to Blakely’s hotel. I have no clue which room she’s in, but if I have to, I’ll knock on every door. It’s an older, smaller hotel with only maybe two dozen rooms.

  When I step up to the door, though, I realize I won’t have to knock on any doors. Because she’s walking out of the hotel with her luggage rolling behind her. She wasn’t supposed to leave until tomorrow…

  When I learn she’s leaving early, I know it’s fate that I returned when I did. Another two minutes and she wouldn’t have been here. It takes some begging and convincing, but Blakely finally gives in and types her number into my phone.

  I watch her until she’s in that guy’s SUV and they’re driving away. Then I start my walk back to where Mitch and Holly are waiting for me. I pull up the notepad where she typed her number, and copy and paste it into a text, so she can have mine. I’m not watching where I’m going, so when something hard hits my arm, I’m thrown off. I lose my hold on my phone, and it crashes against the side of the fountain. I dive for it, but I’m too late, and the phone lands in the water with a loud plop.

  “I’m so sorry,” a woman apologizes. “I told my boys not to throw the football! Is your phone okay?”

  Without acknowledging her, I pluck my phone from the water and hit the home button. Nothing happens. I’ve had this phone for who the hell knows ho
w long. It’s been dropped dozens of times, has been thrown across the car, across the room in anger just as many times, but it’s never fallen into water. I hold down the top button, hoping something will happen, but it stays black. It’s not waterproof. Fuck!

  “Sir,” the woman says, “is it okay?”

  I glance her way, but don’t bother to answer. What is she going to do for me? Will it to turn on?

  “We need to find an Apple store,” I tell Mitch when I open the back door.

  “Huh?”

  “My phone! It fell in the damn fountain!”

  “And you need to get a new one right now?”

  “It has her number in it.” I sigh.

  This time it’s Holly who speaks. “You have an iPhone. Everything backs up into the cloud.”

  “Let’s just find an Apple store,” I insist.

  Holly locates one between Cocoa Beach and Carterville, and we head straight there. After an hour of waiting to be helped, three hours of waiting for them to run diagnostics on my phone, and another hour of them setting up my new phone, I learn that my last backup was done a week prior. Everything saved after that backup is lost—including Blakely’s number. If my account would’ve been linked to another device, it would’ve synced, but because I have no other Apple products, I’m fucked.

  Isn’t fate a bitch?

  Present

  “Is everything okay out here?” Another guy’s voice, which isn’t my twin’s, brings me back to the present. I recognize him from earlier today when I saw Blakely and attempted to approach her. She took off, and he stayed behind to threaten me to stay away from her. I vaguely remember him from when I met Blakely on the beach. She said they were only friends back then, but based on the predatory look he was giving me earlier, and the glare he’s shooting my way now, I’m going to assume that friendship is now more.

  “Umm… yeah,” Blakely says nervously. “It turns out Keegan and Kolton are twins.”

  Her boyfriend glances from Kolton to me. Not wanting him to think I mean any harm, and not wanting any trouble on campus, I extend my hand. “I’m Keegan. I’m sorry about approaching Blakely earlier. I didn’t know she had a boyfriend. I didn’t mean any disrespect.”

  As he places his hand in mine, making it a point to squeeze hard, because apparently he needs to show me he’s a tough guy, Blakely says, “Oh, no, Brenton and I aren’t dating. We’re just friends.” Blakely laughs awkwardly.

  Brenton’s grip on my hand tightens before he drops it, and I notice his jaw clenches. Interesting… Doesn’t look like Brenton is too thrilled about Blakely referring to them as just friends, which means they’ve either dated and broken up, and he wants her back, or she’s stuck his ass in the friend zone.

  Then I remember seeing a little kid with them. “Was… is that kid yours?” I look between Brenton and Blakely. Yeah, I’m being nosy as fuck, but I need to know what I’m working with here. Four years ago, I thought fate was on my side when I returned in time to get Blakely’s number, only to have that fickle bitch laugh in my face when my phone was destroyed and I lost it. Now, here we are, at the same place, at the same time, and I’m not about to let her get away again.

  Blakely’s eyes go wide, trapping her bottom lip between her teeth. Her eyes leave mine, and she glances down at her feet, shuffling them like she’s nervous. When she glances back up, I expect her to answer, but she doesn’t. Instead, she turns to Brenton and says, “Is Zane okay in his room?”

  “Yeah,” Brenton replies. “He’s playing with his Legos. I came out here to make sure everything is okay. You were out here for a while.”

  “Can you go check on him?” she asks softly. “I think I should talk to Keegan alone.”

  Brenton opens his mouth to argue, but Blakely speaks first. “Please.”

  “What about them?” he asks, pointing to my brother and the woman who is clearly Blakely’s sister—they’re identical in almost every way, from their brown hair and eyes, to their heart-shaped lips, to their body type. The only major differences between them are that Blakely’s face is a tad rounder and her lips are a bit fuller than her sister’s.

  “Sierra,” Blakely says, turning to her sister.

  “We’re actually late for our date,” Kolton says. “I can probably get us in for a later time, though.” He grins at Sierra.

