Twins For My Bestie’s Brother (Billionaire Daddies)

12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Jackson

I stop pumping my legs, letting the momentum of my bicycle wheels take me down Main Street. As I coast, I take in my surroundings. It’s midmorning on a weekday. Low foot traffic right now, but it will soon thicken with the lunch rush.

My wheels click beneath me, the sound intermingling with my realization of my pounding heartbeat. I’ve been taking longer rides lately since my morning runs have turned into walks.

This morning, Lily didn’t join me. She had to work late on inventory last night and texted me ahead of time. I knew if I went on the walk without her, I’d get depressed, so I opted for an extra-long bike ride instead.

Now, though, I have to see Lily.

You know. Since we’re faking a relationship. That’s the reason. Yep.

The past two weeks we’ve managed to make a lot of appearances around town. The Labor Day festival was probably our best work. We were seen by so many in such a short period of time. It was thrilling, walking hand in hand, sharing light touches, and even bickering a bit so people could really buy into the realism of our relationship.

We’ve been so good at it that . . . I’m having trouble knowing fact from fiction.

She is my first and last thought every day. It’s different than how it was before. It used to be a sort of hopeless feeling. Embarrassing, despite me being the only one to know my innermost thoughts.

Now, it’s not just daydreaming about what could be. It’s reflecting on what is . It’s getting to be too much. I know it. Kayla knows it.

I think Lily knows it too.

So, when I think of her . . . I worry about her. I think about making her day brighter, better, easier.

It’s what I’ve always wanted.

And yet every thought is crested with sadness knowing that it’s temporary. I suppose every relationship is temporary in a way. But this one is temporary in a promised way.

I pull the bike onto the sidewalk and slow down enough to hop off and walk my bike in front of the drugstore. I put down the kickstand and waggle off my gloves before heading inside. I’m too eager to take my helmet off before seeing her.

When the entry bell jangles, Lily looks up at me. I swear her face brightens. At least I hope it does.

“Hey, what are you doing here?”

I glance around the store. “Anyone here?”

Lily laughs. “Just my dad in the back.”

“Ah. Good.” I unbuckle my helmet. “Just thought I’d stop by and say ‘hi.’ See if I could be of any assistance in the pretending department.”

Lily leans on the counter, a pen between her fingers and her sketchbook under her hand. From here, I can make out the details of her drawing. Looks like a bird. “Oh, well, I guess people can look in through the windows.”

I raise an eyebrow and glance back over my shoulder. “Suppose so.”

Lily says nothing, cocking her head to the side. Her curls tumble to the side.

“Did you . . . ” I take a few steps forward. “Did you sleep well?”

Lily nods her head heavily.

“That’s good.”

She stares at me, then rolls her eyes. With one finger, she gestures toward me to come closer.

I chuckle. Right. The window. That’s worth pretending for, right? I stop before her, the counter between us. “I’m sweaty.”

“You know I don’t care.”

It’s the same thing she said the day I came in here ready to ask her out for real. That she didn’t care. She wanted me close, dirty or clean. And while I know she was playing a part then, I’m not sure she’s playing a part now.

Lily tilts her head back, eyelids lowering halfway. “You going to kiss me?”

“Thinking about it,” I reply, leaning a hand on the counter.

“You’re so annoying,” she says. She presses her hands to the counter, giving her leverage to come closer.

I back away. “Actually, I needed to pick up some things.”

Lily huffs. “Fine.”

I keep backing up. “You know, I might need some help.”

Lily watches me, those hazel eyes dancing as she sizes up the situation.

“Finding what I need,” I go on, stopping in front of one of the aisles.

Catching on, Lily starts to round the counter. “Let me help you, then.”

I duck down the aisle slowly. I’m not sure what kind of game I’ve created, but she’s playing, and that’s enough for me. I keep walking.

“What are you looking for?” Lily calls after me.

“Things.”

“Ah, things.”

I turn out of the aisle and into the next one. I glance over my shoulder. Lily isn’t following. I frown and stop in my tracks.

That’s when I feel her arms wrapping around me. “Caught you.”

I gasp with laughter. “Dammit, you’re sneaky.”

“You act like you’re surprised. You know I am.”

I do. From years of Kayla and Lily playing stupid practical jokes on me. Harmless, but always annoying as all hell. “Come on, we should get closer to the window so that people can—”

Lily cuts me off with a kiss. I inhale in surprise but accept it with all of me, letting the feeling of her lips roll through me. I know her kiss so well at this point, yet it’s mesmerizing every time.

She flings her arms around my neck, drawing herself closer to me. My legs are jelly from my ride, making it easier to throw me off balance. I trip backward and thankfully land against a wall separating a pair of display racks.

“Lil—” I gasp out, but she gives me no chance to get a word out.

Her body is flush with mine. And it’s no accident. She rubs up against me, her breasts pressed to my chest and her hips undulating against mine.

There’s no one here to see us.

And yet Lily is going for it. Giving me everything. Why? And why now?

I place my hands on her shoulders with the intent to push her off to say my piece, but she feels too good. I can’t stop her.

But if things go too far, I’m going to get hurt. I can’t just be a ‘hit it and quit it’ for her. I need so much more.

Lily’s hands fall to my ass, and she grabs. “Dammit, Jackson, you’re so sexy.”

My cock jumps. She’s never said as much to me.

“Don’t look so surprised. You know you are,” she growls into my mouth.

“I—well, I’m—”

“Are you flustered, baby?” Lily asks, brushing her lip along my jaw. “Don’t know what to say.”

I know what to say, but I can’t order the words in my brain to communicate them. I need her to explain. To be slow with me. Because I am more fragile than anyone knows.

If I was flustered before, then her placing her hand on my crotch makes my brain melt. I gasp, my body jumping.

“Jackson, I want to feel you.”

“Lily—”

The door jangles open. “Shit,” I mutter, and pull myself out from under her, starting down the aisle.

“Lily? You here?” It’s Will.

Lily catches my wrist and yanks me back into her arms. Another kiss, her whole weight poured into my arms. Feels so good.

“Ahem.”

And yet.

Lily pushes me off this time. Will is standing at the mouth of the aisle staring at us. His jaw is hardened, gaze lasered in on me.

“Oh, hey, Will! Sorry, didn’t hear you come in!” Lily says, chipper and cheerful. She smooths out her shirt. “We were just looking for something.” She smiles at me over her shoulder.

Will sucks in his cheeks. “Can we talk?”

The impulse to tell him to fuck off is gone. There’s an ache that’s replaced it. Lily must have planned this. She knew he was coming to talk, and so she took advantage of the moment I was here to really show him that she’s moved on.

It was fake.

Just like everything has been.

Lily places her hand on my side. But I’m done covering for her. It’s one thing when I know we’re pretending. It’s another when I think I finally have a piece of what I wanted.

I pull away from her subtly. “Yeah, man, I’m headed out now.”

I leave the store so fast that I leave my helmet on the counter. I’d ride helmetless, but I’m a mess right now. My muscles feel weak, and my brain is fried.

I’m a fool. I always have been. And for what? A girl who never in all the years we’ve known each other looked at me any other way than a friend. Who looked at me the way I wanted because she had to.

I deserve more than that. I know that.

And yet my heart won’t stop screaming for her.