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

Chapter Thirty Six

Christopher

I wake up to the smell of coffee and pancakes and an empty bed and walk out into the kitchen to see Hannah and Piper cooking breakfast. Hannah leans over her mom’s shoulder, pointing and saying something, while her mother pours the batter into an oiled pan.

Lucy sits off to the side, calm and well-behaved but with a well trained eye on the stovetop, her nose wiggling fanatically.

I watch from the hallway for a moment, proud of all that Hannah’s learned and how natural she seems at teaching.

I hear her say, “Okay and see, now there’s bubbles, so you can go ahead and flip it.”

“Flip it?!” Piper balks, and Hannah laughs, moving a hair that’s covered in wet flour behind her mother’s ear.

“Oh, hey, sleepyhead,” Hannah calls out to me, her grin wide and gummy.

I have this overwhelming urge swell through me to grip her face in my hands and cover her face in kisses, but she’s stirring a bowl of batter, so I simply say, “Hi, there. You’ve got a feast going, I see.”

“Not exactly a feast, but there’s coffee! And we’re working on unburnt pancakes. We’ll have some any minute now, I know it.”

She looks over at her mom hunched over the stovetop, a spatula in her hand ready for the pancake as though it might hop out of the pan.

“I wanted to get McDonald’s for everyone,” Piper offers sheepishly.

“No, this is better! I believe in you. What can I do to help?” I scratch at my arm, looking around at the countertops speckled with batter and the egg shell remains.

“How about I clean up as you cook?”

“You know what? I actually would love for you to just…do your thing. Take a shower, go on a run. This might take us a while,” Hannah says, almost apologetically.

I nod as I approach the kitchen. “Sure, I can do that.” I pick up an abandoned bowl with remnants of batter past and rinse it out in the sink.

“Get! Out of here!” Hannah swats me with a batter-crusted spatula.

“Hey! That touches our food!”

“Well, there would be no arms to smack if you’d go on your run!”

She holds the spatula menacingly above her shoulder like a baseball bat, and I hold up my hands in surrender.

I get changed into my running shorts and a tank and clip Lucy onto a leash to bring her with me. As I walk out the door, I call out, “Please don’t burn my kitchen down.”

“You don’t have renter’s insurance?” Hannah calls back.

“I do, but remember that there’s priceless art in the bathroom,” I tell her, closing the door behind me.

My normal routine has been disrupted though. I have a ritual I’m used to, that tens of women have seen over the years.

Typically, I shower, knowing that I’ll be sweaty after my run. I make an egg white omelet, naked, and air dry while listening to my meditation podcasts. Then I get dressed and go for a run.

I shower again when I get back and I only drink coffee if Tyler happens to call.

This morning has thrown each aspect of my routine out the window, but Hannah seems so delighted to be here with me that decide to just roll with the flow.

Still, the run isn’t quite as satisfying as it usually is, and I feel it turn into a jog and then slow down even further to a walk.

Lucy seems confused, but happy regardless, as she slows and takes her time smelling various spots that I can’t see being unique in any sense, but which she finds fascinating in her own little doggy way.

Seeing Hannah and her mother reminds me of my father and the relationship we never got to have.

The memory of his arrest still haunts me. I looked out the window from the second floor of our home and I saw them encircle his wrists with handcuffs.

I saw him look up and see me, at which point I fell to the floor of my room hoping he hadn’t seen me standing there, but knowing I wasn’t quick enough.

I found out later that he had laundered money. A lot of money. He had filed fraudulent tax returns, and my family was fractured beyond repair from that point forward.

We visited him once a month in the prison, and my father would tell me to keep my eyes on him while my mother would shield my eyes with two hands when inappropriate things would happen around us.

Those memories were the main reason I initially went to see Hannah and get her advice.

I want to do everythingng right with my business. I don’t want a single thing to go wrong. Hannah found more than I bargained for with my business and finances, and it terrifies me.

What if it had been discovered during a tax audit and the government thought I embezzled from the business to evade taxes? My God, I could conceivably go to prison myself!

