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I waseleven years old the first time I met the Colter twins.
My brother Grady had been signed up to play league football because our mom didn’t think he socialized enough, and she was sick of him sitting in his room, gaming all the time.
She wanted him to get exercise.
And meet people.
So that third week of football, she invited all the players over for a pizza party, and I remember the team arriving, one by one, getting dropped off by their parents for the two hours my mother had arranged—and I remember the Colters walking through the door.
Tall, even at the age of thirteen.
Tan from always being outside.
One was quiet and had braces; the other was talking and being loud as soon as he stepped foot in the kitchen where the pizza was being served.
I’d been on the other side of the room, hovering in the doorway where the laundry room was, too intimidated by all the teenage boys to grab a slice of my favorite—cheese, sausage, and pineapple. Mom had ordered it specifically for me, knowing most of the boys wouldn’t want pineapple on their pizza, but I was too chickenshit to steal a piece.
“Who’s that?” one of them asked. I can’t remember who.
Grady had looked in the direction of the kid’s finger, glancing at me over his shoulder.
“Oh. That’s my sister.”
Oh.
That’s my sister…
But I mean, I was his little sister, and I was kind of small at that age. And shy.
I remember that once they’d all lost interest in staring at me, and they’d gone back to devouring the pizzas, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the twins.
They were so cute.
Literally the cutest boys I’d ever seen in my entire life.
My face turned bright red as soon as the one in the gray tee shirt scanned the small group of boys and caught my eye in the corner, smiling after a few seconds of awkward staring.
I was too freaked out to smile back.
That had been Drew.
I found out his name later—the one with the braces—and lay in bed that whole night, staring up at my bedroom ceiling while saying it to myself. Drew.
Drew Colter.
I wondered what his middle name was.
He was the quiet Colter, who didn’t have much to say about anything unless asked. He usually let his louder, more obnoxious brother speak for them, as twins sometimes do.
And I watched number twenty-nine at every game of my brother’s that I went to, silently clapping when he blocked a play or took a hit and got back up on his feet without a scratch.
Drew Colter.
Sigh.
When I was fourteen, and we were all in high school, I prayed every day that I would bump into him in the hallway between classes. But we rarely did because freshmen and juniors didn’t have class on the same floors, and everything was separated by wings. Freshmen ate with freshmen, sophomores ate with sophomores, and on and on and on.
Then one day when I was eating lunch, there was a commotion at the front of the cafeteria near the vending machines, and a small group of football players walked in, wearing their home jerseys and carrying flyers.
Drew Colter was among them.
I knew it was him instantly. He didn’t have the same arrogance his brother Drake had, and he hung back from the group the way he usually did.
I watched as the boys walked around from table to table, handing out those flyers, smiling down at the pretty girls and flirting.
“Oh my god, they are so. Hot.”
My friends Charity, Bev, and Tosha stopped cackling about whatever story Charity had been sharing to stare, all of us holding our breath as the football players weaved in and out, like gods among us, for football was the only thing anyone in this town gave a shit about.
Three tables away.
Two.
“Hey, Tess.” Drew handed me a flyer with a smile, my name on his full, pouty lips, his white teeth peeking through.
I opened my mouth to reply, but they were already gone.
“Oh. My. God,” Charity said dramatically. “Drew. Colter. Said. Your. Name.”
I rolled my eyes, pretending to be unfazed. “I’m Grady’s sister. He has to be nice to me.”
My brother and Drew had become fast friends that night after the pizza party three years ago, spending most of their downtime running plays, hanging out in our basement, or at Drew’s house, swimming in his pool.
The Colters lived on a ranch, and their dad was never around, but it was a sprawling house with a massive pool that even had one of those slides you see at the water park—it even had a pool house with a kitchen full of snacks.
I’d only been there once when the Colters hosted a party. Mrs. Colter had wanted help, so Mom dragged me over as an extra set of hands.
I’d refused to take my tee shirt and shorts off to get in the pool.
