“No, Nora. That’s not the case. I know I’m a wreck of a woman, okay? You ever think that maybe I like it like that? It’s my organized chaos. I like to live life not knowing what’s coming next all the time. If I stuff everything into nice, pretty boxes I’ll have nothing left to play with.
I like my mess in front of me where I can see it. Not stuffed into closets and locked away in my recesses. You can have that kind of shit. I just want to be me. I’ll get the hang of everything eventually.”
I had to let Lucy be Lucy but I didn’t want her to get so caught up in cleaning up her messes that she forgot I existed. I needed my twin. She was the other half of me and without her, I was lost.
“Lucy, don’t forget I’m here for you though. You can get lost in that head of yours.”
“I know. I promise not to forget.” She held my face in her hands and we shared a soft kiss. “Nora?” She called.
“Yeah, Luce?”
“Your not-husband is an asshole and you shouldn’t marry him.” The words rushed out of her mouth so quickly, it took me a minute to understand them. She didn’t like Eric. I couldn’t tell if it was because he was going to be my husband or if she picked up on something about him that I didn’t. Lucy was like that. She could read people.
She possessed a chunk of the universe in her heart and she read everyone’s soul like a book. It was creepy but she was never wrong. It gave me pause to hear her tell me Eric was an asshole.
“This isn’t just one of your I-don’t-like-him-because-he’s-yours moments, is it?”
“No. He’s an asshole. Remember the pact we made when we were teenagers?” She asked while her fingers loosened the hair tie around my ponytail.
I remembered sitting in our room after I broke up with a boy Lucy tried to tell me he was no good. She made me promise her that in the future if she told me one of my boyfriends was trash that I had to believe her. I refused because I couldn’t give up power like that. What if Lucy just didn’t like a guy?
I told her that if she could prove it…I’d believe her. She could use whatever tactics she wanted and I’d believe her if she could show me my man was no good.
“How are you going to prove he’s an asshole, Lucy?”
“He slipped me a hundred dollar bill at the bar.” I opened my mouth to brush it off but she continued. “He slipped it right between my tits. He could have put it in my hand or left it on the bar but he put it in my bra.” My face grew warm all of a sudden. I pictured Eric’s smile when he slid the money in Lucy’s bra and shuddered. Maybe she was right. I didn’t want her to be right though. It was the guy from high school all over again. I wanted Eric to work.
“I believe you about the money but…Luce, I love him. I want this to be it for me. You have to prove it.”
“Don’t get mad at me when I prove it, Nora.”
“I won’t.” I held my hands up and she grinned. It was crooked and drunk but I saw the glint in her eyes. She already had something in mind.
“Go along with it, okay? I want to eliminate some things off my list before I go in for the kill.”
“Things like what?” My interest was piqued.
“I want to know if maybe he has a twin fantasy or if he wants to prove to you that I’m scandalous, which I am but I’d never hurt you on purpose, Nora.”
“I know,” I laughed. I didn’t ever think Lucy would fuck Eric because it was fun. I knew that’s what she would do to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was trash though. I had to brace myself.
“Once I check those off the list, I’m going in for the kill. Please give me the go-ahead, Nora.” I threw a mini tantrum on the couch and when I did it, Lucy’s tits bounced around, making us both giggle.
“Okay. You better be able to prove it though.” I aimed my finger at her and she placed her hand over her heart. We were back and we were twinning. It felt so good.
**
The next morning, Lucy got up before Eric and me and made breakfast. I could smell it all the way in the bedroom. Bacon propelled me out of bed and down the steps. I hugged her from behind and she turned around to lock her arms around my neck.
“Where’s not-husband?” She asked, looking around me.
“He’s coming.” I rubbed the tip of my nose against hers and she pecked my lips.
“Play along with me?” Her eyes were glittering like they did when she was up to no good.
“What game are we playing, Luce?”
“Give me your clothes.”
