“What about you, Tyler? How was your summer?” I have to look in my rearview mirror to see which of the sisters spoke. Vanessa smiles at me. She’s pretty, beautiful even, with long brown hair highlighted around her face, wide green eyes, and a mouth that could make any man have wet dreams.
I glance at Chloe, expecting to find the mirrored version of Vanessa like I had when Cooper first introduced us. At the time, I’d seen every guy’s teenage dream flash before me as the two laughed at something, my lack of familiarity drawing an identical image of the two. Now, it’s easy for me to tell them apart. Chloe has the same hair color, the same eyes, the same erotic mouth, even the same jawline—but their voices are different, Chloe’s a bit grittier, and she’s a little taller, her lips slightly rounder.
It’s their similarities that had the football team making so many threesome jokes when a rumor circulated about our kiss after one of the potheads shared the news.
“Life in Miami is basically living the dream,” I tell her as I sit back in my seat, one hand gripping the wheel as I fall into the role I created—the role my family created. “Sun, beaches, parties. I can’t complain.”
“Ty spent half his summer on a yacht and the other half at poker tables.” Cooper glances at me, envy shining in his eyes.
I smirk in response, knowing my tanned skin and the different photos of me people shared over the summer fit this narrative perfectly, regardless of the truth.
In the rearview mirror, I catch Chloe watching me, her brows pinched before she notices my gaze and quickly looks away.
“You guys didn’t pack as much as I expected,” Cooper says.
“We left most of our stuff in storage over the summer, remember?” Vanessa asks him.
“Oh, I remember. We talked about how if you do it again, you won’t pack all your books together in the same boxes.” Cooper shakes his head at the memory.
Vanessa laughs. “I’m bummed summer’s over, but at the same time, I’m really glad to be returning to Seattle. I have a feeling this is going to be the best year yet.”
“Did you guys decide on an apartment?” Cooper asks.
“We did.” Vanessa’s tone isn’t nearly as confident as Chloe glances at her.
Cooper laughs. “I take it you won the coin toss?” he asks, looking at Vanessa.
“I just made the executive decision. It’s a little smaller, but we’ll be downtown. We can walk to get coffee, and to the library, fisand to pick up dinner…”
I could kick myself for watching their expressions and trying to read between the lines because I don’t care—yet, I recognize the annoyance that flashes across Chloe’s face and the nervous energy from Vanessa.
“It’s going to be an epic year,” Vanessa continues. “And this is the perfect way to kick it off.” She sits back in her seat as I return my focus to the road to keep myself from comparing the sisters.
My thoughts move to Cooper and how he’d reacted when he’d heard about my micro kiss with Chloe. He’d been ready to go fisticuffs with me, and that was when I learned not only was my friend a possessive wanker, but he liked one of the sisters. I’m pretty sure like is an understatement considering he chose Brighton over a handful of more prestigious schools because this is where Vanessa is going. He works his arse off and loves football, but he doesn’t live for it, and he doesn’t feel like a piece of him dies when we have a bad game. No, Cooper’s smart and ambitious and wants to start his own programming company and stay in Seattle, far from the hot and humid summers of Florida.
Cooper avoided me for a full week after confronting me about the kiss and then was defensive and cagey when he finally demanded to know what had happened. Relief practically poured out of him when I told him I’d kissed Chloe—not Vanessa.
We drive mostly in silence until Chloe and Vanessa both fall asleep.
“What do you think we should do tonight?” Cooper asks.
I shake my head, my thoughts converging on what information I need to focus on once we arrive and how the meeting I’ve ordered will go. Are they going to stare at me like some uppity little shit who had everything served on a silver platter? Will they try to work with me? My thoughts have been so consumed with the hotel that I haven’t given a second of thought to what we’ll do in The Big Easy.
“It sounds like your tour guides already have everything planned out. Desserts and coffee, didn’t you hear?”
Coop sniggers. “Come on, man. We’re going to be in New Orleans—we have to do something fun.”
“Does that translate to getting Vanessa drunk enough that she might end up in your room tonight?”
Cooper’s gaze flashes to the backseat, and then to me, a warning clear in his eyes, worried she overheard.
I chuckle. Guy’s got it bad. “What do you want to do?”
“I don’t know. What do people do in New Orleans?”
“Now I’m the tour guide?”
His lips thin with annoyance, but his gaze turns desperate.
“We’re staying in the Garden District, so we’ll be a short ride to the French District where there’ll be all kinds of tourist shit. We can go down Bourbon Street tonight, and if the girls like to dress up and go clubbing, there’s a masquerade club that’s big with the tourists.” Because a simple mask that barely covers one’s forehead and nose somehow manages to conceal all inhibitions. “Drinks, beads, dancing.”
“You can get us in?”
I glance at him, surprised he’s asking until I remember how few and far between Cooper’s requests go. It’s one of the reasons I trust him and why our friendship has become a brotherhood—he doesn’t ask for things and expects even less. I reach for