I was twelve that year and flat-chested, and I didn’t want anyone looking at my skinny, pale legs. Besides, my mom would only allow me to wear a one-piece, and I considered it dorky and childish, and it was embarrassing.
So I’d stood there baking in the Texas sun, watching Drew and his glistening skin while he bobbed in the blue pool water.
“He doesn’t have to be nice to you,” Bev had pointed out. “His brother isn’t.”
“Drake Colter isn’t nice to anyone he isn’t dating,” Tosha pointed out.
“Drake Colter doesn’t date.” Bev laughed.
“Exactly.” Tosha made her point with a loud laugh, and I glanced over at the boys to ensure they hadn’t heard us.
But they were already gone, and I picked up the flyer, my eyes trailing over the words THE GRIDIRON CLUB NEEDS YOU!
The Gridiron Club was the name of the football boosters who raised money to pay for the lights on the football field, keeping the concession stand stocked, and put the team in fancy new uniforms every season.
“They’re fundraising for a team that’s not even part of the school.” Bev snorted. “Lame.”
I folded the flyer and tucked it in my lunch box.
I knew I wouldn’t get to go to the fundraiser unless my parents planned on attending, but I kept it anyway—because Drew had handed it to me personally.
“Hey, Tess.”
He’d said my name.
We never spoke, and he remembered my name!
I would take that flyer and doodle his name on it alongside mine.
Drew + Tess.
Tess Donahue + Drew Colter.
Tess Colter.
Tess Mirabelle Colter.
Tess Mirabelle Donahue-Colter.
Heart.
Star.
More hearts.
Opened my diary that night and wrote:
Dear Diary, it’s me again.
Drew and his buddies came into the lunchroom today and gave me this flyer. Okay, so it wasn’t to me specifically, but he handed it to me and said, “Hey, Tess,” and I thought I was going to die.
He is so cute!!!!
I still haven’t said anything to the girls about having a crush on him. I don’t want them to think I’m out of my dang mind. He’s a Colter, and Colters only love one thing—football.
Homecoming is coming up, and Mom said I can go this year with Bev, Charity, and Tosha, but I don’t want to go if Drew isn’t going, which I doubt he is ’cause he isn’t dating anyone I don’t think.
Grady is going—obviously—with Beth Newman. I can’t stand that B. She’s so rude and treats me like I’m a kid and she’s only a year older. My brother is an idiot with horrible taste in girls and do you think he takes my advice? No. Because Beth Newman has big boobs and laughs at every stupid thing he says. I think she caught me rolling my eyes at her but whatever.
Well, Diary, I should get to bed.
I have tennis lessons in the morning, and Mom said I can’t skip even though it’s going to be hot as Hades. I don’t know why, it’s not like I’m going to play professionally.
Xx Tess, age 14
I folded up the football flyer covered in hearts and doodles and our names, tucking it neatly into my diary and locking it away.
Chapter 1
Drew
“I’m beginning to think I’m single because I never forwarded those chain letters I got in high school…”
I’m the last man standing.
My three brothers have girlfriends, including my twin—the guy no one ever thought would get himself relationshipped has gone and got himself a better half.
Talk about ironic…
I was always supposed to be the one in a relationship, not Drake. Everyone knows he had zero interest in dating! He’s the one who never wanted to date the same person twice or sleep with the same person night after night. Drake wouldn’t go on dating apps to find love. He only went on the dating apps to pretend to be me.
Now look at him, gallivanting around campus like a pig in shit when he intended to find a girlfriend for me.
The universe is a fickle mistress.
No. The universe is a bitch.
Still, I can’t be bitter, can I?
I am happy for the miserable bastard.
What?! I am!
I don’t have it in me to be anything but—he is my brother, after all, and not just my brother; he is my twin. Honestly, I’m happy for the asshole even though he went behind my back and lied to me and his girlfriend—before she was his girlfriend (obviously).
He was trying to help you out.
