CHAPTER TWO
“Are you really mad at me?” I pouted as I walked into Abel’s house. I dropped my keys on the kitchen counter and walked up behind him, wrapping my arms around his middle. It felt like he was chiseled from marble.
“Yes, I’m mad at you, Lucy.” He moved around the kitchen putting things away so that everything was neat and tidy. He was avoiding me. Whenever Abel avoided things, he cleaned. I hopped on the counter and stopped him from moving away from me. I locked my legs around him and he didn’t look pleased.
“Don’t be mad, Abel,” I whined, locking my arms around his neck next. Reluctantly, his hands skimmed my waist and he rested his forehead on mine.
“How can you be such a fuck up? It’s like we’re not even related.”
“We’re not. You’re adopted,” I reminded him, wrinkling my nose.
“We call the same people mom and dad and we grew up in the same house. Adopted or not, you’re my little sister.” His fingers hooked into the belt loops on my shorts and he tugged me closer to him.
“So stop being mad at me. Let me stay here with you,” I begged.
“I can’t and you know that. I’m gone too much.”
“You think I’ll burn the house down?”
“No…well, yes.” He cracked a smile and I hit his chest.
“Abel, you smell good,” I buried my nose in his collar and groaned from the rich scent on his skin.
“So do you, Lucy.” His warm palms slid up my thighs and heat pooled in my core. “You know you need to find a place to stay though and you can’t stay here.” Beyond the fact that he had a job that made him extremely busy, I knew why I couldn’t stay with Abel.
The lines between us were too blurred.
“Mom and Dad refuse to let you back in, so that only leaves Nora.” I released my grip on him and hopped off the counter.
“Who?” I frowned.
“Lucy,” he sang in a deep voice, following behind me. “Don’t start this shit.”
“What? I have no idea who you’re talking about.”
“Nora,” he dragged out her name. I showed him my back as I moved into the living room. Abel’s house was like my home away from home. I could navigate it with my eyes closed no matter how huge it was.
“Abel, you’re breaking up. I can’t hear you.” I plucked the remote from the coffee table and turned on the TV.
“We’re not on the phone, asshole. That shit doesn’t work.”
“Oh, well…leave a message after the beep.”
“Lucy…”
“Beeeeeep.”
“Lucy,” he growled.
“Beeeeeep.” I ignored him and flipped through the channels while I stood in front of the huge flat screen. In the next second, Abel’s strong fingers were digging into my arms as he pinned me against the wall.
“Listen to me you little shit. You need to call Nora. She just got a new house outside of the city. Just her and Eric. I’m sure if you called and asked nicely, she’d be willing to let you stay there for a while.”
“Who. The. Fuck. Is. Nora?” I blinked with a blank expression expertly painted on my face. Able looked like he could spit bullets he was so pissed. “God you’re sexy when you’re mad. Anyone ever tell you that?”
“Why are you acting like this? It’s been a year and you two haven’t talked. It’s ridiculous,” he reasoned.
“Still have no idea who you’re talking about.” I tried to shrug but his grip was strong and it made the muscles in my shoulders burn.
“Nora. She’s the more responsible version of you. You know, the girl with your exact face? Your goddamn identical twin sister, Lucy.”
“You really think the world can handle two versions of me? You’re insane. I don’t have a twin.” Abel’s proximity and body heat was setting off a chain reaction in me that made me press my thighs together.
“What are you always telling me about the universe and how it doesn’t like when you say shit like that? Stop denying her.” He was right. I shouldn’t have flat out denied having a twin. It would shatter my soul if something happened to her and I didn’t get to say goodbye.
I hung my head down and pushed out a breath after apologizing to the universe for my pettiness. “I’m not calling Nora.” Abel let me go but not for long. He pushed me down on the couch and I couldn’t help the giggle that escaped me. It felt like old times.
Before he moved out of our parents’ house, we fought all the time but it wasn’t violent or angry. It was playful. We’d wrestle and he let me win most of the times but on the rare occasions when I actually won, I gloated horribly. Abel always ended up shoving me when I least expected it and his immense strength sent me toppling over every single time.
