13

Double Trouble

Drew lifted his hand to knock on the door and then hesitated. He shrugged his shoulder, flinching as a trickle of water worked its way down the back of his neck.

Why in the hell was he so damn nervous? This wasn’t a date; he was just a friend, dropping in to say happy birth—

The door opened, and the man on his way out reared back at sight of Drew.

“Is Kelly here?”

“It’s her party,” the man said, frowning at Drew. “Would be rude of her if she wasn’t.”

“I’m Drew.”

“Good to meet you, Drew.” The man gave him a quick up-and-down, his frown deepening. “Hey, weren’t you just at the pool?”

“That’s my brother. We’re twins.”

The man laughed, grabbing Drew’s shoulder as he twisted to get past him. “That explains it.”

Drew squared his shoulders and stepped inside.

Compared with the rain and gusting wind from outside, Kelly’s house was so warm, he was surprised he wasn’t steaming. He hung up his overcoat and gripped Kelly’s gift under his arm as he ran his fingers through his hair. The entry hall was crowded with a stack of dripping umbrellas, coats, and jackets hanging from everywhere. There was a hint of charcoal in the air — that and Bryce’s cologne.

His mouth thinned. What if he just turned around and went home?

Then Bryce would win. Again.

He walked through Kelly’s house, following the rising sound of chatter, music, and laughter. Her kitchen was just as messy and crowded as her entry hall — bottles of wine with bows on them had been gathered to one side of the counter along with several large bowls of salad covered with plastic wrap. He considered whether to leave her gift beside the small pile of brightly-decorated boxes and bags, but he hadn’t had time to get her a card; how would she know it came from him?

Kelly’s crystalline laugh made him turn to the French doors leading from the kitchen to the porch in her backyard. Tiny, colorful lights had been strung around every post and piece of fencing where a horde of people bustled; all trying to stay under cover of the porch roof without bumping into anyone else.

Outside, the air reeked of a newly lit barbecue and at least two dozen different perfumes and colognes, cigarettes, and damp hair.

Spotting Kelly’s blond head, Drew sidled between two talking couples and brought a hesitant hand to Kelly’s shoulder.

The woman started and turned to him. Then her eyes went wide. She frowned, blinked hard at him, and then turned back to Bryce. “Holy crap, no wonder you had no idea what I was on about!” Kelly gave Bryce a friendly slap on his chest. “How long were you planning to keep it up?”

Bryce grinned at her, but that smile faded a little when he glanced up and saw Drew. “Long as I could, honey.” Then he stuck his hand past Kelly for Drew. “What kept you?”

Drew ignored Bryce’s outstretched hand and tightened his fingers on Kelly’s shoulder. When she turned to him, her eyes were shining with laughter. “Happy birthday, Kelly.”

He leaned in, his heartbeat thumping hard and fast against his breastbone. Pressing his gift into Kelly’s hands, he brushed his lips against her cheeks and hurriedly straightened again.

Kelly blushed deep and red, throwing Bryce a circumspect glance over her shoulder. “You shouldn’t have, Drew.” She shook the box, her mouth turning up into a smile. “That sounds suspiciously familiar.”

Drew rummaged in his pocket for cigarettes, eyes sliding past Kelly as she frowned at her gift before fixing on Bryce.

His brother watched him silently, a faint suggestion of a smile still touching his lips. “Traffic?”

As if they hadn’t been coming from the same place.

“I stick to the speed limit.”

Bryce shrugged and then held out a flickering lighter for Drew’s cigarette. He leaned forward, lighting his smoke, and then glanced across at Kelly.

She levered open the lid of the box, glanced inside, and then burst out laughing. “You two are too much,” she said with a giggle. “What else do you have up your sleeves, hmmm?”

He took a deep drag on his cigarette. His exhale did an excellent job of hiding his frown. A frown that deepened considerably when Kelly twisted around and retrieved something from a small table nestled between her and the rail encircling of the porch.

She shook the two boxes of truffles at Drew, lifting her eyebrows. “Double trouble.” The boxes waved between him and his brother. “And double the calories, thanks for nothing.”

