Buried secrets, two girls with the same face, and a boy who loved too much.
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When Travis and Nicole meet on a bus for the first time, he thinks she's his ex, Rachel, who broke his heart two years ago. But he doesn't understand why she's pretendin...
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"ABSOLUTELY not!"
I winced at the outrage in Nellie's voice.
So she wasn't too happy about me offering her services to a stranger without her permission, even though I've told her this stranger was Rebecca, the girl who had my attention currently, the girl Nellie had been so curious about just yesterday.
But even this revelation wasn't catchy enough to raise Nellie's enthusiasm.
I clucked my tongue, thinking how much worse she'd react if she found out Rebecca looked exactly like Rachel.
I turned on all my brotherly charm and softened my voice considerably. "Come on now, Nellie. I'll pay you."
"I don't need your damn money." She huffed, crossed her arms over her chest, and stared out her window, her face still flushed with anger.
She was sitting cross-legged on her bed, and curled comfortably in the fluffy pink blankets at her feet was Huxley. I scowled.
"Five hundred every two days."
"I have money in my account, you know?"
"Five hundred an hour."
She looked at me as if I were an insect she wanted to squish. "Which part of 'I'm not broke' do you not understand?"
The only downside of having a rich father, I thought. I could never bribe my sister with money.
He did make sure we never lacked cash, even if we lacked every other thing a father was supposed to offer his children. Like attention. Affection. Love.
Starved of those things, I sought them from the wrong girl. And I paid dearly for it.
I rubbed a hand across my eyes. I could feel a sudden headache kicking in. "Don't be hardheaded." I made a pained face. "Didn't you learn anything about kindness in Sunday school today?"
She scoffed bitterly, her eyes finally flitting to meet mine. "You're the one who prevents me from dating, and you dare preach to me about kindness?"
I lifted an eyebrow. "I don't see how your dating life is related to this particular conversation."
It was her turn to scowl.
"Nellie." I sighed, my voice turning into one of genuine humility. "I'm begging you, sweetheart. Please."
I considered kneeling. But knowing Nellie, she'd hold that against me for the rest of my life. Frustrated, I passed a hand through my hair.
"When I saw her yesterday, she looked so sad and exhausted." And I'd wanted to simply feed her, sit my ass somewhere, and place her head on my lap just so she could rest a bit.
She didn't want to eat anything. She'd simply watched me as I devoured a plate of the best pasta with chicken and beef at the best diner on 5th Avenue.
I continued, "She was roaming 5th Avenue in the hot sun, looking for a part-time job so she'd be able to hire a choreographer."