“Call her, Lucy.” He opened a few buttons on his shirt, giving me a peek of his wife beater beneath and my heart thumped but it was much lower than my chest. The thump I felt came from between my thighs.
“No.” I straddled Abel and helped him unbutton the rest of his shirt. I mean what are sisters for, right?
“You’re deflecting right now.” he rested his head on the back of the couch but he didn’t stop me.
“Why should I call her? She’s the one who changed and thinks she’s better than me now. We have the same fucking DNA for Christ’s sake. Her funky ass business degree doesn’t mean a goddamn thing.”
“She grew up,” he countered. His light brown eyes watched as my fingers moved down his shirt, plucking open button after button.
“You say grew up, I say turned into a snooty bitch. Whatever. The point is. We’re not how we used to be so I know she doesn’t want to help me. You should have been my twin. We get along much better.”
“You’re also a soft spot for me and I’m helplessly wrapped around your little finger.” He grabbed my hand before it reached his belt and nibbled on my pinky. My laughter spilled into the air and Abel used it as an opportunity to flip me off of him and onto the couch.
“I know. That’s why I love you so much.” I touched the side of his face and he sighed.
“You can’t stay here, Luce. It’s not a good idea. Please call Nora. She asked about you the other day.”
“You’re lying through your perfect goddamn teeth, Abel.”
“I’m not. I swear with my hand on the bible.”
“Then the bible should explode because you’re chocked full of sin.” I blew a kiss at him and hopped up to go into the kitchen. I rummaged through his cabinets and pouted when I didn’t see any whiskey.
“Stop looking for liquor,” he frowned.
“I’m not looking for liquor. I’m looking for Jack Daniels. Why do you only have wine, Abel? You hate wine. You love beer. More specifically, that expensive imported shit that tastes like ass and hops.” Abel always kept whiskey on hand for me but he was slipping unless… “You have a girlfriend, don’t you?” I gasped, placing my hand on my chest.
“Jesus,” he groaned under his breath.
“Abel Waters, you have a girlfriend and you didn’t tell me? I’m hurt.” I slammed the door to his liquor cabinet and stormed out of the kitchen. I hated when he had girlfriends. He pushed me away and I couldn’t have that. That would explain why we hadn’t hung out in so long though.
“Lucy,” he sighed, chasing after me.
“Leave me alone, Abel.” I slammed the guest room door in his face as soon as he reached me, then turned the lock and fell over on the bed. I couldn’t believe him. He had the nerve to have a whole girlfriend and kept her from me. I wasn’t that bad. He could have at least told me her name and that she existed but no. He treated me like I had the plague.
I stayed holed up in the guest room until the sun sank into the earth. Abel knew not to bother me. When we were younger and I’d get mad at him, I would lock myself away with Nora and she’d help me kill time so I didn’t have to look at him. I missed her. A part of my soul ached without her.
I still refused to call her though.
Fuck that.
**
After avoiding Abel all day, I finally emerged from my room, cloaked in darkness. I guess Abel was in bed for the night. I forgot that people with normal schedules went to bed at normal times. I was off work for the day but when I wasn’t, my shift started at nine at night. How the hell did people go to sleep at that time?
I crept down the hall to his room and pushed the door open. He was definitely sleeping. Without any regard to his slumber, I walked into his huge closet and shook my head. It was the same size as my apartment. I grabbed a white shirt and walked back out.
Whenever I stayed at Abel’s, I always marveled at how empty the floor was. No piles of clothes or charger cords lying around, just clean, empty space.
I strode across to his bathroom and took a shower. When I got out, I rummaged around and found his girlfriend’s body oil, lotion, and perfume. I refused to touch it. I used Abel’s instead, then I tugged his white shirt on over my damp body and slid in bed with him like I did when we were little.
Instinctively, he pulled me close and held me tight. I wanted to stay just like that forever. Fuck his little girlfriend. Fuck Nora. It was Abel and me.
**