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Other than Logan trying to reconnect, which I shot down before the words could even finish passing his lips, there hasn’t been anyone I’ve wanted to give the time of day to. It’s another huge reason I took Leo up on his offer to help set me up in Florida. It’s almost been a year. I’m finally ready for my fresh start and to not be surrounded by people who witnessed the end of my engagement—the “scandal” I caused.
“My point exactly.”
I imagine her arched light brown eyebrow and Aunt Amber-esque smirk through the phone. Being a year older than me, Mari and I have always been close. Same with her twin sister Mili. Living a state away never stopped us from staying connected. I trust her advice and intentions, but can I really pop up back in Devin’s life after how everything went down between us?
As I hang up another top in my closet, Leo walks into my bedroom, followed by Shep, carrying two more boxes.
“Your brother just came in, so let me finish unpacking, and we’ll talk later.”
“Tell him hi for me. And if you don’t ask Leon for that address, you better believe I will ask him for you.”
“Bye, Mari,” I singsong, tossing my phone on my bed.
“My sister bugging you again?” Leo smirks as he sets a box on top of the one at the foot of my bed.
“Always.” I chuckle. “No, we were just catching up on some things. She says hi, by the way.”
“I see how it is.” Hands on his hips, he gives that older brother eye roll. “She won’t call or text me back, but she’ll drop a two-letter word through our cousin.”
“She probably just doesn’t want another lecture about her life choices.” I reach up on my tiptoes and ruffle his tousled dishwater blond hair.
Leo ducks away, combing his fingers through the messy strands. “You’re as bad as my sisters.”
“Hey, you’re the one who invited me here.”
“Which I may soon regret.”
Deep laughter reminds me we’re not alone. Leo’s best friend sets a box next to the others, running a hand over his full beard as his bluish-green eyes volley between Leo and me.
“Shep, hey.” I hadn’t expected to see him today. We met one summer years ago when I spent a few weeks at my Aunt and Uncle’s over summer break. Mili had had a crush on him at the time, so I didn’t look too hard, but as he flashes a grin, I see what she saw. And I laugh. “Do you two ever get mistaken for brothers when you’re out? Because seriously…”
Shep’s beard is thicker, grown out on purpose, while Leo’s scruffy jaw is something he only has on vacations and weekends, and Leo’s hair is lighter, but the rest? The curves of their jaws, their build, their mannerisms as they share a knowing glance? Uncanny. It makes sense. He’s an extension of the Holmström family. He went to high school with Leo and Esa and became a fourth son to Olle and Amber.
“We may have played that fake twins card a time or two when picking up girls,” Leo brags.
Rolling my eyes, I turn back to Shep. “I don’t know how Leonard roped you into this, but thank you for helping out.”
“Still doing that thing where you girls refuse to call Leo by his actual name, huh?” I shrug and Shep chuckles. “It’s no big deal. I didn’t have plans for the day anyway. I’m happy to help. Even if Leonidas said I couldn’t flirt.”
I tip my head. “Leonidas, good one.”
My cousin punches his best friend’s arm as a laugh gets stuck in my throat. I’m unsure if he’s teasing or not.
A professional photographer, Shep has that devil may care, carefree look going for him. Unlike Leo, whose hair products may outnumber mine—I guess that’s what you get when your dad rocked long, flowing locks for most of his life—Shep’s hair is a little untidy, but not purposefully. It seems natural like he doesn’t care to make it perfect. Even his style is untamed, the tattoos on his forearms scattered with no rhyme or reason, and his Saturday morning clothing casual and relaxed. In contrast, Leo looks like he’s wearing two-hundred-and-fifty-dollar designer sweatshorts, and I have no doubt he’d spend that much.
“Well, as a thank you, I’m going to order some pizza in a bit. You guys just need to tell me where to get it from.”
“Bellacinos,” Leo answers.
“Litzas,” Shep chimes in at the same time.
“No.” Leo holds up a finger, and Shep joins him when he says, “Pizza Nostra.”
I laugh. “You two might as well be Mari and Mili with how you share a brain.”
“But much cooler.” Leo heads out of my bedroom, Shep trailing behind.
“Yeah, I’ll tell them you said that.”
