Zoe
The second the front door opens, Dylan’s shouting my name. I can tell by the tone of his voice everything’s okay, he just misses me.
Today’s one of those frustrating days where our schedules are completely opposite. When he’s home, I have to leave. And when I’m done with classes for the day, it’s too late to do much of anything. Thursdays are hell and my least favorite of all the days.
“I’m in here,” I yell from my bedroom.
I’m running behind, something I never do. I’m the girl who’s always fifteen minutes early or I consider myself late. Nothing makes me crazier than walking into an already-full classroom with a hundred pair of eyes on me.
Dylan tosses his books on the bed and wraps his arms around me from behind. “I’ve missed ya, Zo. Any chance you want to skip and stay here with me?”
“I haven’t skipped a class in my life. At least not without a medical reason.”
His kisses pepper the side of my neck, his warm breath tickling my earlobe. “I’d make it worth your while. I’m thinking two greens and a yellow.”
“We did two yellows last night. My back still hurts,” I remind him as I turn around in his arms. Last night was perfect, but we barely slept and now I’m desperate for a nap.
“You never should have shown me that damn book, Zo. It’s all I can think about.”
I should have left five minutes ago, but I’m curious. “What do you think about?”
“I think about this sexy body in all those positions. The way you trust me and how willing you are to try just about anything.”
I’m willing to try anything because it’s him. If it was anyone else, I’d be too scared and I wouldn’t be able to let go. “You’re trouble, Dylan. And I don’t have time for trouble.”
“Will you have time for trouble later?”
I always have homework, but I don’t have any classes on Fridays. That gives me an entire day to get into trouble. “I’ll have time,” I tell him, as I tuck my hands into the back pockets of his jeans.
“Good. Can you meet me at Beans after class tonight? I know you’re tired, but there’s someplace I want to take you. We can grab coffee first.”
“I like your surprises.”
The old Zoe liked organizing every minute of the day too much to enjoy a surprise. With Dylan, I’ve discovered how much fun it is to let him take the lead.
He kisses me and one more time after that. I have to wiggle out of his arms because he doesn’t want to let go, and I have to get to class.
“I’ll see you at Beans in two hours.”
“Zo,” he says just before I leave.
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”
I can’t leave when he’s standing there looking all pathetic, so I let him have one more kiss. One kiss that’s so good, it makes my toes tingle. “I love you, too.”
Sometimes, I forget what my days were like before boyfriend Dylan. I spent a lot of time with him, but it was different. We weren’t having this much fun.
“You’re positive you have to leave? One quick green and you can still make class.”
I glance at my watch, laughing that I’m even considering it. But there’s just not enough time, and I don’t want to rush. “Bye, Dylan.”
The fresh air does me good and class flies once I stop thinking about Dylan’s naked body and focus on Professor Adam’s lecture.
But I picked a bad day to forget my umbrella, because it’s dark and drizzling outside. Cold raindrops plop onto my head and the wind picks up, blowing my hair around. I struggle to tie it into a messy knot, but it’s a losing battle. By the time I arrive at Beans, I’m a windblown mess.
“Hey, gorgeous.”
Someone who looks familiar invades my space. It might be the Scratch and Sniff sticker guy. “Um, hi?”
“Ouch,” he whispers. “Not the welcome I was expecting.”
“And I’m not the girl you were expecting.” I’d like to say this hasn’t happened before, but it has. “You must be looking for my sister.”
“Na,” he says. “I remember this face and the way these lips wrapped around my—”
“No!” I tell him. “Definitely wasn’t me.”
Like I’m playing hard to get, he moves forward until I’m backed against the wall. His breath is wicked nasty—a combination of too much tobacco and alcohol.
“Come on,” he says. “We’re so good together.”
“I’m not Keely.”
“Who’s Keely?”
You’ve got to be kidding me. It’s bad enough we’re twins, but then she uses fake names on top of it. I’ve never felt so helpless as he towers over me and tries to press his lips to mine.
His attempts turn frantic and he groans like he’s about to get off, right here in the corner of the coffee shop. I do the only logical thing I can think of and knee him in the balls.
Once he keels over in pain, I push him into a booth. But he doesn’t let go. He’s either drunk or has a really high pain tolerance because he’s still smiling. “I forgot you like it rough.”
“I told you, you have the wrong girl. Now let go of me or I’ll karate chop you so hard, you’ll wish I chopped it off instead.”
Message received, and he finally lets go of me. When I turn my head, I see my favorite pair of honey-colored eyes.
Dylan’s standing in Beans, watching me slither away from some guy who thinks he’s reuniting with his lover. To make matters worse, Letty’s standing next to my boyfriend with a smug grin plastered across her face. She’s enjoying this.
She plays dirty and steps closer to Dylan, brushing her hand against his arm. He’s so shocked to see me crawling off some guy, he doesn’t push Letty away. I don’t know what stings more, his reaction or the fact that he showed up with her.
He scans my outfit like he’s trying to remember what I had on when I left the house.
“What are you looking at?” the guy asks him. “She’s with me.”
Dylan looks like he wants to beat the shit out of him, but he can’t take his eyes off me long enough to make a move. “You are Zoe, right?”
“Dylan, really?” He’s never gotten me mixed up with my sister. Not even when the three of us ended up in the same gym class and Keely and I wore the same uniform. “I can’t believe you had to ask.”
“I had to ask because Keely’s usually the one climbing off random guys.”