“We’re doing the switch? It’s not going to work on him. Plus we have different tattoos.” I had a tattoo on my forearm that read ‘one of two’ and Lucy’s said ‘two of two’. On our shoulders, we had three small triangles. Abel had the same tat. His first triangle was shaded in since he was the oldest, my second triangle was shaded in since I was born two minutes before Lucy, and her third triangle was shaded in.
Eric would pick it out in no time.
“We’ll see, won’t we?” She waggled her perfect brows at me and we switched clothes right there in the kitchen. I’d just wiggled into Lucy’s leggings and pulled my hair out of its ponytail when Eric came in. I stood at the counter, arranging the food while Lucy smiled up at him.
“Morning,” she said happily. I could barely contain my laughter. Eric would call this shit out any second.
“Morning, babe.” He kissed her forehead and walked over to me. “Morning, Lucy.” She shot me a look and I shot her the same one back. How the fuck could my fiancé not tell my twin and me apart?
“Morning, Eric,” I said hoping he’d realize his mistake.
“I see you made breakfast. Look at you,” he chuckled. Was the switch seriously going over his head? He had to be playing along. I knew he wouldn’t push it too far though. Surely he wouldn’t kiss Lucy. I nudged her and she looked at me with wide eyes.
I knew she could read my thoughts.
“How’d you sleep?” Lucy asked him. He put his arms around her waist and shrugged.
“I slept okay. How about you?”
“Great. I slept great. How’d you sleep, Luce?” She looked at me and I glared at my fiancé.
“I slept fine. Eric, do you want some breakfast?” My tone was turning sour and Lucy noticed it immediately.
“Yeah, of course. I need to see what kind of skills Lucy has in the kitchen. I saw her bartending skills the other night. Can you cook too, Lucy?” He stood way too close to me but maybe that was a part of his plan. Maybe he knew it was me and he was fucking with me.
“Sure can,” Lucy piped up then realized her mistake. “Lucy is a great cook…” she tried to clean it up but it didn’t matter because Eric was none the wiser. “Hey babe, can you go upstairs and grab my robe? I’m cold.” Lucy rubbed her arms and flashed, Eric a smile.
“Which robe?” He asked.
“The pink one.” He nodded and went on the faux mission. Once he was gone, we switched clothes again. “He totally didn’t notice a fucking thing,” Lucy whispered.
“He had to have been playing along.”
“No. He didn’t notice. I’m telling you.” She made him a plate and put it on the table. I didn’t want to believe that though. He had to know. He wasn’t that stupid. Yes, Lucy and I looked just alike but there were differences in the way we spoke and the way we did things. A man should be able to pick out his woman even if she has a twin.
Breakfast was very awkward after that. Mostly because I was expecting Eric to mention that he knew we were playing a trick on him but he never did. Maybe Lucy was right and he had no idea.
“I’m gonna go see Abel, I’ll be back.” Lucy hopped up and left the dishes on the table. I chased behind her, grabbing her arm.
“You need to clean up this mess.”
“Why? I cooked.” She kissed my cheek and I growled, pushing her back. She pushed me in return and we started play fighting in the hall. She pinned me to the wall and wrapped her fingers around my neck.
“Stop being a bitch, Lucy.”
“You like when I’m a bitch.” She kissed my lips and I sighed softly. I could feel eyes watching us and I looked up to see Eric. His gaze was intense but it was on Lucy.
“Anything I need to know about you two and your twin bond?” He folded his arms tightly across his chest making his muscles bulge.
“We like to kiss,” Lucy purred. She tilted her head to the side and we shared another kiss. That one was deeper and she slipped me her tongue.
“Kiss?” Eric took another step closer. Maybe he did have a twin fantasy like most men in the world.
“Kiss,” I said, grabbing Lucy’s hair and pulling her into me, kissing her again.
“You two do anything else together?” He cocked a curious brow up at us and we laughed against each other’s mouth. Those giggles got us into so much trouble in college.
“We fool around a little. Is that gonna be a problem, not-husband?”
