17. Callie
CHAPTER 17
CALLIE
“ W here’s your lingerie?” Ana is digging through my suitcase, tossing socks and pajamas aside as she hunts.
“Why would I pack lingerie?”
She holds up my blue one-piece bathing suit. “What is this? My grandma wears sexier swimsuits than this.”
I pull it out of her hands and tuck it back into the case. “I don’t need sexy clothes, Ana. As you’re aware, my dates are fake, and there are two of them. Nothing’s going to be happening.”
She grabs my shoulders, squaring me to her and giving me a shake. “Callie, you’re not making sense. You’re going to a lux resort with two very lux men. Twins! For the love of all that’s horny, do not waste this opportunity.”
I just stand there, trying to be patient but failing. “Please, Marissa, talk some sense into her.”
My other roommate is sitting on my bed, straightening out the things Ana disrupted in my suitcase. “Sorry, Callie. I’m with Ana on this one. You have a pretty sweet opportunity in your hands.”
Exasperated, I look between the two of them. “Even if I wanted something to happen with one of the men—which I don’t —both of them are going to be staying in my room. There won’t be any privacy.”
It’s been several days since I told Marissa and Ana about my fake dates for the wedding, and their excitement still hasn’t worn off.
Now that the day has come to check in at the resort, Ana, particularly, is in a frenzy. “You know how it is with twins,” she says. “They like the same things. They work together really well, if you get my meaning. A girl could always enjoy an extra set of hands, an extra mouth …”
“Ana, please stop.”
Marissa twists to look at me as I pace around the room. “Like you said, Callie, it’s awfully strange how Max said he wanted to go to a beach resort when he’s already literally living at the beach. I think it was an excuse to spend time with you.”
“If he wanted to spend time with me, why did he insist on his brother coming along?”
Ana starts to open her mouth but I hold out a hand. “Nope! Ana, you are losing your grip on what’s real life and what’s fiction. There isn’t going to be a two-way happening, much less a three-way.”
As Ana pouts, Marissa gets up to go to my closet. “Still, Callie, you could stand to wear some cuter clothes. What about your silky pink PJ set?”
“It’s awfully thin and clingy. I’d have to wear a bra under it.”
Ana throws her hands up and heads for the door. “I give up! This girl is beyond hope.”
Marissa grins and shakes her head indulgently as Ana leaves my room. “How about your red bikini, Callie? At least take it along so you’ll have options. And your pink pajamas.”
Because it’s easier than arguing, and because there’s extra room in my suitcase, I take Marissa’s recommendations.
She adds two bikinis, the pink pajamas, and a couple of different options for the pre-wedding events. I’ve been living my life in either yoga clothes or my sandwich shop polo, so I appreciate her help with the outfits, but I intend to ignore the skimpy PJ set in favor of the more modest cotton ones I packed.
My dresses for both the rehearsal dinner and the wedding are already hanging on my door. When I gather everything together and take it out to the living room to set it by the door, I find Ana waiting for me.
"Do you have a few minutes to talk, Callie?" Her serious tone stops me in my tracks.
"Yeah. Max won't be here for at least fifteen minutes."
After I set my bags down and take a seat across from her, Ana leans in. “We haven’t known each other very long, and I don’t know much about your past, but I can tell you were hurt pretty badly and you’ve closed yourself off.”
I start to protest, but she’s not wrong. Closing myself off was a choice as much as a reactionary response.
“All my teasing and my romance books aside, I think you’re too young to be so jaded. Getting hurt is part of life. You can’t let it hold you back.”
My spine stiffens. “It’s not that simple, Ana.”
“Maybe, but maybe it also doesn’t need to be so complicated. You’ve been working damn hard for all the time I’ve known you. You deserve to have some fun.”
Marissa comes in, and sensing the tone of our conversation, takes a seat at the other end of the couch without saying anything.
I’m inclined to argue with Ana because she’s right—she doesn’t know everything about my past, but her heart’s in a good place. She wants what’s best for me, she just has the wrong idea about what that is.
I do deserve to have some fun, but my idea of fun isn’t getting entangled with men—that’s always complicated, despite what she thinks.
“We’ll see, Ana, but honestly, I’m just not interested.”
“At least let yourself be open.”
She says that as if it’s an easy thing to do. I used to be as open as a blooming flower, and I ended up trampled underfoot.
As Ana leans back, her thoughts expressed, Marissa asks, “Are you worried about passing the men off as your boyfriend in front of your family?”
“I think it’ll go okay. We went over a lot of details in preparation. In fact, I feel like I might know too many random things, like Miles loves marshmallows, Max hates bananas, and they both prefer their steaks cooked medium rare.”
A lot of their similarities became apparent as we learned about each other. They share several of the same mannerisms, like rubbing the back of their neck when they’re thinking hard about something, or tilting their heads when they’re amused. Both brothers are almost obsessive about keeping their house clean, and both have good manners, when Miles speaks instead of grunts.
“What about the twin switching thing? Do you think anyone will know?” Marissa asks. “Can you tell them apart?”
“I can, but only because I got to know them separately, and their personalities are quite different. Physically, you have to look really hard to find any differences.”
Ana’s eyes light up in a way that signals that I’m about to hear more raunchy suggestions that involve getting the twins naked, but to my relief, she stays quiet.
“I hope they won’t do much switching off, because I am worried about slipping up and calling Miles by his name when my family will know him as Max.”
“That would be tricky,” Marissa says. “And how are you feeling about your ex being there?”
I draw a semicircle on the carpet with the tip of my toe. “Sometimes I feel like it’ll be okay. Other times I feel sick about it.”
“Have you told Max and Miles about him?”
That question makes me smile. “Yeah. Max keeps coming up with over-the-top ideas to fill Rick with regret. His latest one is that we start a rumor that I won $50 million in the Powerball lottery.”
Both Marissa and Ana laugh at this.
“I think Max plans to try to make Rick jealous, but I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
Marissa’s brows draw together. “You don’t want him back, do you?”
“God, no. I’m planning to do my best to ignore him altogether.”
“That sounds like a smart plan,” Ana says. “Do whatever you need to do to make the best of it.”
“I’m feeling better about it all than I was a week ago. Max and Miles should be a good diversion.”
Ana gives me a knowing smile, but stays quiet.
“I can’t wait to hear how their switching scheme goes,” Marissa says.
I was worried about that at first, but after spending more time with them, I’m slightly more concerned about my growing attraction to them. It was easier to ignore their good looks when I thought they were one man who had a wildly inconsistent personality. Now I know better.
The more I learn about them, the more I like them.
But I’m sure nothing will happen between me and either of them. My ex’s presence at the wedding will serve as a strong reminder of why I shouldn’t get involved with men.