3. Addie
ADDIE
The last few weeks of senior year flew by in a blur.
I blinked, staring into my bedroom mirror as I zipped up my black graduation gown. The polyester itched my skin, and it hid the cute dress I’d talked my mom into buying for the occasion, but once the ceremony ended, I’d get the chance to wear it for pictures.
I unzipped the gown one more time, making sure I’d carefully tucked away my bra straps under the cap sleeves where they rested slightly off my shoulders.
Running my fingers along the scalloped neckline, I went back and forth over adding a necklace, but the dress was already more feminine than what I usually wore.
The deep navy-blue fabric complemented my blue-green eyes.
I’d even put on a touch of mascara to make them pop.
With its fitted bodice hugging my waist and the flared skirt landing just above my knees, it displayed my curves, making me feel like the woman I was becoming. Not the girl I’d been.
Just like prom night.
Maybe I’d imagined Blake’s eyes lingering that night by the pool. Maybe my hopes were too high, and today would be another fruitless attempt to get him to see me clearly.
But even if he didn’t notice, I felt beautiful and grown up.
A day shy of my eighteenth birthday, I deserved to look the part, even if I ended up crushed over his lack of recognition by the end of the night.
Sitting down on the edge of my bed, I slipped on the nude pumps my mom had gotten me to go with my dress. With a low heel, they refined my posture without exaggerating my natural height.
When I looked up, Blake stood in my doorway.
I froze and watched him, barely breathing.
He stared where my black gown remained unzipped, his eyes unmistakably trained on my dress. The sky-blue shade darkened, and his lips parted before he swallowed deeply. Tension in his jaw mirrored the crease in his brow.
I stared at his features, committing his reaction to memory.
But when the need for air became unavoidable, I forced myself to take a few deep breaths as I sat up, breaking his momentary trance.
His eyes widened, tracking the rise and fall of my breaths, and a blush burned my cheeks. I’d practically held up a sign pointing right to my chest. But no bone in my body cared enough to feel embarrassed. Not when he looked at me like that.
He swiped his tongue across his lower lip.
I nearly fainted.
“Hi, Blake.” I hedged gently. “What’s up?”
Blinking rapidly, he shook his head to clear it. He darted his gaze to my face, and I smiled at him, strangely aware of the makeup on my lashes. As if his presence amplified every sensation in the room—every sound and every emotion inside my chest.
He opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out.
Curiosity, or maybe cruel hope, over his reaction suspended me there on the bed. It was like living out a scene in one of my favorite romance novels. I tried to remember how the heroines acted when their crushes stood in front of them.
Staring raptly, with heat in their gaze.
As if seeing them for the first time.
I had to be reliving what those books talked about—I just had to be.
But I didn’t know what to do.
When I rose from the bed, I brushed a hand down my gown, trying to curb the smile pulling at the corners of my mouth. It wanted to spread from ear to ear, to give away how the hopeless romantic inside me danced like no one was watching.
Except the last thing I wanted to do was announce to Blake how decidedly immature I was, right when he might notice how I’d changed.
Not when he might finally see me.
Family—always. The girl he’d grown up with, too. But also, something more.
Something clear enough for him to name, cherished enough to remain protected, and grown enough to be claimed as more than his best friend’s annoying twin sister.
With shaking hands, I reached for my clutch and snapped it closed before stepping toward him.
Blake lips slightly parted again, and he tracked my progress as I came to stand in front of him. He kept his eyes on my face, save for one brief flick down when I stopped.
My head tilted. “Is it time to go?”
He nodded.
Brushing my hand over the shoulder of his gown, I cleared off a speck of lint before I took the zipper in my shaking fingers. I dragged it slowly to his neck.
When his gaze darted down again, I trapped my lower lip between my teeth, biting back the urge to beg him to zip mine like I’d just done for him. I waited for him to do something—anything—to prove his reaction wasn’t in my head.
He cleared his throat. “You don’t have a necklace.”
“What?”
“Your dress. You should…add a necklace or something. It’d be pretty.”
“Oh.” My anticipation deflated like a bursting balloon, and my shoulders dropped as I touched the space beneath my collarbone. “I’ll see if Mom has one, I guess.”
