It should have been easy to leave Eris’ apartment, considering I didn’t intend to stay the first night. I should have left, but I didn’t. She mixed pancakes as I watched her from across her small kitchen, secretly hoping there weren’t any damned blueberries within a ten-mile radius…there was.

She opened her fridge and pulled a box of those awful blueberries out and laughter touched her eyes seconds before the sound ever found her lips. In this moment, I didn’t care how much I hated their taste, even if they did gag me. I’d never seen happiness this pure on her. My eyebrows rose as I shook my head, laughing along with her.

“Don’t worry. I have strawberries for you. That is, if you like them.” She chuckled and tossed a few blueberries in my general direction, falling short a couple of feet away from me.

“I do.” I approved with a small nod of my head.

Her broken screen door rattled as someone’s knuckles knocked against it. Eris’ eyes shot to me like I would know who would be at her door. Of course, I wouldn’t. Confused, I shrugged my shoulders and took over making the pancakes, scooting the blueberries to the far end of the counter.

“I brought your umbrella back.” I heard her voice before I saw her tiny body and big mouth round the corner of the living room and into the kitchen.

“Lexie?” I questioned. The irritation was clear by my tone. If it wasn’t, I was sure it was apparent by the unnecessary force I was using to mix the pancakes in an attempt to stay calm. I couldn’t believe she’d hunted me down to Eris’ apartment. My sister’s intrusion knew no bounds.

“Lexie?” Eris’ perfect lips echoed what I’d said, puzzled as much as I was as to why my sister was here.

“This is Courtney,” she corrected me and I closed my eyes, forgetting around age twenty-five Lexie decided she actually liked her legal first name and had adopted using it. Never mind the fact she’d loathed it our entire lives.

“Courtney Alexandria Wolf. Drex’s older sister,” my sister announced in a singsong manner, swirling around me and stealing the pancake batter as she dropped blueberries into the mix. She didn’t mention she was only thirty minutes older. We were one of those freak births where twins end up with different birthdays, which rarely happens. Her birth time was 11:57 PM on May 22. Mine was 12:27 AM on May 23.

“I hate—”

“Blueberries, I know,” she interrupted, throwing a handful of strawberries into the batter and placing the bowl in front of me.

“You can avoid them. You’re great at avoiding things,” she said and glared at me. I didn’t argue. We both knew I had been avoiding her, but it was nothing new.

Eris leaned against the wall and silently watched us. I wanted to get rid of my sister, but it was clear she wasn’t going anywhere. If my sister was one thing, it was persistent. She hadn’t left me alone since we were born. At times, I’d wished she’d given up on me along with everyone else, but here she was, yet again, barging into my life.

“So, he’s the dick?” Eris’ curiosity got the better of her and she pointed to me.

“Who me?” I only half-pretended to be offended, because we all knew I was exactly that the majority of the time. I poured the first pancake into the skillet and watched the bubbles pop, waiting to flip it, and brown the other side. I wanted to ask how they knew each other and how long they had, but the more I watched my sister, the more annoyed I got, so I quit. It wasn’t her fault. I just wasn’t ready to share Eris with the rest of my life.

“Drex.”

“Huh?” I answered Eris, realizing I’d almost burned the side of the pancake and flipped it over, hoping it wasn’t completely ruined.

“Your, uh, Courtney. Lexie? Your sister is leaving,” she informed me, concern filling her eyes. Lexie’s eyes zeroed in on me, and I knew she had a million things she wanted to say. Sweat formed on my forehand with the anticipation of which she would choose. There were so many things I hadn’t told Eris, but talking about each other wasn’t our strong suit. Somehow, our lives hadn’t made it to the topic of conversation in between us continually taking each other’s clothes off the past few days.

“Drex.” My sister elongated my name and my heart felt each second that she paused before she spoke again. “You need to go check on Myra, and you know you’re the only one she’ll let near her.” She nodded her head and didn’t wait for me to answer as she walked out of the kitchen and Eris followed. I noticed the concern on Eris’ face before she turned the corner. I didn’t know where to begin telling Eris about my life, and honestly, there were parts of it I wasn’t sure I’d ever tell her…or anyone for that matter. Right now, I wasn’t sure of anything.

I knew Myra needed attention, especially now. That was something I hadn’t doubted. I had just thought Henry could have handled her for a little longer; she wasn’t due for two more months. It was obvious she preferred me to him, but she tolerated him. With Myra, it was all about approach. Henry wasn’t known for being subtle, which was what Myra needed.