But he did it without tellin’ you…
He told you. You just didn’t take him seriously. You thought he was lyin’ when he was telling the truth, then you accused him of lyin’ once you found out he was sneaking around.
Because I didn’t actually think he was out there dating people and pretending to be me.
Ha!
Whoops.
Anyway. I digress. No sense in getting all bummed out about it. Plenty of people are single, so it’s not like I’m the only one. It’s just, you know—I feel ready? Yeah, yeah, I know. Love finds you when you’re not looking for it, or so my brother—who has now become the expert on love—keeps telling me. He considers himself living proof.
I sigh, shoving my sneakers into my black duffel bag before slinging it over my shoulder. My phone pings with a notification as I push through the gym’s front door.
It’s Grady Donahue, my best friend.
Grady and I have known each other since middle school when we played Little League football. He’s not playing anymore. In fact, he isn’t even attending a big university like I am. Instead, he’s working a full-time job, renting his own apartment, and paying his own bills.
My heart squeezes.
I’m looking forward to the same independence.
Grady: Dude, what are you doing this weekend?
He gets straight to the point. No ‘good morning’ or ‘hey man’ or ‘how’s it goin’?’ as foreplay for this conversation, no mincing words the way I do when I’m trying to get information from someone.
Drew: The usual? Hanging out.
Grady: You should come home. I’m having a bachelor party for Lucas. You should be here.
Lucas Jones is another of our buddies from home. He’s working for his dad’s construction company and got engaged to his high school sweetheart last year. Must be getting ready to tie the knot if they’re having a bachelor party.
I heard buzz about it but wasn’t invited to the actual wedding.
Drew: Bro, wouldn’t it be weird to show up when I’m not going to the wedding?
Grady: Dude, they barely invited his grandma to the vows. They’re keeping it small. Told you this a 100 times.
Yeah, he actually has told me this one hundred times, but I’m still not the kind of dude who shows up when I haven’t been invited, bachelor party or not.
Grady: You can afford the flight. Just come home for the weekend. I know you’re burned out, so give yourself a break. There are no classes on Monday.
Correct again, I am burned out—from the new relationship my brother is in, from football, from practice, from the gym, from games, from the weight of my family legacy bearing down on my shoulders.
I do need a fucking break.
I”m not sure going home will be the break I need, not if I’m still surrounded by noise and people.
Drew: How do you know we don’t have classes on Monday?
It’s a holiday, and most universities aren’t holding classes.
Grady: ’Cause Tess is home from school.
Tess is his little sister, and I can almost hear Grady picking at his teeth with a toothpick. Southern boy to the core.
Drew: I have to think about it, I guess.
Grady: What’s there to think about? You already said you weren’t doing nothin’ this weekend.
Drew: That doesn’t mean I want to hop on a plane and fly to Texas, bro.
Grady: So you’d rather be lying on the couch with your hand down your pants instead???
Drew: It’s cheaper.
Grady: Don’t make me laugh. We both know your mama would pay to fly you home. When’s the last time you saw her?
I don’t know.
Christmas?
But that’s not unusual for out-of-state students who live hundreds of miles from their parents while attending school. And it’s not like my schedule is wide open.
Just so happens that right now, it is.
Drew: Yeah, but for one weekend?
Grady: Yes, for one weekend. Don’t act surprised. I told you about this, so you knew it was coming up. Drake RSVP’d already.
Drew: He did?
That surprises me. Normally, my twin is shit at getting back to people unless they’re asking him a question to his face.
Drew: What did he say?
Grady: What do you think he said? He said ‘piss off I have better shit to do.’
Drew: LOL
Grady: Just kiddin’ Drake wasn’t invited - we know he’s loved up with Daisy. I know for a fact YOU do not have better shit to do. LOL
Drew: Screw you, dude…
Grady: You wish.
Drew: LOL
Grady: But for real. Get your ass on a plane. You can stay with me. Most of the guys will be here. It’ll be a blast, and who knows, you might meet someone.
Drew: Uh. I’m not dating someone in Texas.
Grady: Who said anything about DATING?