London "I need you." Three words. Eight letters. Three little words that when uttered by the right person, had the power to drag me across the planet. The right person in this case was my twin sister Cathleen. We had been close once upon a time. Those words had been tossed out at any slight inconvenience. Back then when we were still a unit. I hadn't heard those words from her in years. And why would I? What would successful, beautiful, straight-laced, independent, has-her-shit-together Cathleen Albright ever need me for? "I'm not sure this is a good idea." I sighed into the phone after listening to my sister explain how she had had to make an emergency business trip but also had to be present for an important dinner with some friends. "We haven't done a twin switch in years. Nobody will believe it." I heard her clacking away on her laptop. "We're spitting images of each other. Identical twins. You do remember that, right?" I bit back my retort. I didn't want to fight wit
London"Hello.""Hello to you too, sister." I whisper yelled. "Lon?" "Do you know where I am at the moment, Cath?""You should be in your own bed. Cut the drama. Why are you calling me? I'm busy."I gritted my teeth to keep back the loud tirade that was threatening to burst out. I had told my new fiance that I needed to use the bathroom and had locked myself in here to make this very illicit call to his real fiancee. "Congratulations. You're engaged.""Excuse me.""Congratu-""No I heard you the first time. I'm just wondering what exactly you mean by that.""Being engaged means that-""London. Cut the sarcasm." It was the first time I had heard any form of emotion in my sister's voice in a while and boy, was she pissed. "Anything for you sister dear. I didn't think 'it's simple really, it won't take more than an hour of your night' will involve me walking into a candle lit restaurant and getting proposed to by some guy and then getting guilt tripped and brow beaten into a fucking p
SinclairSomething was wrong.I didn't know exactly what it was but I just knew something was really, really wrong. The feeling had started as soon as Cathleen had said yes to marrying me. I had thought that maybe it was just nerves about taking this big step, but no that wasn't it. I had to wonder if I was making a mistake. Was it too soon? We had been together for over a year and this was the next logical step. Cathleen had never talked about starting a family and maybe that was something I should have brought up before proposing, but I wasn't even sure I wanted to start a family. I didn't know what kind of father I'd make. Mine had been an asshole. I didn't have any blue print on what a good father was supposed to look like. Cathleen and I were perfect in every way. We just seemed to slide together like well lubricated wheels in a machine. She understood me and I got her too. We were both busy and driven people and never made demands on each other's times. It had worked perfectly
I was a fool.A goddamn moron.That was the only reason I would be flirting with my sister's fiance and enjoying the hell out of it. I was naturally flirty, something that had put me in trouble more times than I could remember. It was just rare or more accurately had never happened before, that I got to flirt with someone as hot as Sin -quite literally- and have him flirt back in kind while looking at me like he was two seconds away from tearing my clothes off and taking me on the couch, the bed be damned. I was leading him on and I knew it was wrong. There was no way, no way on planet Earth that I was going to have sex with Sin. One of the unspoken rules of sisterhood was that you do not by any chance, mistake or error sleep with your sister's partner. It didn't even matter that Cath had said it was okay, which up till now still baffled me, I was sure she would eventually come to her senses and then family dinners will get way more rife with tension than they already were or worse
She was already in bed, sheets pulled up to her chin when I walked back into the room. The single bedside lamp at my side of the bed bathed the room in muted golden light. Cathleen's big eyes stared up at me from the bed, wide and curious.I hid my grin. She didn't realize how cute she was and I was sure she'd stab me in the throat if I ever said it.I slipped under the covers beside her, ignoring how she tensed as soon as I was situated beside her. I had no plans of mauling her, not now at least and not without her permission, so she had nothing to be afraid of. She was skittish as hell and I didn't know why.I turned off the lamp, plunging the room into darkness. I heard her suck in a breath."So, uh, goodnight." She whispered.In o
LondonI came awake to the smell of something heavenly. I opened my eyes slowly, startled for a second about my unfamiliar surroundings before I remembered the events of the past day. I sat up and stretched feeling well rested for the first time in a long time. Late shifts at the diner and early mornings walking dogs didn't mix well, throw in an apartment with paper thin walls and neighbors coming in and out at all hours of the day and it made for a lot of nights with barely four hours of sleep. Also, my apartment bed was shit compared to the quality of this one. I refused to admit that I was disappointed about waking up alone. When Sin had practically thrown me on top of him last night, I had been immediately on high alert, wondering how and if I was going to be able to fend off any sexual advances.Turned out, I had had nothing to worry about. He hadn't even tried to resume our kissing session from earlier. And no, I wasn't also disappointed about that. The fact that last night's