  “That’s not happening.” Sierra scoffs, and Kolton’s brows furrow in confusion. “We’re practically family.” She cackles, and Blakely smacks her arm.

  “Really?” Blakely glares.

  “Sorry.” Her sister shrugs.

  And now I’m confused. How the hell are they practically family? That would mean Blakely and I are family… and there’s no way we’re family.

  “Can someone explain what the hell’s going on?” I ask, starting to freak out. Are we distant cousins or some shit? My parents are happily married, so there’s no way she’s my fucking sister, right? Fuck! Did I fuck my sister?

  “I’ll watch Zane,” Sierra says to Blakely, “and you can go talk to Keegan.”

  “Do you really think it’s wise for her to be alone with him?” Brenton asks as if I’m not standing right fucking here.

  “They’ve been alone before,” Sierra points out.

  “Blakely,” Brenton says, ignoring Sierra.

  “She’s right, Brent. We spent plenty of time together—alone. His brother is my TA. I’m pretty sure neither of them are serial killers.”

  “That was a long time ago,” Brenton hisses, ignoring Blakely’s joke.

  I’m about to tell this fool it’s time he closes his mouth about me, when Blakely’s eyes meet mine, and with her lips curled up in a beautiful smile, says, “You haven’t murdered anyone in the last four years, have you? Gone to jail for anything?”

  I can’t help the laugh that escapes as I remember our conversation from years ago. “Nah, Jailbird,” I say, and her lips curve into an even bigger smile. “No murders, no arrests. How about you? Have you kept yourself out of jail? Paying for everything at the store? Attending all your classes…”

  Sierra laughs. “You told him about the time we shoplifted, and when you got caught skipping?”

  Blakely rolls her eyes. “I was making sure he wasn’t going to rape and murder me, and it backfired.”

  “You’ve been arrested?” Kolton asks, and Sierra and Blakely both laugh.

  “We were bad teenagers,” Sierra says with a shoulder shrug and a smirk. “Now we’re responsible law-abiding adults.”

  “That’s good to know,” I tell them both. “So, you wanted to talk?” I say to Blakely to get back on track.

  “Yeah.” She nods, and her smile disappears. “Brenton, you can go,” she tells him. “I’ll call you later.”

  I stifle my grin at his scowl. The entire time we’ve been talking, anger has been practically radiating off him. I wonder if Blakely knows how badly her friend wants her.

  “You sure?” he asks, his voice taking on a bit of a whine to it.

  Kolton’s gaze meets mine, and I catch the laughter in his eyes. He’s thinking the same thing I am. Guy has it bad. It’s a shame I’m about to step in and make shit even harder for him.

  “Yes,” Blakely says, patting his shoulder.

  With one final glare my way, Brenton stalks off.

  “Keegan, want to go for a walk?” Blakely asks me once he’s gone, and I nod in agreement.

  “Sounds good.”

  “I better get inside with my nephew,” Sierra tells my brother, who looks like he wants to argue but agrees.

  “All right, but this isn’t over,” he tells her. “I’ll catch you later, bro.” He lifts his chin to me, then takes off in the same direction Brenton went.

  Just as Blakely and I are about to take off, a tiny voice yells out, “Mommy!” and the little boy from earlier appears. He has messy brown hair, and he’s in a cute pair of pajamas that have Lego men all over them. “Can I have some ice cream, please?” The L in please comes out sounding like a W, and I fin
d myself grinning.

  “Hey, sweetie,” Blakely says, kneeling down. “I’m going to go for a walk with a friend of mine, and Auntie Sierra is going to watch you. You can have one scoop.”

  The little boy grins, then looks up at me, and I just about lose my footing. He’s sporting two huge dimples in his cheeks, identical to my dad, my brother, and me. I try to do the math in my head, but I don’t know how old he is. There’s no way.

  “Blakely,” I say, my voice raspy from shock. “Is he…” I can’t even finish my sentence. This doesn’t make any sense. It’s just a coincidence. But then I remember she never did tell me who the dad was. If it were Brenton, he would’ve said something. That would’ve been the perfect way to stake his claim.

  Blakely stands, her face showing no emotion. “Let’s go for that walk.” Then she turns back to her son. “I’ll be home in a little while. I love you.”

  “Love you too!” he yells, already running back inside, probably going straight to the kitchen to get his ice cream.

  The front door closes, and we head down the hallway and stairs in silence. I let Blakely guide us across the parking lot and down the sidewalk, in the opposite direction of campus toward the park that’s adjacent to the complex she lives in. My intention is to let her lead the conversation, but my anxiousness gets the best of me, my mind going crazy with different scenarios, and before we make it to the park, I grip her shoulder and spin her around.

  “Is he mine?” I blurt out.

  Blakely’s gaze meets mine. Tears glisten in her eyes, and she chews on that damn bottom lip. Her eyelids flutter shut, and several drops of liquid fall. And with her eyes still closed, she nods once. “Yes,” she whispers, “he’s yours.”

  Blakely

  Without waiting for Keegan to say anything, I pick up my pace, speed walking to the park I’ve been taking Zane to since he was born. It first started out as walks in his stroller, but as he got older, it turned into picnics in the grass, and now he plays on all of the equipment.