“Not sure yet…” Eric rubbed his hands together and leaned against the wall beside me.
“You think I’m going to take your girl?” Lucy laughed. She kissed a trail up and down my neck while Eric stared, watching her lips move.
“You can’t take her. I’ll watch you try though.” Eric smiled. “I’ll watch all day long.”
“Well, I don’t sell tickets. Sorry.” Lucy pulled away from me and I bit my bottom lip. “Hey, Eric, why don’t you clean up the dishes in there? Make yourself useful. Come on, Nora. Go with me to see Abel. How long has it been since we all hung out?”
“It has been a while,” I agreed.
“See? Let not-husband clean up.”
“Can you stop calling me that?” Eric grumbled and I stifled a laugh. Lucy was doing what she did best; work her way under people’s skin.
“No. I’ll call you what I want. Thanks.”
“Come on, Luce,” I said, locking my fingers with hers. I sensed a tornado coming.
“You realize you’re staying in my house, right?” Eric scoffed. Arrogance peppered his words and Lucy’s hackles rose. I could feel it vibrate through my hand where we touched.
“Lucy…” I whispered, tugging her arm.
“You realize you’re sticking your dick in my sister and that’s the only reason I know you, right? Get the fuck out of here with your bullshit, Eric.”
“What? Yo, Nora…get your sister before I put her in her place.”
“Put me in my fucking place.” Lucy snatched away from me and folded her arms, defiance danced in her eyes. I pushed the hair out of my face and stood between them, my jaw clenched tight.
“Stop it.”
“Fuck that, Nora. You didn’t let your little boyfriend know that no matter how long it’s been since we’ve spoken that you’re always my sister before you belong to any man?”
“Boyfriend?” Eric laughed.
“You heard me. You’re not her husband, right? Stop acting like it. You’re still replaceable.” She reached around me and shoved his forehead.
“Nora, you go anywhere with her ass today and we’re not speaking,” Eric warned. “You need to stay away from her. She’s toxic.”
“I’m toxic and you’re a bitch.”
“Nah, you have that the other way around, sweetheart.”
“Oh, do I? I have a reason for having a vagina, what’s yours, Eric?” I’d never seen him look so enraged before.
“Eric,” I called to him as he turned and walked out of the room.
“I’m going to get dressed, Nora. You coming?” Lucy’s eyes begged me to go with her. I was torn though.
“I need to go talk to Eric,” I sighed and turned to go after him. I caught him on the steps and pulled his hand.
“She needs to leave,” Eric growled.
“No, I’m not putting Lucy out. That’s out of the question,” I barked.
“Then she needs to remember her place because if she says something like that to me again I’m putting her out myself.”
“You’re not putting Lucy out either. You need to leave her alone. Stay out of her way and none of this shit will happen. Lucy is…she’s like a storm.”
“Is that my problem? She’s your sister. You deal with her. If I have to deal with her from here on out, there are going to be problems.” I narrowed my gaze at him and folded my arms. It felt like I just got my twin back and I didn’t want Eric or anyone else coming between us.
Maybe Lucy was right about him.
She only spewed venom when she was right.
“Then leave her to me and you don’t speak to her again,” I told him before going into the bathroom and slamming the door. I refused to let him or anyone else talk shit about my sister or tell me I couldn’t talk to her. I spent too long not talking to her. I didn’t want to go another minute.
**
CHAPTER ELEVEN
I swore to myself that if Nora chose her asshole not-husband over me, we’d be done. I didn’t know how it worked cutting off a twin but I’d try. It would be like sawing off my own arm though.
I got in the car and blasted music. I looked behind me so I could back out of the driveway and heard a loud bang. I jumped and threw it in park. Nora banged on the window again, a wild smile on her honey brown face.
“Nora!” I squeaked, opening the door for her. My heart raced when we crashed into a hug.
“Nobody comes between us.” She held out her forearm and showed me her twin tattoo and I did the same.
“Let’s go see Abel,” I grinned.
“Wanna tell me why you needed me to go with you to see our brother?” Nora asked.
