Buried secrets, two girls with the same face, and a boy who loved too much.
***
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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MERLINDA AND NAOMI HAD OUTDONE themselves, and I watched the whole place with wonder, shaking my head.
The birthday dinner party was held in the backyard, where a large pool glowed a soft blue in the distance. Sweet scents of floral blooms and desserts drifted through the cool air, accompanied by the gentle hum of soft piano and a very familiar voice.
I blew a kiss in Jahdiel's direction. She waved back at me, still smiling as she sang into a microphone at the center of the stage.
A beautifully set table gleamed with elegant white, green, pink, and gold floral centerpieces. Guests, both young and old, milled around, engaged in polite chatter as they sipped from champagne flutes. A tapestry of sparkling fairy lights canopied over the entire setting.
I followed Travis as he made his way to a gift table decorated with balloons and ribbons in the corner. Surprised to see him carrying two gifts instead of just mine, I raised my brows.
"You brought Cy a gift?"
He hummed. "Just something to repay all the stuff he bought you."
I rolled my eyes. "Luke was so right. You're a father through and through."
His eyes glinted as they cut across my face. "Careful there, Rebecca. Don't test me."
Pleased with myself for annoying him, I grinned.
Not long after we made our way from the gift table after leaving our gifts among the heaps, I spotted Cy in the midst of the guests, making conversation with an older woman.
"That's the birthday boy," I told Travis, discreetly pointing at him. "Like you, he's a freshman. He's in Yale."
He studied him for a while. "He seems cool."
I nodded, smiling. "He is. He and Merlinda started dating last year when he was a senior. God, they couldn't stand each other at first."
I laughed, reminiscing about how she used to complain bitterly about this "ugly, antisocial devil" who rivaled her academically at an SAT prep program she took on weekends.
The first time the three of us got to see Cy, we all turned to look at Merlinda in betrayed expressions that said, "Explain."
She only shrugged helplessly.
Cy might be an antisocial devil, but one thing he definitely wasn't was "ugly." And in the blink of an eye, they'd gone from rivals to... something more.
