Total pages in book: 12
Estimated words: 11816 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 59(@200wpm)___ 47(@250wpm)___ 39(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 11816 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 59(@200wpm)___ 47(@250wpm)___ 39(@300wpm)
Felicity cleared her throat and looked away when she noticed me staring and began twisting her hands in her lap. She only did that when she was feeling guilty or nervous about something.
“You’re right, Fel. Paxton would make some girl out there the luckiest woman alive. The right girl. It’s becoming apparent to me that I’m not that girl. I want someone I can stand beside, not behind. I want to be with a man who doesn’t make me feel like a child for wanting to have fun. I’m twenty-one, for fuck’s sake. I want to enjoy being carefree before all the real-world problems come crashing in like a never-ending tidal wave. I want a partner, Fel. I already have a father.”
Felicity swallowed before giving a slight, reluctant nod.
“Ladies,” the bartender greeted while wiping down the bar space in front of us. “What will you have?”
“Two Jack Frosties, please.”
“Oh, I’m not drinking,” Fel announced, making me turn my head her way. “I didn’t get the chance to tell you, but Paxton offered to teach me how to ski.” She paused as if realizing how strange that sounded, considering he was my boyfriend, and this was supposed to be a bae-cation. “Is that okay?”
I shrugged before turning to face the bartender again. “Two Jack Frosties, please.”
“Noelle…”
“Felicity, it’s fine. Go. Have fun.”
I could feel her wary stare as I watched the bartender prepare my drinks. She knew me well enough to know I’d be getting shit-faced expeditiously.
Paxton had been promising to teach me for years, and now that the opportunity had finally presented itself, he chose my best friend instead?
When the bartender finally set my drinks down in front of me, I couldn’t gulp the first down fast enough.
Incidentally, that was when asshole numbers one and two showed up.
Okay.
That wasn’t fair.
Nick had only ever been kind to me. I’d say he’s always treated me like a sister, but that would be weird considering he’d been flirting with me at every turn.
“Getting started without me, are you? I told you that you were a cheater,” Nick teased.
I made a sound of distress when Nick snatched up my second Jack Frosty and began chugging it down. He finished before me even though I had a clear head start. Then, he flashed the biggest shit-eating grinning as he slammed the glass back on the counter.
“I win.”
“How? We weren’t even playing! And that was mine, by the way. You owe me another.” I pouted.
“That’s easy. Give me something hard to do.” Nick hopped onto the stool next to me and flagged the bartender, who nodded and began making two more.
“I guess that leaves us,” Paxton said to Felicity as if he hadn’t planned it all along. “What do you say? Should we hit the slopes?”
Felicity glanced at me, and when I gave nothing away, she nodded softly to Paxton, who held out his hand to her.
“Nick, don’t let her drink too much, will you?”
“Sorry, twin. I can’t promise that. Elle drank me under the table last time. I need to win my manhood back.”
“No chance of that,” I mumbled, making Nick grin. Paxton shook his head, and when he started to walk away with Fel, I called his name.
Pax stopped and turned, and I could feel three sets of eyes on me as I stood from the stool and closed the distance between us.
Grabbing the lapels of his winter coat, I rose onto my tiptoes and kissed his lips. It took longer than it should have for him to kiss me back, and even then, it lacked passion.
“Don’t be long,” I whispered before finally letting him go.
He looked flustered, and for some reason, he cast a guilty glance over my shoulder instead of his before nodding and walking away with my best friend.
When I finally turned back to the bar where Nick was waiting, the last thing I expected was to see the flash of anger and jealousy in his eyes before he quickly gave me his back.
What the hell?
Why did I get the feeling I’d just kissed the wrong twin?
NOELLE
It took me three tries to get the key into the door. Nick had given it to me after abruptly calling it a night, so I’d spent the last few hours drinking alone. There was no one to stop me except the bartender, who had finally cut me off—but not before I got well and truly intoxicated.
Since I kissed his twin, Nick had been in a sour mood as if I’d cheated on him and not his brother, especially considering the fantasies I’d been having about Nick since the airport.
I wasn’t sure if thoughts counted, but as obscene as mine had been, they should.
The room was pitch-black with the curtains drawn and not even a single light left on, but I could still make out the bed and the still figure lying on it.