“I don’t think I should be around him alone,” I told her, my expression turned somber. My stomach knotted thinking about him saying he had to let me go. He was right but I hated it. It hurt. We made memories together and now that’s all I had to hold on to. He was a good brother though. He was the best brother.
I had to be okay with him being only my brother.
“What? Why not?” Nora frowned.
“Just…because.” Nora was quiet and I could tell she didn’t want to push. I was so grateful because I wasn’t ready to talk about it. I barely spoke to Abel about it. When I pulled up, Lauren’s car was in the driveway and I got so annoyed I let out a growl. Nora nudged me and we locked eyes.
Copper on copper.
Four blazing pennies.
“Be nice, Lucy.”
“When am I ever not nice?” I smiled and hopped out. I knocked on the door and put my mouth against the wood. “Police! Open up!” Nora and I giggled until Lauren opened the door. Why the hell was she opening the door in my brother’s house? How was I supposed to play nice if she didn’t know how to stay in her place and be a good little fuck toy? Fuck toys didn’t open the door.
“Abel is in the shower,” she said with her nose tilted upward. It was like she had to allude to the fact that she’d just fucked him. I knew she fucked him because I knew how he smelled. I spent so many nights tangled in his scent that it was burned into me.
“Luce,” Nora whispered. I must have looked pretty intense. I cleared my throat and forced a smile.
“That’s cool. Excuse me, Carmen.” I pushed past her and let Nora do the diplomatic shit. I headed straight for Abel’s room. I shouldn’t have. He wasn’t my property. It felt like he was though.
I barged into the bathroom and yanked the shower door open. “Luce, what the fuck?” He frowned, wiping water from his face. Damn, he was sexy. I forgot my train of thought.
“You fucked her.” The words tumbled out of my mouth and Abel groaned, shutting the water off.
“She’s my girlfriend. That’s what we do.” He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around himself. “We’re supposed to be backing off of each other, Lucy.”
“I know but…”
“Then you shouldn’t be up here.” He touched my hair and I didn’t care if he wet it up or not. I stared at the triangles on his shoulder and ran my fingers over them. He was my brother.
Brother.
Brother.
> Brother.
I had to chant it in my head.
Abel’s fingers skimmed my collarbones then he pulled me close. He smelled like fresh rain. “Stop making this hard for me,” he begged, shutting his eyes.
“You think it’s a cakewalk for me, Abel? I think about you all the fucking time.” I couldn’t help slipping my hand inside his towel and stroking his thick cock.
“Lucy…” he growled but it was weak. “Go back downstairs.”
“Why? If Lauren’s a good girlfriend she drained you dry. Your dick shouldn’t stand up for me.” It was standing steadily though. Abel shoved me toward the door and I pouted. I flattened myself against the door holding the knob so he couldn’t open it.
“What do you want from me?” He asked, worn down.
“I don’t know, Abel. Maybe if you were actually happy instead of pretending to be then I wouldn’t bother you. I’d never want to interfere with your happiness but you’re not happy with that bitch downstairs.” In the next instant, Abel was crushing me under his weight.
“I can’t be happy with you either. If I could then none of this would matter because you’d be mine and I’d marry you and we could have had our fucking twins, Lucy but this isn’t that life. We don’t have that luxury.” We stared at each other. His eyes stern and mine full of tears.
He leaned down and kissed me and I locked my arms around his neck. “She didn’t fuck you like me, did she?”
“No. She can’t.” His hand slid up my shirt and I moaned.
“Did you think about me while your dick slid in and out of her?”
“Yes,” he hissed and bit my neck.
“Was her pussy wet for you like mine?”
“No,” he breathed against my throat and nibbled along my skin until he reached my jaw. “You know I love you Lucy but this is bad for us.” I nodded my head even though it killed me. “You have to find something…someone that’s not me. We have to do this together. We can do it.” His words were pretty but his dick was angry and it needed me. It dug into my abdomen shamelessly.
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