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T W E N T Y E I G H T
- Finn -
I felt like I was on a runaway train, riding full steam ahead to a place I never meant to go. But I couldn’t help it. What was I supposed to do? Not make her breakfast? Kick her out? Pretend last night hadn’t been a complete mindfuck?
It was hard to tell when I’d lost my way. Unfortunately, I feared it was well before I lowered my mouth between her legs, which was disastrous. Because if my interest in her was purely sexual, I’d be one cold shower away from regaining my composure. But I already knew no amount of soap was going to wash away my feelings for Maeve. She was already too far under my skin.
To make matters worse, I was merely a rebound for her. A fling. A last hurrah before she got serious and buckled up for the big job of baby birthing and childrearing.
The whole thing made me nauseous. It was bad enough that she was going to go on this big adventure without me, but the fact that her companion was going to be some other man’s baby made me feel itchy all over. Which was beyond stupid. Because I didn’t want to be The Guy. I couldn’t be The Guy. All I could do was be grateful we’d met and enjoy her company until she was ready to move on.
“Your coffee’s ready,” she said, sliding a mug across the counter before loading another pod.
“I can wait for the next one. You go ahead.”
“You sure?”
"Yeah.”
She nodded towards the machine behind me.
When I turned around, I saw the light had gone from red to green. “Finally.” I lifted the lid and poured the batter in slowly, doing my best to make sure it was evenly spread. Then I latched the lid down and locked it like I was preparing the waffle for takeoff.
“It looks like you have a message,” she said, pointing at the light on my answering machine.
“Don't get your hopes up,” I said, crossing over to it. “It’s never the winning lotto numbers.” I smashed the button, and my mom’s voice filled the air. “Hi hun, it’s me. Your brother said he can’t get ahold of you, so I wanted to make sure everything’s okay? Call me when you get this.”
I groaned.
“You want to talk about it?” Maeve asked.
I stared at the black box and ran a hand through my hair. “My brother’s been trying to reach me since the beginning of the year.”
The weight of her gaze fell on my cheek. “You don’t get along with your brother?”
“I know how that sounds,” I said, turning to face her. “But I’m not the monster here.”
“Aren’t you curious what he wants? What if he’s in trouble?”
“Not my problem,” I said, glancing down when Otis started pulling at my pant leg. “I thought it was for a long time, but I’m officially retired from his shit.” I grabbed the kibble down from one of the high cabinets and poured a measure in Otis’s food bowl.
“I see.”
“He tested my limits,” I said, feeling compelled to explain myself further. “And now that I’ve found them, I don’t want him in my life.”
“Sounds like me and my dad.”
I appreciated her understanding but was reticent to sour the mood. “Thanks for not making me feel worse about it than I already do.”
“Sure,” she said. “I know where my loyalty lies.”
“And you haven’t even tried my waffles yet,” I said, waggling my brows as I crossed back over to check the built-in timer.
“Were you guys ever close?”
“As close as brothers can be.” Should I tell her we were twins? That always seemed like a more important detail to other people than it did to me.
“So what happened?”
