Twins For My Bestie’s Brother (Billionaire Daddies)

4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Jackson

I mean it. Lily never looks like a mess. Even now as we walk up to the Cider Creek Loop trailhead, she looks fantastic. All her dark curls are piled on top of her head in a messy topknot and she’s wearing an oversized sweatshirt on top of some tiny athletic shorts, perfect for the early August morning. Not so perfect for keeping me cool under the collar.

We start the two-mile loop that encircles the peninsula jutting out into the bay. It has a shallow grade that takes us up to Craggy Point, a perfect place to watch the sunrise.

“Thanks again. For the coffee,” Lily says, her voice creaky with morning fog.

“Of course. It’s the least I can do for you coming out here this early,” I reply with a small smile.

Her mouth twinkles into a small smile. “You’re right; it is the least you can do.”

I chuckle. “I’m the one pretending to be your boyfriend for the reunion. Don’t forget about that.”

“Trust me; I haven’t.” Lily takes a long sip of her iced coffee. I told her I asked Kayla for her order, but the truth is I already knew it. Iced coffee, a shot of espresso, splash of oat milk, pump of simple syrup, sprinkle of cinnamon. I remember everything when it comes to her.

Our footsteps scuffle against the path. I usually run the loop in the mornings. But I know Lily is a “run-only-when-chased” type of person. I can respect that.

“Seriously, Jackson, I know Kayla was just trying to help, but we don’t have to do this.”

We take the first bend in the path. The tree leaves are starting to turn yellow just the slightest bit. Autumn is on the horizon. “I’m not backing out. If you want to back out—”

“No, I don’t. I just don’t want you to do this because you feel sorry for me.”

I glance at her. Her eyes are downcast, focusing on where her steps land on the dirt path rather than the beauty surrounding us. “I don’t feel sorry for you, Lil.”

Lily meets my gaze for just a moment, then looks away again. She’s nervous or embarrassed. I don’t want her to be either of those things around me. We grew up together, for God’s sake. We’re friends. At least, I thought we were. “Okay, so how did this start? Our . . . relationship.”

A shiver runs down my spine. If only our relationship was real, and for some reason, she had an amnesia that made her forget how we got here. “Well, you came home six months ago. We’ve obviously spent time together since. With Kayla.”

“Yes, with Kay.”

“Let’s say we’ve been together . . . three months. That feels like enough time to be getting serious but still have been keeping it a secret.”

“Okay, three months. And you asked me out. That will make Tia mad,” Lily says, picking up her pace and lifting her head.

I laugh. “If I turn up murdered Saturday night, I think we’ll both know who did it.”

“God, she was so mad when she found out we’re together. Or pretending to be.”

“If looks could kill . . . ”

Lily watches some birds overhead playing a game of chase through the trees. “She deserves it after all the shit she put us through in high school. Kayla and me, I mean.”

I bite on my lower lip and push my hands into the pocket of my fleece zip-up.

“Why did you . . . ” Lily stops.

“Why did I what?”

“Nothing, forget it.”

There’s a light breeze that pricks at my face. “Why did I date Tia?”

Lily tries to laugh. “Seriously, Jackson, forget about it.”

“I was jealous,” I say.

“Jealous?”

I take a deep breath. I can’t very well tell her the full truth, can I? “Kay was so busy with all her extracurriculars, and our grandfather was getting sicker. All my friends had their girlfriends, and you had just started dating Will.”

“Wish I hadn’t,” she says under her breath.

I resist a double take. “Everyone paid attention to Tia.”

“Everyone paid attention to you, too.”

This time I do a double take.

“You were like Cider Bay’s star athlete. Everyone thought you were hot shit,” Lily goes on and then adds with a dig of her elbow in my side, “including me.”

I wish she wouldn’t say things that make me have regrets about not going for what I wanted back then. “They might have thought that, but everyone kept their distance,” I say. “But Tia had people running to her, and I wanted that. So being in her circle was really a selfish thing more than anything. I didn’t really . . . I mean, she was pretty, but that was about it.”

“Dammit, Jackson.”

“What?”

Lily tips her head back, her eyes shining in the early morning light. “I’ve always been so pissed at you for dating Tia, and now that I understand why you did it, I can’t be pissed anymore.”

“You can be pissed if you want,” I say, though I hope upon hope she isn’t.

“Naw, if you’re going to be my fake boyfriend, I guess I have to get over it,” she teases.

I smile to myself and say nothing. As we walk, Lily starts walking off course of her straight trajectory, pressing her arm up against mine, and pushing me to the side of the path. I laugh and push back. She tips away, almost tripping over her feet, laughing. Her eyes crinkle almost fully closed, smile so bright.

“It’s sad she hasn’t grown out of all that,” I say. “She shouldn’t be using your breakup against you.”

Lily hums. “It is what it is. I don’t care.”

“Yeah, that’s why we’re faking a relationship.”

She pushes me on the arm. “Jerk.”

We take another bend in the path. Through the trees, the bay glimmers. “What if it was like an accident, you know?”

“Our relationship?” I ask.

“Yeah, what if you were comforting me or something, and then one thing led to another and—”

“It was a one-night stand?” I ask. I’m an idiot for wearing these joggers. The fabric is too thin and light to hide the half hard-on I’ve gotten at the thought of Lily and me tumbling into bed together. Not that this is the first time I’ve imagined it . . .

“No, no, oh my God, Jackson.” She covers her face with her hands. “Get the image out of my mind, God.”

Her seeming disgust is definitely helpful at getting rid of any horniness. I didn’t know the idea of sleeping with me was so upsetting to her.