His spine straightened. “Oh, yeah. She says it’s time to go. You’re holding up the car and Adam’s getting restless.”
I gritted my teeth. “God forbid.”
Blake chuckled. “You know he’s all keyed up, thinking he’ll get extra attention today.”
I heaved a sigh. “It’s not my fault he had to be the twin that came out before midnight.”
“True.” Blake stepped back from the doorway, giving me space to walk out. “Doesn’t mean he’s not jealous of you, anyway. I swear, you two are, like, the worst twins ever.”
Rolling my eyes, I zipped up my gown myself. Blake’s brow twitched at the movement, but he kept his eyes on my face.
That confirmed it. I officially needed to avoid romance novels this summer.
“Speaking of terrible family members…” I eased into the subject change while slipping past him into the hall. “Are your folks meeting us at the auditorium?”
“Hah!” Blake barked a laugh. “No. My DNA donors will meet up with the other rich assholes—Sorry. I mean, their friends at the ceremony. Never miss an opportunity to schmooze and rub elbows, you know?”
He nudged me with his elbow to emphasize his point, but then he didn’t drop it. When he flicked his gaze down to his offered arm, I picked up on his meaning. I slid my hand through his arm, letting him lead me out of the house.
Blake saluted my dad as we approached him on the porch. “Got her, Mr. B!”
My dad returned the salute with a hearty laugh, slapping Blake on the back. “Knew we could count on you, kid.”
Blake beamed with pride, smiling at my dad before ducking his head and climbing in the car.
I stopped to take in his reaction, not realizing it until my dad nudged me. When he winked and nodded toward the car, I got inside as he went to lock up the house.
Once he climbed into the driver’s seat, he glanced over the center console, his eyes falling on each of us. “Everybody strapped in?”
Even though he’d just checked for himself, he always asked.
As Adam grunted in response, I clicked my seatbelt into place.
“All strapped in, Dad.” I caught Blake’s smirk as he buckled his, and when Adam grunted again, I twisted around in my seat. “Hey, birthday boy.”
“Shut up, Addie.”
I gasped, feigning disbelief before giving him a saccharine smile. “Is that any way to speak to your twin, especially on your oh-so-very special day?”
Blake tilted his head. “Does it count as being twins if you’re not born on the same day?”
“Yes!” my parents cried emphatically from the front.
“But technically, couldn’t—”
I slapped his arm. “Are you seriously about to tell a woman who carried two babies at the same time that she didn’t have twins?”
He pressed his lips together and shut his mouth. But he shifted in his seat, itching to make an argument.
While he’d never admit it, since he’d sworn off the profession on account of his father, he’d make one hell of a lawyer.
When he muttered something under his breath about multiple lovers and science, my dad let out a genuine laugh, practically tearing up at the thought.
Even sourpuss Adam copped a smile in the third row.
My mom smiled warmly at my dad, and he reached for her hand.
“Blake, when your future wife brings children into the world, you’ll understand.” He laced his fingers with my mom’s, bringing hers to his lips for a quick kiss. “None of the details matter once you’re holding them. And whatever the lady says, goes.”
Blake conceded, his eyes fixed on their joined hands like they’d been on me earlier. He soaked up their affection for each other, and us, like a sponge.
It made my heart ache, even as it made me happy that he’d found my family.
He belonged with us. All of us.
But he’d probably never see me as more than a surrogate little sister because of it.
Brushing off that melancholy thought, I joined in as we spent the rest of the drive talking about summer plans.
We’d be starting our freshman year at D'Arthur University in a month.
The three of us would share an apartment off campus while Adam and I began summer classes, and Blake attended football training camp.
Excitement buzzed through the minivan as we talked it over, but Blake kept falling quiet, his mouth twisting as he held back some unspoken argument.
I couldn’t figure out what it was.
Once we parked and climbed out of the car, the three of us walked ahead to meet our classmates. Right before Blake ran off to his teammates, the point he’d been waiting to make burst out of him.
“I’m just saying!” he argued vehemently. “They did one of those trashy TV episodes where they reveal if the guy’s the father or not, and both guys were the fathers!”