I’m still afraid to make a move. I’m afraid if I tell someone about what Sarah’s done that I’ll end up in the same situation and be blamed for everythingng.

I kick a rock absentmindedly and pick up the phone to call Tyler, my mind made up that I don’t have anything if I don’t have my relationships.

Tyler picks up after only a few rings and answers happily. I often think that if Tyler were a dog, I would be able to hear his tail wagging.

“Hey, Bud, you’re calling me first? I feel honored.”

I kick the rock further down the sidewalk, and Lucy jumps at it as though it were a live playmate, her tail wagging behind her as her bark explodes towards it.

“I sure am. What are you doing today?”

“Oh, you know, I have work. Don’t you have to work today?”

I shrug even though he can’t see me and try to encourage Lucy to walk ahead of me wherever she wants to go. She struggles to lead, looking back with her wet, moony eyes even as I shake my hand at her.

“I don’t know what I have going on anymore.”

“What do you mean? You okay?” Tyler’s concern emanates through the phone.

“Yeah, I’ll be okay. I got another client on Friday, but I’m laying low until then. The thing is, Hannah figured out someone was stealing from me, and it turned out to be Sarah, and honestly, dude? It’s kind of messed with me in a big way. I trusted her, you know?”

“For sure, man, that’s rough.”

“It’s got me thinking like, what if I get in trouble, too?” Like what happened to my dad. The thought goes unsaid, as always.

“Have you told Hannah about your concerns? She’s a good CPA, Chris, she can help you.”

I hang my head back and look at the endlessly blue sky above me.

Of course I haven’t told Hannah. There were a few moments that I almost did, and then it wasn’t the time and eventually it felt strange to even try.

“Not yet. I guess I should.”

“I’m sure you wouldn’t get in trouble for it since you had nothing to do with it. Okay, Chris? Don’t worry about it. But I’m sorry that happened to you. Well, hey, do you wanna grab a drink when I get off later? We can talk about what your plan is next.”

A twinge of guilt tugs at my heart. I know I need to tell him about Hannah. His unwavering support has gotten me through so much of life, and I haven’t returned any of the kindness he’s offered me. Not that he’s aware of that yet.

“You sure you can’t come meet me for lunch?”

“Uh, you know my days are tight. And they could turn on a dime. I usually just stuff a sandwich down my throat.”

“I know,” I say firmly, waiting on Lucy to smell a particularly interesting flower. It really is beautiful, purple and stretching out its petals to the sky.

I lean down and pluck it for Hannah, feeling like a child, but Lucy takes it and eats it in front of me.

I laugh a little and throw the stem on the ground for her. “Well, hey, I wouldn’t want to mess your whole day up. How about if you find yourself with a free hour you let me know?”

There’s a pause on the other end as Tyler considers my request.

I know he’s not actually considering whether or not he’s going to let me know if he gets a free hour, but whether or not he’s going to take off now just to make sure I’m okay.

I quickly say, “Seriously, don’t worry about it.”

“You sure?” he asks hesitantly.

“Positive. I’m a big boy,” I promise him. “I’ll talk to you soon. Like you said, when you get off tonight.”

“Okay, great, dude. I really do want to see you soon. Hey, how did things go with that girl?”

I freeze, unable to remember my lie or come up with anything to fill the space. “What girl?”

“That good, huh?” he chuckles. “I really thought you cared about this one. You seemed so upset. Ah, well, learned my lesson again.”

“Yeah, I don’t know.” I scratch my head and pull Lucy away from the weeds cropping up along the strip of grass that she’s determined to eat.

She sniffs indignantly and reluctantly follows me.

“Who knows what happened?”

I consider saying something right then: I was lying. It was about Hannah. Oh, also, I got your sister pregnant. But I don’t. I let it go.

“Well, hey, you’ll find someone again soon enough. I gotta go, they’re calling me into scrub. I’ll call you later tonight. And hopefully this afternoon!”

He sounds peppy before he hangs up but I know he won’t have time to call me.

I shove my phone back into my pocket and sigh. The sound perks up Lucy, who looks backward at me while trotting. I pet her head and tell her, “Come on, girl, let’s go see what the other girls are doing.”