“No, I meant like, you know we just got close. Maybe we just talked and talked and talked and realized at some point we could be more than friends.”

“I could treat you better than he ever could,” I offer.

She snaps her fingers. “Exactly!”

Thankfully, she doesn’t realize it’s an admission. “Okay, I like that idea.”

“And then, I mean, we’ve known each other almost thirty years, like it just made sense. And we’ve spent every day together since,” Lily goes on.

“And yet this is the first time you’re joining me on my morning hike?” I taunt.

Lily grabs my arm, tucking her head against my shoulder.

I flush again. All over.

“There are people coming toward us,” she whispers.

Ah. Wishful thinking that this was of her own volition. I look down the path and see some of the morning regulars, Harriet and Betty, a pair of old-timers and best friends. They walk past me every morning with their light weights in hand and sweatbands on their foreheads. “Morning, ladies,” I call out.

“Look at you two!” Harriet cries out. “I told you they’d be adorable together.”

Lily squeezes my arm tighter.

“I never said they wouldn’t be, Harry!” Betty chides. “It’s good to see you two kids in the flesh. I mean, when we heard—”

The two ladies continue hustling toward us without any sign of stopping.

“About time!” Harriet says, her white hair flopping in the wind. “That’s what we said. It’s about darn time.”

“About time? I just got back!” Lily exclaims.

Betty holds up a hand. “We’ve been around a long time, Lily Bolton! We just get a feeling for these sorts of things!”

The women breeze past us, forcing us to look over our shoulders at them. “Have fun! But not too much!” Harriet adds.

Lily and I watch them go until they disappear around the bend. We both start to turn our faces forward again but stop when we realize we’ve both looked over our inside shoulders, the ones pressed tougher. Meaning now our faces are only a few inches apart. I could lean down and kiss her if it wouldn’t cause her to jump out of her skin.

Lily’s the one who breaks eye contact first with an awkward laugh. “Well, at least they’re buying it.”

“More than, it looks like.”

Lily releases my arm and takes a few steps ahead of me. “Race you to the point!” She takes off, her Chacos snapping against her heels.

“Hey, not fair! I wasn’t ready!”

“I need a head start, track star!”

I take off after her. I could easily pass her up, just for the reason my legs are longer. But once I catch up, I jog in time next to her, letting her edge ahead from time to time.

“You’re letting me win!” she cries out breathlessly.

I grin. “Oh, you want me to beat you?” I pull ahead of her until I’m far enough ahead that I can turn around and jog backward and still have her struggling to catch up.

“Show off!” She’s not mad. She’s laughing.

“You’ve got the wrong shoes for this kinda thing!”

I stop once the dirt path turns into grass, signaling we’ve reached the point. Lily slows down once I’ve stopped, loping toward me. “I’m so out of shape.”

But what a nice shape she is. “You could start jogging with me in the mornings.”

She smiles, though she’s having trouble evening out her breath. When she reaches me, she pats her hand against my chest. “Sounds like a death wish.”

I resist grabbing her hand and pressing it harder against my chest so she can feel how my heart is racing. Not from the running. Not at all. “I’d go easy on you.”

Lily pulls away and walks out onto the point past me. I follow her as she navigates the rocks, the ones that gave Craggy Point its name, until she perches on the top one that’s been worn down almost into a bench from years of people sitting to watch sunrises and sunsets.

I climb after her and take a seat beside her. The rock isn’t very big and, as previously mentioned, I’ve got these long legs that need someplace to go. So, our legs rest against one another. I unzip my fleece to get some coolness on my skin.

“I forgot how beautiful it is out here,” she says, her eyes looking out over the bay.

“Me too.” I don’t usually stop here on my runs. I just run right through and continue on the path. But from here, you can see the whole bay. Docked boats, houses, downtown, and the expansive skyline. The sun has just started peeking over the horizon. Perfect timing. “You happy to be back?” I ask.

Lily doesn’t say anything for a few moments, and I wonder if I’ve overstepped.

The sun continues to climb. Higher and higher, bit by bit.

“Yeah, I am,” she says. “I mean, I definitely didn’t think I’d be working at the drugstore at this point in my life, but it’s better than the alternative.”

“Tired of Seattle?”

Lily starts fiddling with a thread trailing from the cuff of her sweatshirt. “Something like that.”

I decide not to press. However, there’s a part of me that wonders if I can recreate the beginning of our fake relationship. Ask the right questions, be the shoulder to cry on, feed her that line again, the one that’s true.

I could treat you better than he ever could. Than anyone ever could. Because my heart has been hers for far too long. I’ve tried other women. Other relationships. And when those have ended for any number of reasons, I always come back to Lily.

We could be so good together.

“What about you?” she asks. “Is it hard being back?”

I clear my throat and rub my palms together. “A little. I mean, Kayla’s the one who lives in our grandparents’ old house, but it’s not easy that it’s just she and I. But it’s better than being in a big city without her.”

I feel Lily’s eyes on me, and, though it terrifies me, I meet her gaze. “I’m glad you're back, Jackson.”

“I’m glad you’re back too, Lil.”

She tips her head to the side until it lands against my shoulder. We watch the sunrise, blue and yellow and pink spilling across the horizon.

Lily feels safe with me. Of course, she does. Because I’m . . .

I’m like a big brother, I guess. Even after all this time.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see some people appear at the mouth of the trail. I take it as my opportunity to wrap my arm around Lily and pull her closer.

She glances up at me, eyebrows popped upward.

I lean my mouth down to the crown of her head. “Practice,” I murmur.

Lily spies the people and smiles. “Good call.” She nestles herself into my chest.

We don’t move even after we know we’re alone.