I shot Adam a look, arching a brow before I pinned Blake with an incredulous stare. “That’s your argument? You saw it on Jerry Springer?”
Blake huffed. “Adam, when you go to medical school, ask your professors if it’s true.”
Adam immediately shook his head. “Yeah, no. I’m not doing that.”
I laughed, patting Blake on the back. “Give it up, Hawthorne. No matter what Jerry says, we’re twins.”
“Fine,” he grumbled. “Still the worst twins ever, though.”
“So you admit it.” Adam elbowed Blake. “Hear that, Addie?”
When Adam extended his palm to me, Blake groaned.
“Sure did!” I happily high-fived my brother in front of Blake’s face, sticking out my tongue for good measure. “Twinning!”
Once Blake spotted his friends inside the auditorium, he forgot all about making his case. Given the number of my classmates vying for his focus, it wasn’t like I could blame him.
A stubborn argument on the qualifications for being twins hardly held a candle to Ashley Summers pushing her twins into his face.
I suppressed a groan, forcing myself to admit he barely even glanced at her body. Instead, he’d glued his eyes to her face, listening to whatever she had to say with obvious interest.
Even if he had ogled, it wasn’t like I could blame him for that either. He was still an eighteen-year-old guy. He had…urges or whatever.
But shallow attention beat the hearty laugh he let out when she said something funny.
Tessa let out a low whistle beside me. “I have to give it to her. She looks amazing in that dress.”
After glaring pointedly at my best friend, I turned away. “Yeah, and she knows when to wear a necklace, too. How perfect for him.”
Tessa spun me back around, her eyebrows raised. “Sorry. What? Where’d that come from?”
Begrudgingly, I told her what had happened with Blake before we left my house. She listened quietly, glancing between me and his harem of admirers while I finished the embarrassing recap.
When I made the comparison between me and Ashley, her hands clasped my shoulders.
She jerked a nod at my gown. “What are we working with here?”
I tugged the zipper down and flashed her a quick glimpse of my dress. She clicked her tongue and nodded her approval—as any best friend would do—before holding out her hands.
“May I?”
Unsure of her meaning, but figuring whatever she wanted to do wouldn’t hurt, I shrugged. “Go for it.”
She lowered the zipper on my graduation gown until she could fit her hands inside my dress. Snagging the edge of my bra, she gave it a few wiggles before letting go.
I watched, fascinated, as my cleavage perked up.
“What the…?”
When I lifted my head, she peeked up from what she was doing and winked at me. Then she nodded to the left, just slightly.
I turned just enough to find Blake in the crowd again.
He was staring at us.
Or more specifically, staring at Tessa’s hands as they unabashedly cupped my breasts.
My cheeks flared with heat.
I told myself to look away before he caught me noticing him, but I couldn’t do it.
Tessa followed my gaze and snickered. “Girl. Dream boy is into you.” When I opened my mouth to argue, she added, “At the very least, subconsciously. But clearly, he notices you. He just…doesn’t know what to do with it and stops functioning.
The day he loses his ability to charm a cheerleader, that’s when I’ll worry.
Until then, his interest in whatever she’s saying is him being polite.
Avoidance, my sweet friend.” She patted my cheek. “Not rejection.”
My lips pursed, but Tessa arched a brow as she slowly removed her hands from my gown and eased my zipper back up. I glanced back at Blake as she did.
He jerked his head toward his friends, resuming his conversation with Becky while he rubbed the back of his head. Then he held out his arm for her, just like he’d done with me.
Except he did it without seeking her father’s approval.
That stung.
Tessa huffed. “Even if he never admits it, I stand by what I said.”
I frowned, watching him lead her to her seat before taking his. He chatted happily with the people beside him, and I released a sigh. “That’s the problem, isn’t it?”
She furrowed her brow. “What do you mean?”
“I can wear all the beautiful dresses in the world. I could live to be a hundred years old. And maybe Blake will notice that I’ve changed.” I shrugged. “But if he won’t admit it, I’m still stuck being almost enough…to want as much as he wants them.”