The Twins & Me: Summer Vacation

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Cherry all but bursts out into tears when Ollie tells her and Felix we've decided to head home early.

"It's just been over a week," she counters, setting down the orange juice she was sipping. The glass clinks on the kitchen island. Felix keeps his back to us as he stands at the stove, scrambling eggs.

I can't look her in the eyes. It's been the longest week of my life, and I know the boys are drained, too. This whole family must be.

"We got the opportunity to start our summer internship a little early," Arlo lies easily to her. Scary easily.

She pouts her bottom lip, and even though she puts up a little more of a fight, I can tell she understands. Us leaving will probably ease whatever tension is going on between her and Felix. They deserve a proper vacation.

If only Bastian would go away, too.

The eggs and bacon are done by the time she finally comes around, and she pulls me into a hug.

"It's just been so wonderful to spend this time together," she says sincerely into my hair.

I squeeze her back, inhale her floral perfume. "Thank you for this," I say. And I mean it. She's one of the few pieces of the Camden family I've actually grown to like.

For the first time all morning, Felix speaks. "I'll transfer you the money to book your flight," he says to Ollie. "And the next few months' allowance."

And then he sets down the spatula and walks out.

★

"Thanks for not using me as an excuse for leaving," I say to Ollie. I perch myself on the edge of his bed and watch the two boys as they pack up their suitcases. He was able to get us a flight first thing tomorrow.

"I don't want them knowing any more about you," Ollie replies. "We've shared enough, haven't we, Baby Brother?"

Arlo responds by dropping onto the bed behind me and pulling me against him. He nuzzles in my hair. "I don't ever want to share you again."

His arms are a warm comfort around me. It makes me bold enough to say, "We should talk about last night."

"It's over," Ollie says firmly, but not with any menace. He throws us a steady look. "You're going to forget about Bastian Camden."

Arlo's pulling me back to lay on top of him, but I struggle to sit up to face Ollie. "Still, what we did with—"

Ollie flings the shirt he was neatly folding and points at me. "That boy was nothing more than a toy to you, understand? You do not develop feelings for a toy, especially one who rejected you like that."

"Even if he was fucking lying," Arlo mutters under his breath.

"He's your brother," I say, keeping my voice calm even though it threatens to tremble. "Not a toy. And you can't lie to me and say it didn't do anything to you, watching us kiss. You chased me down the goddamn beach."

Ollie's jaw clenches. His whole body does.

"You can't get jealous of a toy," I whisper.

Arlo squeezes me just a little tighter as Ollie strides the length of the room to kneel before us. He grabs my hands. "I asked for that. To be punished. I was right to feel jealous and mad. That was the point. I hate that fucking prick, Wren."

"And yet your cock was rock hard when you watched me suck him off." He can't deny that. I felt him. Felt the heat of his body as he told Bastian what to do, when he was in total control. My Ollie thrives on control.

Ollie's hands encircle my wrist. "Tell me the truth—do you have feelings for him?"

What a loaded question. Do I? Bastian is a snake; everything he does is calculated to push the buttons of everyone around him. But is it all a front? He's cold and heartless and clearly not ready to admit when he has true feelings of any kind. I've only seen glimpses of the real him, but it's enough to let me know that there is a real person under all that pain.

I just don't know if glimpses are enough to make me actually feel for him, especially if he's not ready to show himself to me. Even if I wanted to get to know the real him, I can't do that until he's ready to admit whatever he's hiding.

So I answer truthfully. "I really don't know, Oliver."

He nods, searching my eyes for any hint of dishonesty, but he won't find any.

"Even if I did feel anything for him, it's not like how I feel for you. Not even close."

That satisfies him. He leans forward to brush his lips against mine.

There's a soft knock on the door. Arlo releases his hold on me and scoots back on the bed while Ollie gives me a frustrated look before getting up to answer it.

I expect Cherry, but it's Remi's big eyes that greet me when the door opens. She smiles a little shyly as she glances between us, no doubt remembering the last time we spoke, which ended with her in tears.

"Hi, Wren," she says. "Oliver, Arlo."

With Oliver's hard gaze on her, I stand to put her more at ease. "Hey, Remi. Everything alright?"

She nods. "Yeah. I just heard you're leaving." She seems genuinely sad by this, and my pity for her unfolds again. Maybe Cherry won't be the only one I miss.

But I shrug a shoulder, hiding it. "The boys have this school thing and something came up at my parents' house—what can you do?" I try a laugh.

She gives me a smile in return. It's stunning. Bastian is an idiot. "Well... I was hoping you'd come out with us tonight. I guess me, I mean. We're having a bonfire at the cliffs."

By cliffs I assume she means those rocks that jut out of the ocean down the beach. We've seen people jump from them, kids scramble over them during the day. But at night? With the harsh waves from the ocean breaking against them?

She sees the panic on my face and her grin widens. "Oh, don't worry! We don't go diving at night. The beach is just going to be so packed with tourists that we like to claim the cliffs when we can. There's a perfect little hole in the big one at the end that we always make a fire in. We do it all the time, I swear."

Unease creeps through me, as well as the thought that Bastian will likely be there, but Remi's looking at me as if she might break at any second. It must've taken a lot of guts to come and ask me to go; I can't imagine she's shared with many of her friends here how much Bastian hurts her. Maybe she sees a sort of ally in me. In her world, it's all about the face you put on. I can only assume people will talk if she doesn't show up, the way people would've talked if Cherry and Felix stopped going to the country club together after their big fight.

Even though I can mentally hear Ollie scream at me, I nod. "Yeah, we'll go."

A grin spreads over her face. "Awesome! See you around sunset, then."

As soon as we hear her footsteps trail down the hallway and down the stairs, Ollie's glaring at me.

"I don't like it," he grunts.

"Feels like a trap," Arlo agrees, grabbing me around my middle and pulling me back down, onto the bed.

I let him take me and adopt a light tone. "Remi isn't like that. I'll go and support her until she feels comfortable."

Arlo tugs me against him, wrapping his legs around me like he wants to wrap me in a cocoon. "Little Bassie is bound to be there."

"She didn't invite you," I point out, trying to bite back a smirk. "You two can hang out here—"

"Don't be cute," Ollie snaps, coming to a stop at the edge of the bed. He gazes down at us, hands on his hips like a stern parent. "An hour, max. Then in bed. We have to get up early."