London. It was past noon by the time we set off from the parking lot. Sin's riding was still a little sloppy, but he looked so proud of himself that I couldn't help but tell him how good he was. Who was I to dash the man's self pride? The map we had been given by the guide had clearly indicated lines showing us trails that were easy and safe to navigate. I was glad to discover that the trails were a little discreet and off road. I didn't want to risk Sin on a road with drivers. We encountered a few other riders on our path but for the most part, it was just us. The trail circled back to the back entrance of the resort, but we decided to go a little off plan and ride up a little hill. "I'm not sure it's a good idea to ride up though. Maybe we should just walk and drag our bikes up." I looked over at Sin's unsteady balance on his. I expected argument but he just nodded and climbed off. I was starting to feel hot and sweaty and just wanted to sit down and cool off. Hopefully there w
London.I rolled my eyes at the sensible grey-green swim suit I had just dug out of Cathleen's luggage. I twisted it around to inspect the back. Just as I thought, it was full coverage. This thing would cover me from collar to past ass cheek and today, I had woken up with a little devil on my shoulder telling me to give Sin a show.Tossing the swim suit back into the suitcase, I sashayed into the bathroom where Sin was brushing at the sink. My eyes met his in the mirror. I leaned against the bathroom door, popping out one hip and leaning back in the most provocative way I could. I was gratified when his eyes ran down my body slowly. It made me feel incredibly sexy and desired when his eyes left mine and dropped to the length of leg exposed by the tiny satin wrap I had to my chest where the losely tied garment showed off some cleavage. When his eyes met mine again they were scorching. My nipples puck
One month laterLondon“What if this doesn’t work?” I wrung my hands nervously. Cath rolled her eyes. “You’re the one that came up with this ridiculous plan.” I glared at her. “Hey! You’re the one who started the whole twin switch trend.” “Gabriel thinks this is stupid too.” She pointed out. I huffed. “I can’t believe you even told Gabriel. This was supposed to be between us.” “I’m not going to rub myself over Sinclair without my boyfriend knowing.” She said. “You should just go be Gabriel’s twin then. Ugh, isn’t there like a sacred twin code or something.” She shrugged. “I’m confused about what you’re trying to do here exactly, Lon. Isn’t Sin like so head over heels in love with you that he has a tunnel vision for you.” “Well, but what if?” I whined. I didn’t know what was wrong with me. Sin and I were okay, everything was perfect, and yet… yet I couldn’t shake the feeling that he could just love my sister as easily again. I knew it was just my insecurities rearing their ugl
SinclairI had just gotten back from work, a single foot inside my apartment when my phone rang. I dug it out the inner pocket of my suit jacket. “Hello.” “Am I speaking to Sinclair Donovan-Wells?”“Yes. Who’s this?” “I’m calling about Miss Albright, she’s been involved in an accident and you are…”The woman’s words trailed off. Blood rushed out of my head and I felt dizzy and unsteady. “Where? Where’s she?” I managed to ask through the lump in my throat. I was already jumping into the elevator and stabbing the button for the ground floor repeatedly by the time the woman began to rattle off the location. “Thanks.” I said and hung up. The drive over was one big blur, I must have run several red lights in my rush to the hospital. All I could think was that London was lying in a bed, hurt and she needed me. She had to be okay. She had to be. I should never have wasted so much time running around my feelings for her. I should never have even let her walk away from me, from us back
London“I need you.” Three words. Eight letters. The exact same ones from the very same person that had gotten me into the biggest disaster of my life. Maybe I was weak, pathetic, a pushover, whatever you wanted to call it. A wiser and stronger person would have blocked my sister’s number, cut off all connections to her and my parents. Because they had hurt me. The kind of hurt where after years and years of it, I hadn’t even realized that I was being destroyed from inside out. The kind of hurt where they had broken me so much that I thought I had to be the one constantly apologizing for myself. For some reason though, I just couldn’t take that final step. I wasn’t Cath no matter how much I wanted to be sometimes. I was angry and heartbroken about everything, but I knew that someday I’d want to talk about it more calmly and heal. My phone had been blowing up since everything had gone down. I had listened to my parents cry over the phone, but Cath had been radio silent except that o
