Sweet Twins For My Brother's Best Friend: An Enemies To Lovers Romance (The Sweet Twins Collection)

Chapter Nineteen

Hannah

I go home after seeing Julie, my nerves unable to settle.

I don’t know what exactly I want to do with the information that I am now certain is true: that Lucy is Noodle. If that’s true, it means I have a slice of Chris’ former life sitting in the backseat with warm brown eyes and a wet nose right now.

The first thing I do is make myself an omelet for lunch on the cook top Chris got me, which is one of my favorite meals now.

I had really underestimated how much better an egg would taste cooked over a burner versus coming out of a microwave.

After eating it feverishly, like someone who had never eaten a meal in her life, I gather up my painting supplies, put Lucy on a leash, and walk to the nearby dog park, my mind wracked with repetitive thoughts about everythingng.

Lately, my mind is a thick fog of questions and curiosities. I don’t know what to do about losing my virginity to my brother’s best friend.

I really don’t know what to do about how good it was and the fact that I am looking forward to a repeat performance.

I don’t know what to do about Chris’ business, the whole reason we’re together in the first place.

As long as he has a thief in his midst, he’s losing money, and that scares me.

I know how much he struggles with betrayal, so the thought of him being betrayed on an ongoing basis by someone else he trusts just breaks my heart.

I don’t know what to do about Lucy.

What if I tell Chris and he’s angry that I met with Julie? What if he doesn’t believe me? What if he doesn’t care? What if knowing about Lucy makes him want to avoid me because it’s too hard for him knowing that she’s actually Noodle?

I sit on the grass at the dog park, finishing the painting I started of Lucy in what seems like a lifetime ago now.

I paint the background of the trees and deepen the greens of the grass.

Painting on the grass is one of the best feelings in the world because if you get paint on your fingers, you just wipe them off right there on the earth. It’s like a present from Mother Nature.

Lucy runs back and forth across the park, her mouth frothy and her eyes wild, her ears flapping backward in the wind as another dog happily chases her and they play bow to each other. I tear up thinking about the way Julie just threw her away.

Not very happy with the outcome of this painting, I prop the canvas up against the tree I’m under and pull another out of my bag to start anew.

Maybe if I do a really good job of painting Lucy for Chris, he’ll see what good news this really is.

I start by sketching her face, her soft eyes filled with love that look as though she’s never once suffered, and the nose that twitches at the slightest smell.

I paint her head titled at an angle, the way she looks when I answer the phone and she listens to my conversation. I think about painting her in technicolor, to show what she has added to my life and what joy she can still bring to Chris.

“Hey, there, working on another?”

I look up and see the man I met briefly at the dog park before.

Scott stands over me, blocking the sun directly with his body. He casts a long shadow over me that gives me a chill in the otherwise sunny spot.

“I’m sorry?”

“You were painting the last time I saw you here, too. Looks like you’ve started another.”

“Oh.” I look down. “Yeah.” I shade my eyes with my hand.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Can I sit?”

“Sure.” I shrug.

Scott sits down, a tangle of legs and arms. “You left kind of quick last time. Wasn’t sure if I upset you for some reason.”

“Nah,” I say, continuing to work on my artwork. “I was just done already. Bad timing.”

“Ah.” Scott points over at our dogs together.

They’re jumping and biting at each other’s necks, their tails wagging wildly. “Looks like they like each other.”

“Lucy likes everyone,” I respond honestly.

“Ouch. Not even gonna let me feel special for a second?” I look up at him to see if he’s serious and he raises his eyebrows at me, a sideways small across his lips.

“Do you normally only need a second?” I ask, and he returns my question with a grin.

Is this flirting? Why don’t I feel nervous? Was all that was necessary for to be able to talk to men was to lose my virginity?

“Wooooowww.” He drags the word out, throwing his head back to laugh. “You’re a cruel one, Hannah.”

I smile politely, satisfied with the way I responded, satisfied with my ability to talk to a man and make him laugh, and I go back to my sketch as I hide a grin into my canvas.

Once I realize I’ve lost the light, I stand up, my bones seeming to creak with the effort.

Scott looks up at me and protest, “Nooo, don’t go.”

“Ah, but I…,” I turn my painting around, “I’ve lost the light for the day.”

“Well, so? That doesn’t mean you have to leave. Our girls are still having so much fun.”

Standing awkwardly, I look over at Lucy and Scott’s golden doodle. They do still seem to be having fun somehow. Their endless energy is remarkable, inspiring even.

“Yeah, but.” I check my phone and see the time, that hours have passed already.

“Well, I really do have to go. I have a life.”

“You saying I don’t have a life?”

“Well, I do see you here a lot,” I snicker at him, gently tapping my canvas with the pads of my thumb to make sure the paint is dry before I slide it back into my bag.

“Hm, well, maybe I’ll see you here again, then? For a play date? Our dogs are too in love for us to ignore it, don’t you think?”

“As long as it’s only a doggie play date.”

I hold my bag in front of me like a barrier, suddenly worried about how Chris might feel if he saw me talking to Scott like this.

Would he care? Would I want him to?

Scott crashes his hand into his chest and frowns dramatically, “You’re breaking my heart.”

“I’ll be back later in the week,” I tell him, slapping my hand against my thigh for Lucy to come back to me.

“Also, not to really rub it in, but you’re sitting on my blanket.” I point at the ground.

“Oh. Well, if I keep it, you’ll have a reason to come back. Like Cinderella.”

I roll my eyes, already tired of this flirting game.

“I have a reason to come back because of the dog park, Lover Boy. Give me back my blanket, please.”

“Fine.” Scott stands and picks up my blanket. He shakes the grass and dirt off, folds it, and hands it over to me. “Until then.”

“Bye, Scott,” I tell him, clipping the leash to Lucy’s collar and walking out.