“You’re early,” I commented.
“We sometimes have practice even before school, so kinda used to waking up before dawn,” he said, shrugging.
I eyed the sharp jaw and those full lips then looked down quickly at my food before he caught me staring. I remembered a sulky Cole asking, done gawking? I didn’t need to hear that again, even if they were used to saying it. Which I was sure they were. I started to dig into the delicious food in front of me. I could almost feel the coffee rush through my veins and as was always the case after a good dose of caffeine, it made me look forward to the day ahead. Excitement mingled with apprehension at the thought of my first day of senior year in a new school, but it was the good kind. You got this.
Before I could have more than a few spoonfuls of my breakfast, Cole entered the kitchen, hair still wet and tousled, the top buttons of his white shirt undone. I couldn’t believe how hot he looked, despite being so unkempt. For the first time in ever, my mouth hung half open. He walked past me as if I wasn’t there and dropped his backpack and blazer onto the island right in front of my plate, effectively blocking his view of me. It was unbelievably rude, to say the least. Thankfully my brain returned and I closed my mouth promptly.
"Did you pack everything?”
Hans nodded. "It’s all in the car. We're likely to finish late though - heard Coach's pretty pissed still.”
"Damn that Todd. Couldn’t keep his mouth shut."
Hans smirked then turned to look at me. ”You okay to find a ride home? We have some errands after school. Otherwise, you can wait till practice is over. We can drop you off here on our way.”
“She's a big girl, Hans. She can take care of herself,” Cole said without sparing me a glance, his expression scornful. The biting tone in Cole’s voice made me wonder how he had decided that I deserved his displeasure. Was it just a step-sibling thing? Did he hate my invasion of his home? Did he treat my mom the same way? I hadn’t seen them interact at all other than at the airport parking lot when he had ignored all of us.
And what was I supposed to say to finding a ride home from school myself? I didn't know a single soul there apart from them. I guess I had to either ask my mom to fetch me or maybe catch a bus home. I nodded stiffly in their general direction and continued to eat.
After a few minutes of listening to Cole speak to his brother as if I wasn't in the room, my irritation began to overtake my need to remain quiet and neutral and I hurried to put my plate away, walking out without a word. I hadn’t expected us to hit it off right away but I wasn’t expecting the cold shoulder, either. My mother had always taught me to be the bigger person but it was hard when you didn’t know the reason for someone’s animosity towards you. I could feel the tension in my shoulders build up again. Attempting to shrug the twins off my mind, I took a deep breath and waited outside the house for Hans.
One of the twins came out of the front door, gray tie neatly in place, and I almost smiled until I saw his vicious frown leveled at me the moment he spotted me standing by the car. “Why don’t you beg Daddy dearest for your own ride?” The sneer was unmistakably Cole’s.
He walked towards the Range Rover and carelessly swung the passenger door wide open, hitting me in the stomach. A whoop of air rushed out of me as pain made my eyes water. The side of the door had hit me hard, but nothing I wasn’t going to survive. I glared at the callous jerk, hands fisted by my sides. My mind spewed several curse words that had never seen the light of day, not from my mouth, but right now were threatening to spill out. I clenched my fists tighter, trying to remain calm.
“Cole!”
Hans rushed to my side, worry etched in his sharp features.
Cole rolled his eyes. “She’ll get over it. If she’s going to complain about her stomach, she might as well get an eye checkup, too.” He shoved me aside with his shoulder and sat in the passenger seat, slamming the car door as he did so.
Hans looked at me apologetically, appeared to reach out a hand but then pulled it away and said nothing.
I counted backward from five before releasing a shuddering breath and opening the car door. The ride to the school was painful, to me at least. The conversation carried on between the twins, ignoring me as they had at breakfast, and I found myself longing to be back home. Checking the messages on my phone, I saw that Melissa had sent me one early this morning.
Melissa: So?? Where’s my update?
Me: What update?
Melissa: *rolls eyes* You haven’t changed one bit. C’mon, spill! What’s it like to live with two identical hotties? How do you sleep at night knowing they’re there under the same roof as you??
Not as well as I should, sadly.
Me: Who said they were hot?
Melissa: Google did. You should try it. Tons of pics of them! And that Cole has a swoon-worthy Instagram! Those ripped abs! I wanna lick them up and down!
I quickly closed the window, worried they could sense we were chatting about them. A headache was quickly forming behind my eyes. I glanced at Cole, who was frowning as he looked out the window. Maybe he hated the surprisingly good weather. Was there nothing that made him
