AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Still, there were some who stubbornly continued that mating dance.
Nash was always great at that. Porter? Not so much. He’d always been the one to comfort the girls that Nash had left thoughtlessly behind… he’d dab at tears and clean up the metaphorical mess that these women had become as they went on about his twin:
“He is horrible! A heartbreaker! And well… how is it that you look so much like Nash, but you’re just so… uh, sweet? Your eyes are beautiful, but… well… I like a good challenge. Are you–are you anything like Nash? You can kiss me if you like…”
No thanks!
Porter loved a good prank, but he hated games of the heart, and he wasn’t the type to play around like Nash. He just couldn’t pretend to feel what he didn’t feel, though when hedidfeel, it was deeply. Too deeply sometimes.
Yeah, he was awful at playing the field. If anyone got his heart broken, he’d be that unlucky sap.
Hudson pulled out of the driveway. The gravel crunched beneath his wheels as he peeled out. His brother really was in a rush to get home to his wife.
Porter was happy for him and jealous. How could Porter find a woman who was perfect for him, and after that, avoid getting crushed when that perfect woman didn’t want him back?
It was impossible to avoid getting hurt, though miracles did happen in this world, and in his opinion, nothing was a greater miracle than when two peopledidget together and marry happily.
He’d never find someone who was made for him if he didn’t risk something, but the problem was finding the one who was worth that risk.
The one?
He groaned.
That was his problem, wasn’t it? He was thinking about “the one.” As if there was only one person on this earth that could fulfill him, and he had to be at the right place and say the right thing and be the right man for this right woman… when there were possibly multiple women who were great.
He needed to get out more, and stop overthinking this. Why couldn’t he just have fun like Nash, and not care about getting hurt or… hurting others?
Oh wow. Yeah, hurting others was an even worse thought than getting hurt. Porter just wasn’t cut out for this.
He glanced back at his phone to find some distraction from his chaotic thoughts. He immediately scrolled past West’s missed call and found Emily’s. Speaking of broken hearts, it was ironic that Emily was the only girl that Nash had ever truly fallen for, but since she knew that he was a player, she wouldn’t give him the time of day. But Porter? She somehow sensed he was indifferent and called him all the time.
It was a little annoying that she didn’t consider him a threat, but also absolutely accurate. Porter would never go after a woman that his brother truly liked.
The night wind caressed his neck as he dialed Emily back. He could hear the sounds of a party in the background when she picked up. “What’s happening?” he asked her.
“Oh, hey, Porter. I was just wondering how my plants are doing?”
He laughed. She must have sensed a disturbance in the force. He might’ve taken on more than he could handle. “Are you kidding me, Emily?” He decided to tease her, so that she wouldn’t guess how much he was failing her. “Your plants? How bored are you to be checking up on your plants?”
“Porter! Don’t you give me a hard time, too. You and Nash, I swear! You’re too alike! I just bumped into him tonight and he wouldn’t stop trying to get a rise out of me, either.”
That was enough to silence him. Emily and Nash didn’t normally run in the same circles. The kinds of parties where West would drag Nash along wouldn’t be suitable for present company.
“Huh.” Porter felt suddenly protective of her. “Did you tell him to stop being an idiot?”
“Yeah, pretty much, but he won’t listen to me.”
Emily might be the only person on this living earth that Nash would listen to.
“What kind of party is this?” he asked, carefully keeping the concern out of his voice.
“I’m performing.” She had to yell to be heard over the noise. “It’s one of my first gigs. I’m just not feeling it, though.”
He could guess why. West wouldn’t be caught dead at anything slightly wholesome.
Porter swallowed back the lump forming in his throat. Emily was talented like her superstar brother—the only difference was that the world hadn’t discovered her yet. “You’ll be great,” he said. She just needed a boost of confidence. Despite his flaws, Nash was great for that, if she hadn’t already banished him from her sight. “Tell Nash to be your backup singer or something.”
She laughed. “You must be on the same wavelength. He already offered.”
