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This one. She’s different. She’s not even in the same competition as those other women. Any other women.
“Would you relax? How bad can it be?”
I zap the car as we walk away and slip my hand into hers. “I’ll ask you that in a couple of hours.”
She smiles and nudges into my shoulder as if I’m joking.
“You look beautiful, by the way,” I tell her, watching her cheeks flush almost to the colour of her blouse.
She rubs her skirt as if there’s something on it and squeezes my fingers tighter as her heels dig into the gravel, making her walk to the porch unsteadily.
At the door, I pull her waist to mine and drop my forehead to hers. “What if I said I don’t want to share you yet?”
“I’d probably ask what’s wrong with me.”
I smile as I press my lips to hers, because that’s exactly what she’d say. I pull her tighter to me and dissolve into her kiss, just as the front door is pulled open.
“Nice entrance, bud!”
She tries to pull away from me, but I inhale slowly, keeping her close just a second longer before opening my eyes. “Dayna, meet my kid brother, Spencer.”
She holds out her hand and looks startled when Spencer goes straight in for a hug.
And so it begins.
“Alright, Spence, that’s enough,” I say. He releases Dayna and punches me in the arm, running inside before I can pull him into a headlock.
“He’s home from uni for the weekend,” I say, feeling the need to justify again why I’ve dragged her here. She smiles nervously and tucks her hair behind her ear.
I hang up her coat and take her hand, leading her to the lounge. My tension dissipates as soon as I see Kathryn sitting on the sofa with her boyfriend, Joe. Kathryn stands, and I turn to Dayna to make the introduction, but she’s busy looking up at the high, grand ceiling and ridiculously over-the-top crystal chandelier.
“Dayna, baby, this is my twin sister, Kathryn.”
Her brown eyes light up and her mesmerising smile pulls on her lips as she extends a hand to my sister. “It’s so nice to meet you, Kathryn.”
“And you, although I confess I only found out you existed yesterday,” Kathryn says, playfully knocking into my side.
“Nice to know you’ve been talking about me,” Dayna says with a pout that I think is more playful than pissed off. I tuck her under my arm and quickly kiss her temple. I have no idea whether that’s an appropriate thing to do, but I don’t care. I can’t get enough of her.
As Joe introduces himself, Spencer bursts into the room, his jaw working through a mouthful of something he’s stolen from the kitchen.
“You could have made an effort, Spence,” I snipe as I take a seat on the sofa with Dayna. “Have you even showered?”
He looks at his checked shirt, open and hanging loose over a white t-shirt. His jeans look worn, and his wrists are full of leather and rubber bracelets. His sandy-blond hair looks like he’s just crawled out of bed, and he hasn’t bothered to shave. He slops down into a chair, hanging a leg over the arm.
“Dress up for you? You shitting me? I’ll shower right before I go out tonight. Chicks seem grateful for a clean dick.”
I hold back a laugh, but Dayna giggles, giving me the green light to go ahead.
“Is that your chat-up line, Spence?” Dayna asks, leaning forwards to take an olive from a ramekin on the coffee table.
“I don’t need a line, Dayna. They just have to look at me.”
We all banter back and forth, Kathryn and Joe joining in the fight. I slip my arm across the back of the sofa behind Dayna and cross my ankle over my opposite thigh, finally relaxing. I shouldn’t have worried; Dayna has enough sass to hold her own.
“Clark, darling, good afternoon.”
My mother has gone to town, playing up to appearances. She floats into the room, her arms out wide, pearls draped around her neck and hanging low on her tailored dress.