London“I don’t think I’ve ever fully recovered from that night of debauchery.” Eva said as she joined me in the booth. It was the day after Adam and I’s surprisingly fun date. I had been surprised at how well he had taken my rejection, but also glad about it. I’d have hated to have been mean to drive home my obvious lack of interest. Thankfully there had been no need for that. Eva’s lunch break corresponded with mine so we had decided to have a quick lunch together. My treat, because I now had some much needed amount of money in my bank account thanks to March Madness selling out. The hype around it was still going on strong. I guess everyone was curious about the new bestselling book by a previously unheard of author. It felt good to have money, but it felt much better to be able to pay for lunch with my friends. Eva had paid all the other times we had gone out together and even though she had assured me that I shouldn’t think too much about it cause she had money to burn, I still
LondonI had been digging through my wardrobe at a loss for what to wear for my date with Adam when I’d stumbled upon this really cute pink blouse. It was an old cloth but I had never won it because it had been too big at the time I had gotten it. Almost five years later and it was now perfectly my size. It was also perfect for this date paired with dark skinny jeans and black ankle boots. It gave the vibe I had meant to go for which was cute but not too sexy to look inviting. A little stern, but still lovely. The blouse had big flowy sleeves that I loved so much. I put my hair into a low bun, applied minimal make up and a spritz of perfume, then left my apartment to meet Adam at the foyer of my building. I had set up this date earlier today when I had run into him at the dog park. My decision to talk to Sin had hardened into a sure resolve. No matter how it turned out, I knew I couldn’t go out with Adam. I just wasn’t in the right place to pursue anything with him and I had to tel
SinclairAs soon as Cathleen left, I rang Lucas up. “Hey, man. What’s up?” “Sips Plix in fifteen?” I asked. “Make it twenty, I drove out to my sister’s place.” He said. “Sure.” I hung up. Changing out of my shirt and slacks, I slipped into a dark grey T-shirt and black corduroy pants, grabbed my wallet, car keys and headed out. I needed to talk to Lucas and get his opinion on things, but in reality, I knew that even if he discouraged me from going after London, I would still do it. I needed him as more of a sounding board to know how to go ahead with getting her back than anything else. I had made up my mind that I wasn’t spending one more second moping around and waiting for some force of nature to yank us back into each other’s orbits. Lucas showed up almost ten minutes after I’d gotten to the bar. My half full glass of alcohol had been left untouched. “Hey, this had better be an emergency.” He said as he joined me at the bar. “I had to leave my sister’s cute kids halfway int
SinclairI had completely forgotten that Cathleen had access to my apartment. The first thing I usually did when I ended things with a woman was revoke her access to my place. It had always seemed unnecessary with Cathleen though. She was the last person that would show up out of the blues to exchange words or do something crazy. But then again, maybe I had always just overestimated her. I was in the living room with my laptop when I heard the sound of heels clicking behind me. I looked over my shoulder.The first thing I thought was that London was here, in my apartment. My heart leaped. It came crashing back down when my brain finally registered that it wasn’t London at all, but Cath. Now that I knew them, I could clearly differentiate them even half asleep. They were perfectly identical of course, a mirror image. But I had had London in my arms and fallen in love with every inch of skin on her body, so my soul would know her even in the dark. And this wasn’t her.I followed Cat
LondonIt was almost three am when we were all finally wiped from a night of drinking, singing along to the music Eva had queued up to her amazing surround sound speakers and laughing till our bellies began to hurt. All in all, it had been an amazing night. Eva’s bed was super large and so somehow we had all fallen into it in a tangle of limbs and hair. When I woke up, it was almost five am. My head felt like someone had taken a drill to it and my mouth tasted like it had been stuffed with cotton. I tried to silently slip into the bathroom but ended up making more noise than I had expected. The girls were either too drunk or too deep in sleep to notice because when I looked over my shoulder, neither of them had stirred. I let out a breath of relief and tiptoed to the bathroom. I quickly peed and splashed water on my face and rinsed my foul tasting mouth out before making my way to the kitchen. I gulped down three glasses of water then located an Advil and popped two down my throat.
LondonStatic buzzed in my ear at her words. March Madness had what? “I d-don’t understand. What are you talking about?” I stammered. March Madness was my singular published book, and it was a raging failure. Only about ten copies of it had been bought since it’s release two years ago. The horrible sales had made me depressed for the longest time, and my editor had also cut off ties with me afterwards. And now, she was telling me that it had sold out? I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t want to believe it. “Your book, March Madness.” She clarified, her voice never loosing that edge of excitement. I understood her excitement. My book suddenly making it big was like Christmas to her, it meant that she was about to line her pockets with some serious cash. And so was I. “It’s just become an overnight sensation. Six thousand copies were bought and now it’s on the New York bestseller list. Not on the top three, but I believe it could actually get there.” “Oh.” I said stupidly. “As I’m talk