“I wasn’t. I’m not,” I try to tell him. And then I see Letty’s smirk and I get angry instead of scared. “You’re the one who came here with someone else.”
“I stopped by Trevor’s,” he says like that’s supposed to clear everything up. He knows how I feel about the girl.
“I see that.” I don’t want to be a jealous girlfriend, but I am. It bugs me that every time he hangs out with Trevor, Letty weasels her way closer to Dylan. “Where’s Trevor?”
“At home.”
“Convenient.”
“What?” he says, dumbfounded. “Do I need to fuck this guy up or not?”
“If you care as much as you say you do, you’d have done it already.” I push past the creep who just tried to eat my face and head back outside. It’s moments like these I wish my sister had better judgement.
Hot frustrated tears spill from my eyes as I pull out my phone and dial my sister’s number. Lucky for her, she answers on the second ring. “Get your ass to Beans.”
“What’s wrong with you?” she asks.
“Fix this, Keely, because I don’t know if I can.”
I don’t get too far down the sidewalk before Dylan catches up. He reaches for my elbow, spinning me around.
“What?” I ask him, feeling defeated and annoyed that my face doesn’t belong solely to me.
Dylan reaches for the phone, looks at the screen, and hangs up.
“What are you doing?”
“Come here,” he says. “Don’t cry.”
I let him pull me against his chest, and even though I’ve explained nothing, he doesn’t seem to care. He just holds me and lets me cry on his shoulder.
“Do I want to know what’s going on?” he asks.
“I don’t even know. I came here to meet you and that guy came out of nowhere.”
Rubbing my back, he waits until I calm down. “Let me buy you a coffee. I’m sorry.”
I’m mad about Letty, but I trust him. He wouldn’t intentionally hurt me just like I wouldn’t make out with some guy. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”
“I do,” he says. “For showing up with Letty.”
“Was she my surprise?”
I get a little laugh out of him. “No, Zo. She was only with me because it was drizzling when I left Trevor’s. I felt like a dick getting in my car and driving away while she was walking with a shitty umbrella.”
“I was getting wet, too.”
“Are you wet now?”
“Dylan, that’s not what I meant.”
“I know,” he says. “Just trying to make the best out of a bad situation. I don’t want to fight with you.”
“I don’t want to fight with you either. That guy ruined my mood.”
“He mixed you up with Keely, didn’t he?”
Nodding, I tell him, “One of Keely’s hopefuls, trying to get a second date.”
“What about Chaz? I thought they were solid?”
All I can do is shrug. She tells me nothing about her love life these days. And I’ve been so busy with Dylan, I’ve made little effort to find out what’s new in her world. Considering she’s stopped calling, I figured she was just as busy with Chaz. “I think they’re good, but they’re not serious like we are.”
He takes both of my hands and links his fingers with mine. “I love that you said that.”
I wasn’t even thinking when I said it. It just came out. “We are serious. Aren’t we?”
“Yeah, baby. We are.” Little droplets of rain start to fall again, but I don’t care. I’d stand here all night if I had to. But when I shiver, Dylan pulls me inside the coffee shop.
We take our place in line and I can’t help it when I look around for Letty. She’s sitting at a table near the register.
Dylan notices me watching her and says, “I’ll use better judgement.”
Better judgment means he’ll still be around Letty. He’ll still spend time with her when he’s at Trevor’s, and she’ll keep trying her best to make him notice her.
What happens when he finally sees what he’s been missing?
“Okay.”
“Zoe,” he whispers. “Look at me.”
I look at him, and when I do, I blurt out what I was trying to keep inside. “She’s going to win.”
Even though I’m being serious, he laughs and he kisses my forehead. “A total optimist,” he says.
“Don’t joke. I’m serious, Dylan.”
“I need you to trust me.”
“I do.”
“Then don’t let her take up another second of your time. She’s not worth it. I love you, Zoe. Only you.”
“I’m gonna barf if you two don’t stop eye fucking each other.” Our conversation’s ruined by my sister’s glorious vocabulary.
“What are you doing here?” I ask her.
“You called me, remember?”
“Right. I did. He’s at the table by the door. I’m guessing he forgot you had a twin.”
She rolls her eyes. “I’m my own person, you know. I don’t go around introducing myself as Keely the twin.”
“Well, as long as you share a face with me, I’d appreciate a little more effort.”
She rises to her tiptoes and peeks between the bodies to check him out. If she doesn’t remember him, I’ll smack her. “Ugh, I was hoping it was someone else. That boy can kiss but he’s shit in bed.”
Dylan has to turn his head to keep from laughing.
“What about Chaz?”
She looks at me like she’s waiting for me to continue. “What about him?”
“I don’t know. I thought you were exclusive.”
“We are now. But we weren’t then. Try to keep up, Zoe.” She gives me a hug before going off to settle the mistaken identity crisis.
Once we have our coffee, Dylan leads us toward the door. Scratch and Sniff about falls off his chair when I stand next to my sister. “Wait,” he says. “What are my chances of a threesome?”
Before I can blink, Dylan’s in his face, pushing him back into his chair. “That’s my girlfriend, asshole. I’d appreciate a little respect.”
“No harm. No foul,” he blurts before his face gets smashed in. “Plus, I’ve already got this one.”
Keely grabs her purse and stands up. She looks him in the eye and says, “Your dick’s too small, dude.”
And then she’s gone.
At least she has standards.