taste | e.d

eight

The next morning, I find Ethan sitting on the balcony, staring out at the ocean. He looks exactly like he did yesterday morning; his hair unkempt, shirtless, only wearing a pair of gray sweatpants.

I slide the glass door open and the powerful wind hits my face. The sound of the waves smacking the shore is so strong that Ethan doesn't even notice me approaching him.

His eyes are shut and his hands are drawn into fists. His head droops down as his shoulders slump forward. That's pretty much enough motive for me to leave him alone, but just as I step back to go inside the house, I feel his hand grab my wrist.

"Sit with me, Kendall Rose," he says. He looks up at me, his dark eyes persuading me without trying. I sit in the chair next to his, and he doesn't let go of my wrist until I'm settled.

He gazes out at the sea. For a moment, we both stay silent. The wind blows a few strands of hair out of my bun. Then, when I least expect it, he says, "Royce."

"I'm sorry?"

"Royce," he says, a little louder so I can hear him over the noise of the waves. "Your last name."

"How'd you find out?" I ask.

"I was forced to find out, unfortunately," he says. "I had to run a background check on you so I knew you weren't some cop."

"I look like a cop to you?"

"No, but it wouldn't be the first time a pretty girl got under my skin just to handcuff me later," he says. I examine his face to see if he's joking, but his expression is sober. "Kendall Rose Royce."

"Stop, it doesn't sound right," I say.

"Kendall Royce," he says. He tilts his head. "Yeah, it sounds better without your middle name there."

"Rose is my mother's name. She wanted to name me Rose too, but my dad didn't like the idea, so Kendall Rose Royce happened." I try to work up a smile, but I can never smile while talking about my parents.

"My middle name is Grant. If I was a girl, my name would be Belle," Ethan says to me, grinning. "My guess is that you'd still be Kendall."

"Probably. But Belle?" I laugh a little.

"Thank God I wasn't born a girl. Grayson didn't have the same luck, though. His middle name was Bailey." He shakes his head. "It always pissed him off when people would ask what the B in his name stood for."

It's the first time I've heard him talk about his brother.

All of a sudden, his small grin spreads to a smile, showing all of his white teeth. "It would piss us off so bad when people asked if we were twins, like, you were automatically able to tell when you saw the picture, right? Why don't other people see that either? Do you believe in telepathy? I don't. There are tons of other people who don't either but then when they see twins it's like it's possible all of a sudden. Common sense. Everyone seems to forget what that is around twins."

Then he stops talking. His mouth is open, as if he wants to say something else but it doesn't come out. His smile is gone now, but it was there. I just saw Ethan smile for the first time. I want it to come back. A sight like that is something I'd like to witness on a daily basis. Judging by his facial expression, he must be surprised, too.

"Let me guess," I say. "This is the first time you've talked about him without getting upset?"

"Yes, actually," says Ethan. He blinks a few times.

"I know how it is," I say. "I used to go to therapy and I'd always cry. I mean, to this day I've never gotten to smiling. But you just smiled. You smiled!"