It Was You (9 page)

A frown flitted across her face but she quickly regained her composure. “Oh, please. I did that for you.”

Another laugh threatened to escape. I stared at her, incredulous. “That so?”

She nodded. “You deserve better than Kevin. He's an ass.”

“Hmm. Dick is a better word, don't you think?”

A satisfied smile took up residence on my sister's face. “Perhaps.”

I lifted my shirt over my head. “Whatever. I'm done talking.”

I unclasped my bra and let it fall to the floor. It wasn't like I had to be self-conscious around my sister. She had the exact same body I did.

“You were with someone tonight,” she said slowly, her eyes assessing.

I ignored her statement and pulled on my tank top.

“Who?” she demanded.

I shimmied out of my shorts. “Who what?”

She glared at me. “Who were you with, dammit?”

There was no way I was telling her about West. “Who said I was with anyone?”

Annika shook her head and stood. “You think I can't tell?” She smirked. “You have that glow, Abs. That I-wish-he'd-fucked-me kind of glow. Question is—who put it there?”

I turned away from her and picked my clothes up from the floor. I hated that I was an open book where she was concerned. We might not have the twin connection that others had but there were moments when we knew what the other was thinking, knew what made the other one tick. It made my skin crawl.

She stepped in front of me. “Not gonna say, huh?”

“
I don't know what you're talking about. Pretty sure you had the I-wish-he'd-fucked-me look when you were with Kevin the other night.”

She chuckled. “Hardly. I had the damn-he-was-good look. You should've stuck around to see it.”

I felt the bile rise up in my throat. She'd slept with him? I hated her even more.

“
Fine,” she said, her voice syrupy sweet. “Don't tell me. I'll find out eventually. Just you watch.”

She flounced out of my room and I watched her go, seething. The last thing I wanted was for her to find out about West. I thought back to my conversation with him at the beginning of the night. He'd asked questions and I'd avoided answering them. More than avoided. I'd made the conscious decision to not tell him about my sister. Standing there now, my anger raging out of control, I was glad I hadn't mentioned her.

And I knew then, after the exchange we'd just had, that I was keeping her a secret. For good.

My phone buzzed and I fished it out of my purse. It was a text from Tana. I called her.

“Holy shit.” She laughed after I'd given her a recap of my night. “Guess you didn't wanna wait around, huh?”

I settled on to my bed. My comforter smelled like my sister's perfume, a noxious floral scent, and I grimaced. I'd strip the whole thing down tomorrow and wash everything.

“He was kind of persuasive.”

“
Clearly.” She paused. “So, what now?”

I leaned back against my pillow. “Mmm. I'm going to go to sleep and dream about him.”

“No, idiot. I mean, when are you going to see him again?”

I closed my eyes. “Tomorrow. I think.”

“Not wasting any time, huh?”

“
Nope.”

She chuckled. “So, I guess he's not as big of an asshole as you thought?”

“Oh, he might still be an asshole.” I smiled at the memory of my evening with West. “But I don't think he is. And I don't know that I care. Because he's mine.”

FOURTEEN

I woke to the sound of banging doors. I groaned and pulled my blanket tighter. It was too early for me to get up. It was too early for anyone to be up.

Annika's shrill voice jarred my senses. “Grab it!”

“
Settle down.” My dad, his voice controlled, stern.

There was a large thump and a sharp squeal.

“I have it,” Dad said.

I closed my eyes and smiled. It was moving day.

I snuggled under my covers for a minute, trying to lull myself back to sleep, but it was useless. The adrenaline that had suddenly kicked in, the adrenaline that was now surging through my body, was just enough to ensure I wouldn't be going back to sleep. My sister was moving out that morning.

And I wasn't.

I wiped the sleep out of my eyes and thought about what Tana had said. Sure, I was a little bent that my parents had said no to an apartment. But living at home wouldn't be so bad, especially with my sister out of the picture. I nodded to myself. I'd be living rent-free. Full access to a stocked kitchen and free laundry. Parents around if I needed them but not breathing down my neck; their jobs easily prevented that from happening.

Yeah, things were looking good. More than good.

I eased my way out of bed and my phone clattered to the floor. I grabbed it and flipped it over, hoping I wouldn't see a cracked screen.

I breathed a sign of relief. And then a flutter of excitement. Because there was a text. A text from the unidentified number from the night before. The number that belonged to West.

Good morning, beautiful.

The time stamp was from 7:30, almost an hour earlier. Somehow, I'd slept through it. I stared at the message for a minute, trying to formulate a response. No guy had ever sent me a text, wishing me good morning. And no guy had ever texted me that I was beautiful. My heart did that little somersault thing again. I sat back down on the edge of my bed and tapped at the screen.

Good morning.

Within seconds, his response appeared.

When am I seeing u?

Now
, I wanted to respond.
Right this second
. But I didn't. I needed to touch base with Tana, I needed to finish putting my room back in order. And I needed to relish a little in the reality that I was saying good riddance to my sister.

Tonite?

His response was immediate
.
Not soon enough.

Before I could respond, the screen lit up. He was calling me. West was calling.

“Someone's a little impatient,” I said.

His voice was low, husky. “Someone is being a little difficult.”