Then she was laughing and pressing up against Drew. Short as she was, she had to go onto tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “Thanks, Drew. You shouldn’t have.”

“It’s nothing,” he murmured, realizing it was. When he glanced over at Bryce, his brother was pulling at a smoke with way too much self-satisfaction.

The words that fell out of his mouth next surprised him more than they did his brother. “Your real gift’s still on the way.” He shrugged at Kelly. “Was supposed to be here today—” he affected a frustrated sigh. “But I guess the order’s taking longer than I anticipated.”

Her eyebrows drew together. “What order?”

“Your real gift.” Drew shrugged, tried to ignore the heat in his cheeks, and looked around. “Mind if I have a beer?”

“What? No, of course not. I’m sorry, I was so caught up talking with—” Kelly lifted a hand, and then paused. “I don’t know your name, do I?”

“Bryce.” His brother gave her a broad smile.

“Bryce.” Kelly dipped her head and turned back to Drew. “What would you like? Wine, beer, whiskey?”

“Do you have gin and tonic?”

He could see Bryce’s eyebrows twitch in his peripheral vision.

Kelly nodded. “Single or double?”

“Make it a double.”

She nodded, squeezed the top of his arm, and then shook both boxes at the two of them before disappearing inside again.

Drew’s neck felt stiff when he twisted to Bryce. “What are you doing?” he asked in a low voice.

“She’s cute.” Bryce wrapped an arm under his chest and resting his elbow on the back of his wrist as he smoked. “No wonder you can’t seem to decide between her and Angel.”

“You should leave.”

“You invited me, remember?”

Drew stepped up to his brother, throwing a hurried glance over his shoulder in the direction Kelly had disappeared. A few feet away, someone burst into a gale of laughter.

“I changed my mind.”

Bryce watched him over the glowing tip of his cigarette. Then he smiled and shook his head. “Nah. Think I’ll stay, bro.”

Drew grabbed hold of Bryce’s upper arm. “Guess again—”

“Here you go,” came Kelly’s voice. “I forgot to ask about ice, so I just added some. Is that fine? I can do it over if you want…”

He pressed his lips together and took a step back from Bryce, using the thumb of the hand holding his cigarette to rub at the bridge of his nose.

“Everything okay?” Kelly asked as she passed an icy tumbler to Drew.

“I should leave,” Bryce said smoothly.

“What?” Kelly gave a small, uneasy laugh. “But you just got here.”

His brother turned that mirthless smile onto Kelly. “I feel like I’m gatecrashing.”

“No, not at all.” Kelly took a long swallow of her wine and lifted a finger from the glass to point at Drew. “I said Drew could bring a plus one.”

Kelly tapped her palm on Bryce’s chest. She’d either had a lot to drink, or she’d had a few puffs of the weed Drew could smell tainting the air; she was a lot chattier and relaxed than she normally was. “Please, I insist.”

She glanced at them and giggled. “I bet you, in an hour or two, I’m going to be seeing four of you!”

And with that, and a last bark of laughter, Kelly gave them a big wave and disappeared into the crowd. Drew slugged back the rest of his drink and shoved his way back inside the house.

Drew fished his cellphone from his pocket when it began vibrating and checked the call screen. It was Angel, of course. Who else would it have been? He ended the call without answering it.

For a moment, he’d really hoped it was his daughter. It still hurt, thinking about the sound of her voice. The silence after she’d hung up the phone on him.

He dialed Penny’s number, and held his cellphone to his ear. It went to voicemail. It would have been pointless to leave a message – it was obvious she didn’t want to see him.

Drew went back to staring at Kelly’s pool. Rain danced on its surface, shattering the lights from the porch into a fragmented rainbow.

The gin made him feel warm. Heavy. And pissed off.

A dark smudge cut across his prismatic panorama. He blinked up at Kelly, shifting aside so she could join him on the edge of the love seat. The small gazebo in the back of her yard was the only other place where he could smoke that provided shelter. But the angle the rain fell at meant that he had to crowd back in the love seat to avoid getting wet.