Eris and I ate pancakes in silence. Every little bit I noticed her eyes traveling my face, but when our eyes met, they’d dart to something else. She wanted to know who Myra was. It was odd that although we’d never shared a lot about ourselves, I could read Eris. I didn’t know how, but I could. Perhaps she and I were more alike than I had once thought. The way her eyes screamed agony, but her mouth remained silent was something I understood. More than likely she didn’t feel as though she deserved to ask for an explanation, or she was afraid of the answer she would get.

“Have you ever ridden a horse?” I asked, wanting to clear the air, setting both our plates into the sink.

Her eyes flickered to mine and then widened. “A horse? Umm…No?” She scooted past me and squeezed soap onto a sponge, cleaning the syrup off the plate in a circular motion. Taking the plate and running it under hot water and then placing it onto the drying rack, I asked if she had anything resembling riding boots.

She finished with the last dish and led me down the hallway to her room. She slid her closet door open and waved her hand over the few pairs of shoes that scattered the bottom of the closet.

“These are the only shoes I own,” she admitted and then shrugged her shoulders. “I’m not a shoe girl,” she explained, lifting a pair of yellow rain boots and forcing an apologetic smile. She apologized for not owning many shoes and it made me almost fall for her a little. Almost. To be honest, I was relieved she didn’t have a closet set aside for all of her shoes. The more shoes a woman owned was usually a direct link to how high-maintenance she was or at least that stood true for the women I knew. Lexie’s closet was overflowing with shoes the last time I saw it.

“I’m sure we can find you something to wear once we’re there. You may want to braid your hair, though,” I said, offering my hand to help her up from the floor. She took it, and I felt my heartbeat quicken. I don’t think I could ever get used to seeing beauty this close. Standing close to Eris was a lot like standing too close to the sun. From afar, anyone could appreciate the beauty, but the closer you got, the hotter you became. That was how it was for me with Eris. Despite the flames that kindled between us when we fought, I craved her. In a way, I think the fighting just fueled my fire for her.

“I don’t know how to braid,” she pointed out in a quiet tone through a shy smile. “If you can’t tell, I’m not exactly the epitome of femininity.” She gestured toward the combat boots sticking out of her closet.

“I didn’t notice,” I joked, running my fingers through her hair and kissing her forehead.

I’d learned to braid hair long ago. Lexie didn’t have a twin sister. Instead, she got me. She had me braiding her hair, and I had her building treehouses. It was how we worked. We had friends, but we were always a bit different from everyone else. It’s said twins share a bond like no other, and we weren’t any exception to that rule. We didn’t always see eye to eye, but growing up we could always depend on each other. Now, not so much. I knew I was a pretty shitty brother to Lexie, but I didn’t want to plague her life, and that was what I’d be doing if I were a constant in it. I chose to distance myself from everyone, because it was better for everyone else.

Nervousness crawled into my veins as I turned Eris around and set her onto her bed. I climbed onto the bed behind her and ran my fingertips up her arms and goosebumps shadowed their path. Once my hands found her hair, I raked my fingers through a few times and tried to suppress the heartbeat in my throat. I shouldn’t have been this turned on by touching her hair, but I was.

I took my time braiding the top, but the closer to the end I got, the faster my fingers moved. Her hands inching up my thighs may have had something to do with the change in pace. I snagged a hair tie off her nightstand and hastily wrapped it around the end of her hair, needing to free my hands.

She raised herself from the mattress and lowered down onto my lap. A throaty groan left my lips and I took the end of her braid into my palm, pulling it to the side to access her neck. A loud moan left her lips when I did this, so I didn’t let go. She swayed her hips on top of mine, and I knew it would be some time before we left. This was how I ended up staying. We couldn’t get enough of each other. We’d been untainted by the world, with the exception of Lexie’s interruption, and I was afraid once we left her house, the moment would pass. I was afraid she’d remember I wasn’t worthy of her.

My tongue trailed her neckline, wanting to rid myself of those thoughts. Her pulse pounded beneath my tongue, and I slightly tipped her mouth to mine by guiding her braid further sideways. Her heavy breaths matched my own as she lifted herself, allowing me to remove her shorts, and then I did the same with the pair of basketball shorts she’d let me borrow. The thing about us was I knew neither of us could save the other from whatever demons each of us carried, but one thing we could do right was this. Sex. It was phenomenal. Unquestionably the best sex I’d ever had was with Eris. Each time was better than the last.