“No, you decided to flip the coin after I fed you a hamburger and you declared that the beef inspired you.”
She shrugged. “Foodspiration. I called it foodspiration, Thorn.”
Groaning, I positioned the coin on my palm. “Fine. Are you ready?”
“I’ve never really thought about planning my own death—so, no, I’m not ready, Thorn. But what other choice do we have? You said my mom cried! She cried and hugged your mom! They’re finally back together! Peace has been restored. If we fess up now, we’re completely screwed, and you know it. Suddenly, we’re back at square one, and they’ll think you somehow brainwashed me to go through with this plan and”—she was starting to hyperventilate—“Kayla, will hate you all over again. And it’s not fair, not when—”
I swallowed and looked away.
Not when it always takes two.
The truth loomed over both of us.
“Clearly, sticking to the plan has caused a domino effect,” I said.
She shook her head.
“But going to the engagement party and continuing on with this plan . . . Well, the last time we said yes to one of the mothers, you were spread-eagled on the doctor’s table and—”
“I was there, Thorn, don’t need a recap.” She covered my mouth with her hand. Her skin smelled like coconut. “Stop looking at me like you want to eat me.”
“I do want to eat you.”
“Lucas . . .”
“Oh, so it’s Lucas now?”
“Flip the damn coin.”
I held my breath and tossed it in the air. Once it hit the ground, Avery and I stood over it and simultaneously let out a sigh of relief.
“Tails!” we said in unison. I reached out and grabbed her hand, rubbing her skin softly.
When she looked into my eyes, tears were already filling hers. “We’ve come this far. They can’t know the truth.”
“The truth.” What was the truth anyway? That I was falling for her? That I didn’t know what the hell I was doing? That I was a cheating bastard who fell for her long ago even though I’d asked her sister to marry me?
Avery squeezed my hand. “Here’s our story: I was your intern, one thing led to another . . .” She chewed on a fingernail. “Love at first sight. I sharpened your pencils, saved the day by fixing the copy machine—we shared a laugh in the break room, hah-hah.” She was bordering on delirious. “And then we kissed. End of story. No, I’m not pregnant. Yes, we’ll eventually get married. No, I don’t have a ring because it’s too conventional. Done.”
“Wow, you’ve thought of everything.”
“I have.” She exhaled, looking pleased with herself. “I really have.”
“You barely started your new job, Avery Bug.”
“Curses.”
“So unless we were dating in secret, that part of the story isn’t going to work. It’s going to seem like we’re moving too fast. It may have worked when we told my parents, but they’ve been too busy thinking about grandkids to actually process the whole time line.”
“We need another story.” Her expression softened, and she went all doe-eyed. “Come on, Thorn, you cheat on women all the time—you’re good at dealing with estrogen. How do we do this, make it believable, keep everyone happy, and the families on friendly footing? Because I refuse to let you ruin our families again.”
“Me? I ruined your family? And Brooke? What did she do? Nothing?”
Avery gasped. “You tried to seduce her!”
“What?” I hissed. “What did you just say?”
“You. Seduced. Her. In. Her. Bedroom. MINUTES after kissing me.”
“I was drunk—I stumbled into the wrong room, saw red hair, and thought . . .” Shit. I’d gone too far. Shit. Shit. Take it back, take it back.
“Thought what?”
“So, a story?” I pasted a fake smile on my face. “I say we go with—”
“Thought. What?” Her fingers gripped my T-shirt and twisted.
With a groan, I broke eye contact and looked down at the ground. “I thought it was you. In my muddled drunken brain, I thought it was you, not Brooke—so, yeah, she wasn’t the sister I’d planned on seducing.”
There. I’d said it.
Let her hate me.
“You thought you were crawling into my bed?”
“I figured if I could just talk to you and see how you really felt—then I’d be brave enough to call everything off, or if that failed, at least I’d be drunk enough to pull the plug on the wedding.”
The silence stretched out long past uncomfortable, making the tension between us nearly unbearable.
“You felt that way because you were drunk.”
“No, Avery Bug, not because I was drunk.”
She waited.
I exhaled through my clenched teeth and finally admitted the truth. “One day you were my friend, and then you became something completely different. Because I wanted you. Because I’ve always wanted you. Because even when it was wrong—and you were only seventeen years old—I wanted you.”
“And now?”
I kissed her.
She didn’t kiss me back.
Not at first.
And then slowly, her hands snaked around my neck, her lips parted—and I was completely awakened to what it would feel like to belong to Avery Black.
“Stay,” I heard myself begging between each heated kiss. “Stay.”