I smiled. “How is telling you 'tonight' being difficult?”

“
Because I don't wanna wait that long.”

I swallowed down butterflies I'd never felt before. “Well, you're gonna have to. I have stuff I need to do today.”

His sigh was long, exaggerated. “Fine. When?”

“
Tonight,” I repeated.

“
Am I picking you up tonight?” he asked. “Or do you still think I'm an ax murderer who might break into your house and off you and your family?”

“
Pretty sure you'd go all parkour on us. Instead of using an ax.”

“
Parkour? You think I'd use your family as an obstacle course?”

“
What?” I asked.

He smothered a laugh. “Parkour is non-contact.”

I felt my face redden. How was I supposed to know all that guy crap?

“
Pretty sure you'd find a way to turn it into hand to hand combat,” I said.

He stifled another laugh. “Whatever, Abby Sellers. Meet me tonight. Back at the beach.”

“The beach? Is there another party?”

“
No parties. Just you and me.”

He hung up and I sat on my bed and stared at my phone.

The last time I'd been given the full-court press by a guy was...never. And this was a guy that was magazine cover hot. He was insistent. He wanted me.

I was pretty sure I wanted him.

So I really hoped it was just me and him this time.

I pulled on a sweatshirt and headed downstairs.

Most of Annika's room seemed to be strewn around the house. Boxes filled with books and stuffed animals, bags filled with clothes and random odds and ends were spread through the house like a trail back to her room. My dad came through the front door with a dolly, beads of sweat running down his forehead.

“
I think I'm glad you aren't moving,” he said, glancing at me, then piling several boxes on the dolly.

“
A plus to changing my mind,” I said.

He forced a smile. “Something like that.” He nodded at a blue plastic bin. “Can you grab that and follow me out?”

“Do I have to?”

“
Do you want a place to live?”

I rolled my eyes and hoisted the bin, following him out the front door.

He'd rented a small U-haul and most of the storage was already filled with boxes. I'd seen the size of the dorm rooms at State. Where the hell was she going to put all of this? He placed his stack of boxes against the wall of the truck and slid the dolly out from under them. He took the bin from me and set it next to the stack.

He took a deep breath and leaned against the dolly. “Gonna be weird living here without your sister?”

I shook my head. “No. Not at all.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Not at all?”

“I just think it's time for us to go our separate ways,” I said.

“
Why's that?”

There were a million reasons I could give him. A million reasons he wouldn't want to hear.

“Just is.”

He nodded slowly, then sighed. “Your mother and I...I think we always thought you guys would be like those twins you read out. Close, attached at the hip.” He shook his head. “But even as little ones, you refused to wear the same clothes as Annika.”

I'd heard the story before. My mom had purchased tons of matching outfits. She'd put them on me and I'd strip them off, crying, preferring nudity to looking like my sister. We didn't have any of those cutesy pictures of us looking the same. Most of our family photos had us on opposite sides of our parents.

“
We're different people,” I said. I didn't add that she was more like Satan's spawn than an offspring of theirs.

“
You can say that again,” he said, then wheeled the dolly past me and down the ramp, back toward the house.

Annika passed him, then stopped at the bottom of the ramp, a roller bag in each hand. “What are you doing?”

“Dad asked me to carry something. Don't worry. I'm not touching your precious belongings.”

She stomped up the ramp, struggling with the bags.

I watched.

She finally made it up and slung them against the boxes, exhaling loudly. “Whatever.”

“Enjoy,” I said, descending the ramp.

“
Could you grab...”

“
No.”

“
Hag.”

“
That's me,” I said, smiling.

“
Heard you on the phone with your boyfriend,” she said. “He must be super special if you're talking to him first thing in the morning.”

I hated that it stopped me, but it did. Had she stopped to listen? I tried to remember exactly what I'd said, how much I'd revealed.

I turned around.

She smiled at me, but there was no warmth. “You know what's gonna be really sad?”

I didn't say anything, just glared at her, my arms folded across my chest.

She came down the ramp, taking her time, enjoying the fact that she had my attention.

She upped the wattage in her smile. “When lover-boy, whoever he is, decides he wants somebody who puts out.” She touched my cheek. “Because we all know that won't be you.”

I knocked her hand away. “You're such a bitch.”

She pushed past me. “A bitch who puts out, Abs. Just remember that.”

FIFTEEN

“It's a wonder she's still alive, you know.”

I nodded at Tana. We were sitting at an outside table at In-N-Out, burgers and fries spread out between us. The steady hum of cars on the 5 freeway were loud and I had to raise my voice a little to be heard.

“Right?”

“
Every time I think I've heard the worst about her, you tell me something else.”

I knew exactly what she meant. After all, I'd had to live with my sister. I wondered how many things had happened that I hadn't told Tana about. Not because I'd forgotten but because I just got tired of talking about my sinister sister.

She took a long drink from her soda. “Best decision ever, not going to State.”

I grabbed a fry and dipped it in the pool of ketchup. “Seriously.”

I hadn't even said goodbye when Dad started up the U-Haul. Annika was following him to the campus in her car, Mom riding in the passenger seat. They'd left one of their cars at the U-Haul dealership and were heading to a client's house immediately after.