He motions for the door and we walk down the grand staircase. I cringe at the mess scattered throughout the house. There are tables dispersed in the living room, some with red plastic cups lined up in triangle formations and little plastic balls floating in the alcohol. Beer cans have been tossed in the corners and on luxurious couches. There’s even a pair of dirty socks hanging from a silver chandelier and a broken vase on the fireplace mantel. I don’t know Cole’s parents, but I can only assume they will be livid if they see this.
“Wait right here, I’ll grab Cole,” Jaxon says, as he walks down the hallway.
I make my way into the kitchen to find the trash bags. I decide to begin in here and start by tossing all of the cans, bottles, and paper plates into the bag. I have almost filled the second bag when they both walk into the kitchen. I can’t help but notice that the boys on this side of town are achingly handsome; it must be good breeding. I can understand why girls were giving me dirty looks last night for kissing Jaxon. They wanted their turn with him.
Cole grins at me, while grabbing a set of car keys from a nearby cabinet drawer and says, “Don’t worry about that, pretty girl. All of this will be taken care of later.” He shoves Jaxon on our way out the door and says, “Now this one is a keeper.” Jaxon looks back and gives me a playful grin.
Cole drops us off in front of a beautiful, two-story farmhouse. While this house is also quite massive, it isn’t pretentious like Cole’s. It’s sophisticated yet charming, and has a beautiful wrap-around porch. This house is perfect. I could live happily on the front porch alone. In my head, I picture myself lazing around on the outdoor sectional, reading book after book all day with a glass of sweet tea. Hey, a girl can dream every once in a while.
Jaxon leads me inside the heavy, wooden front door, and before I can fully take in my surroundings, I ask for the bathroom. I need to take a second to compose myself before seeing Jace again.
JACE -
I hear Cole’s Porsche 911 pull away, and I get up to confront my brother about last night. After I left the party, I spent the remainder of the night in the barn, pounding the heavy bag my dad installed for me two summers ago. I tried to let all of my aggression loose, and was doing a good job of it until I split the leather and had to step away, somewhere around two in the morning. I’m pretty sure I can keep myself in check with Jax now.
As soon as I round the corner near the kitchen, I see a familiar set of beautiful brown eyes looking around, as if she doesn’t know which door to approach first. She’s wearing the same clothes I saw her in last night, and damn if that doesn’t make me grind my molars together in frustration.
I watch as her eyes grow wide the second she realizes it’s me standing in front of her. “Jace?” she breathes out.
“Well, I see that you didn’t forget who I am,” I reply. I know I sound like an asshole, but because I can’t help myself, I add, “Have fun with my brother last night?”
She frowns and rushes toward me, grabbing my biceps. “You never told me you had a twin.”
“What does that have to do with anything, Audrey?”
“Jace, I thought Jaxon was you. I didn’t realize my mistake ‘til this morning.” Her eyes fill up with tears and as they threaten to spill over, my gut clenches. She thought I was arguing with Mike last night, that I was the one kissing her while holding her legs around my waist? Shit.
Instantly, I stalk forward, backing her up against the wall and completely surrounding her with my body, not letting her escape. Lifting her chin, I look down into her eyes and seconds later, I devour her lips with mine.
She lets out a long sigh in between our lips and threads her fingers through my hair while grasping it roughly. My tongue flicks into her mouth and her tongue begins to flirt with mine. It takes me a solid minute to come back down from the high of having her mouth on mine again, and that’s when I think about why she’s here now and where she’s been all night.
“You slept with Jax?” I whisper, while firmly holding her face between my hands. She looks surprised, and when her bottom lip begins to quiver, I know what her answer is. I step away, conscious of the fact that I can’t hold her any longer, but I need to hear her reply. “Answer me,” I growl.
I shouldn’t have kissed her, because I can tell by the shock on her face she thought that I would get over that little part. Only focused on her, I just hadn’t fully comprehended it yet.
“Jace…” she whispers, “I thought I was with you.”
“Did you call out my name?” I ask tensely.
She shakes her head ‘no’ and shocks me by adding, “I didn’t call out anything.”
I step forward, lower my forehead to her shoulder, and groan. This only makes me want her more. She should have been with me. Audrey deserves for someone to make their name rip from her mouth, to drive her so absolutely insane it would be impossible for her to hold it in. What a fucking shame.
“Please…” she whispers, begging me with her glistening eyes to let this go. But all I can see now is that my brother has been here.
“The fact that he even brought you here says that you mean something to him,” I say and try to brush her off.
“No--” she interrupts, but I stop her.
“I can’t, Audrey. I can’t be where my brother has been. That’s a line I’m not willing to cross.”
I can tell the moment she fully grasps what I’m saying and then she steps away from me, spinning on her heel slowly and closing herself inside the guest bathroom.
- Three -
AUDREY - Present day…
“Audrey, if you pick up one more damn box, I swear I’ll lock your ass in my closet until I’m done unpacking this truck!” Lane yells at me, as he’s backing the moving dolly stacked with three large boxes through our front door.
“Lane, I’m perfectly capable of carrying my own boxes,” I laugh, while darting around him. Chuck weaves in and out between the two of us, excited about his new surroundings.
“You weigh basically nothing. I’m afraid you’ll snap in half or something carrying these,” Lane says. Once I set the box down, I reach out and pinch the tiny bit of extra skin on his lower back. I’m surprised I can even grasp anything with how tight and toned he’s become. He swats my hand away and says, “Just start unpacking, I’ll unload.”
“I can help--” I insist, while trying to mess up his sandy brown hair.
He cuts me off with a ridiculous pouty lip. “Please, it’ll make me feel better.” No guy his size should have such a look. He knows that he’s won because I can’t resist his begging.
I was more than hesitant about this move, and I wouldn’t have done it for anyone other than Lane. The fact that we were both accepted into the same Masters of Accounting program doesn’t hurt either. Last year, I was shocked when both of our acceptance letters arrived in the mail, considering I had never even applied. Apparently, Lane took the liberty to apply for me. He told me that he didn’t plan on leaving without me, but he needed a reason for me to come along. And besides my cousin, Kennedy, Lane is my only friend so, to be honest, I would follow him anywhere.