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“I didn’t think it was a big deal.”
“It isn’t, but I want to know where you are in case I need to reach you.”
She holds up her cell phone. “This was on the entire time.”
“Please just humor me. It only takes a moment to send a text.”
“Okay, fine.” Her tone sounds completely put out, like I’m asking her to climb Mount Everest. “Oh, that reminds me. Trixie said you probably need your nails repainted, and that she has a discount code for you.”
I have no idea why any of that made her think of Bryant’s girlfriend, but I don’t ask. Maybe she noticed my chipped nails. I thank her and head toward the stairs.
“Are you going to put my bat away?” Nadia calls.
I turn back around, grab it, then trudge up the stairs. At least the house is secure. We can all sleep well tonight. My eyelids grow heavy as I make my way to return the bat. By the time I get to my room, I’m ready to fall asleep without changing out of my clothes. In fact, I don’t even need to pull back the covers. I could fall onto the bed and sleep as I am until morning.
But if I don’t wash my face, my skin will break out. The teenagers aren’t the only ones in the house with skin problems. At this age, my hormones are just as out of whack as theirs.
I wonder if that’s what spurred my sister to go after me. Hormones are a wild ride, and who knows what her life is like? I try to imagine different scenarios as I get ready for bed. Since we were both adopted, we could’ve ended up in wildly different families. Given she’s trying to destroy my life, I’d say that’s a likely possibility. I can’t even imagine what it would take for someone to lash out at their identical twin in such a manner.
It makes me feel bad for her. Her life has probably been harder than mine—not that mine’s been a cakewalk. Not with a brother who’s a sociopath, a dad with really early dementia, and a first husband who’s a narcissist. And to top it all off, finding out in myfortiesthat I was adopted.
Yeah, my life definitely isn’t a dream.
We probably have more in common than either of us realize. I just wish she’d have given us the chance to talk and find all of that out. But for whatever reason, she didn’t want to go that route.
Maybe I should try to reach out to her instead of trying to lure her to David. What the poor lady needs is sympathy and probably a bunch of hugs to make up for the ones she obviously lacked as a child.
I like that idea. Once she sees me as an ally, we can try to make up for lost time.
It’s perfect. I pat my face dry and change into my pajamas. As I’m putting my clothes into the hamper, something catches my eye.
My purple flowered tank top. I’m not even surprised at this point.
But to think I was going to give grace to my twin sister. I shake my head. That ship has now sailed.
The woman is going down.
ChapterForty-Two
Sitting this close to David is supremely awkward. Spikes of guilt run through my body. I wouldneverdo anything to hurt Peter, especially not something like this. He and David have been close their entire lives. In fact, their closeness is why David is so eager to help me in my fight against my twin sister. I’d do anything for him, as well.
David nudges me. “You need to relax. Nobody’s going to buy this ruse with you so stiff.”
I didn’t even realize I was stiff, but he’s right.
“Pretend I’m Peter.” He wraps an arm around me. “That’ll make it more believable.”
“I’ll try.” I take a long sip of my black coffee and stare into the nearly-full mug. Normally, I’d have it almost emptied by now, but I hate this. We should’ve come up with another way to lure the woman trying to ruin my life.
“How can you drink your coffee black?” David’s face is so close to mine that I can feel his breath on my cheek.
Everything in me screams to run. Instead, I set the mug down and manage to smile at my brother-in-law. “I learned to like it when I was doing intermittent fasting. If you drink coffee without anything in it, it won’t break a fast. Now I can’t drink it any other way. I can’t take the sweetness anymore.”
“You don’t need to lose any weight.”
I snort. Clearly he doesn’t pay close enough attention to me or the fifteen pounds that have been dogging me since I had Sophie.
He tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear and moves so close to me, our noses almost touch.
