She’s standing behind Avery. With the same face. The exact same face.
I look at Avery. Then at the other woman. Then back at Avery. “What the hell! There are two of you?”
17
Avery
“Liam, meet Sadie, my twin sister.” I'm laughing as I gesture between them. “Sadie, this is Liam.”
Liam's head swivels between us like he's watching a tennis match. His mouth opens, closes, then opens again. “You have an identical twin.”
“Surprise?” I offer weakly.
“There are literally two of you.” He's still staring, his eyes moving from my face to Sadie's and back again. “How did I not know this? We talked about your family. You said you had a sister. You didn't mention”—he gestures wildly at both of us—“this!”
Sadie is grinning, clearly enjoying his shock. “She does that. She leaves out relevant details. It's her thing.”
“I didn't leave it out,” I protest. “I just didn't specify.”
“That there are two of you,” Liam repeats, like he's still processing. “Identical. Two Averys.”
“Well, I'm Sadie, so technically?—”
“You know what I mean.” He runs a hand through his hair, looking between us again. “This is insane. You look exactly the same.”
“We get that a lot,” Sadie says in a dry tone, but she’s still grinning.
I gesture towards the living room. “Do you want to come in, or are you going to stand in my hallway all day looking like you've seen a ghost?”
“Two ghosts,” Liam mutters, but he steps inside.
My apartment is small, but in the weeks I’ve been here, I've made it cozy. Books line the shelves, framed photos cover the walls, and everything is organized exactly how I like it.
Liam immediately gravitates toward a framed photo. “Is this your family?”
“Yeah. That's my parents, and that's Sadie and me at graduation.”
“Which one are you?”
“Left side. Sadie's on the right.”
He leans closer, squinting. “I literally can't tell the difference.”
“That's because there isn't one,” Sadie says with a laugh, then excuses herself to go grab her coat.
“Terrifying,” Liam says, then he turns to me, lowering his voice. “What I really want to see is your bedroom.”
Heat floods my cheeks. “Liam.”
“Just saying. For future reference.” His eyes are dark. “I want to know where you sleep. What your bed looks like. Whether you have a reading chair or if you just pile books on your nightstand like a heathen.”
“I am not a heathen,” I whisper back. “I have a very organized system.”
“I bet you do.” He grins. “Show me later?”
“We'll see.”
Sadie returns, buttoning her coat. “Ready?”