“I was looking for you,” Kelly said, giving his thigh a light slap. “Almost thought I found you a few times, but it was always your brother.” She laughed softly and pointed to the bustling porch. “Party’s over there.”

The smell of roasting meat still filled the air; it had been almost an hour since Kelly had called out that dinner was ready. Almost longer since he’d been sitting here, nursing his triple-shot of gin with its dash of tonic.

“In case you haven’t noticed,” Drew said with a half-assed smile. “I’m kind of an introvert.”

Kelly shrugged and then produced a small joint. “Mind if I be introverted with you for a bit?”

He smiled and shook his head. “Not at all. Need a light for that?”

“You smoke, right?”

“Not that,” he said, rummaging in his pocket for his zippo.

But Kelly wiggled the joint until he took it from her. “Wouldn’t mind lighting it for me though, would you? I never get it right; don’t have the lungs for it.”

He sighed and put it in his mouth, bringing cupped hands and a glowing Zippo to his lips. Tugging at the joint until it glowed as merrily as any cigarette, Drew handed it back to Kelly.

“You’re an angel,” she murmured. The cherry became bright red as she pulled at it. “Sure you don’t want?”

Drew opened his mouth, shrugged, and then took it from her.

Why not, right? Seemed this was a week of firsts, after all. First time he’d banged someone half his age. First time he’d fought with Penny. First time in a long time that he’d taken lead on a claim.

First time he’d thought about having sex with another woman and hadn’t felt guilty about it.

When he handed the joint back to Kelly, their fingertips brushed. Kelly paused, and then took the joint while giving Drew an unreadable glance from under her lashes.

“Forty-two,” she murmured. “And I’m still trying to get over thirty.”

“Wait until you get to forty-six,” he said. “You wouldn’t think it, but those few years make a hell of a difference.”

Kelly had her chin in her hand, elbows resting on her knees. She twisted her face to look at him, eyes hooded and a goofy grin on her lips. “Forty-six? You look—” she waved a vague hand at him “—like late thirties.”

He laughed. “I feel sixty most days.”

“How would you know?” she said in a stage whisper. “You’ve never been sixty. That’s prob’ly just what forty-six feels like.”

Drew ran his palms over his thighs and let out a heavy sigh. “Could you stop saying forty-six? You’re branding it in my brain in letters ten feet high.”

“Ten feet high?” Kelly pushed back, gripping her knees as she leaned back on the loveseat. It shifted under them and Drew lifted his feet just enough so that it could swing a little. This made the rain touch their toes, but Kelly didn’t seem to mind. “That’s pretty high.”

“You’re pretty high,” Drew said, grinning at her.

“Fuck you.” She stabbed a finger into his chest. “You’re pretty high too.”

“I am,” he said, giving his head a shake. “And pretty drunk.”

“So what does your brother do?” Kelly began picking at the lapel of his button-up shirt. He’d loosened his tie a while ago, but it still hung around his neck. Hopefully, with the top button of his shirt undone, he didn’t look as stiff as when he’d arrived.

“Same thing I do.”

“Really?” She squinted at him. “So you’re like, those really close twins?” She crossed her fingers. “Can you read each other’s—?”

He grabbed her fingers, wrapping his own around them. “No. That we’re definitely not.”

“Oh.” Her eyes moved to his hand, where it stuck. “It must be weird, having someone who looks like you. Is it weird?”

“It’s… annoying.” Drew released the pressure on her fingers but didn’t open his hand. Her skin was so soft, so smooth. Those two fingers were so frail, they felt like they could snap if he flexed.

“So, what’s up with that girl you’re with?”

The weed had evidently turned off whatever chatter control Kelly usually had. Or, maybe, this was just who she was when her inhibitions weren’t holding her back. Either way, he couldn’t handle her asking questions about Bryce, or questions about Angel.

“Nothing. She’s just a girl.”

“Like, how young?”

His jaw tightened. Why did it matter so fucking much?

Kelly’s lips peeled apart, her tongue no doubt ready with another question.

To stem it, he leaned in and kissed her.