Rough Edge (Tannen Boys 2)

“Hey, Cowboy. Sounds like my sister’s a sure thing if you’re interested.” I try to sound chill and light. I fail to my ears, but no one else seems to notice.

Emily’s nose crinkles in confusion. “What?”

Brody stands up, pulling that hat down low over his eyes.

“Oh, my God! It’s you!” Happy excitement sweeps her face, but then horror dawns and Emily whirls on me. “Rix! You let me say all that embarrassing stuff!”

“I tried to stop you. A little.” I hold my greasy finger and thumb up an inch apart, the same way she did earlier.

Cowboy is looking left and right, right and left, as the realization sinks in. “Sisters . . . twins . . . identical twins. Fuck, that explains so much! At least now I know I’m not crazy.” The words are muttered under his breath, and when he looks at me, I swear there’s something deep in the darkness of those eyes.

Hurt, maybe? Betrayal? It’s gone too fast for me to get a read on it, but I’ve seen it before. When some guy is chasing Emily and thinks I’m her. The drop in their smiles when they realize I’m the wrong sister still hurts every time. This time, it’s a bit sharper, though. It shouldn’t be. I just met Cowboy. Hell, I don’t even know his name, but that flash in his eyes as he looked between us hurt all the same.

This is why hearts are stupid. This is why I focus on work. I blink slowly, letting the reality of the situation sink in and forcing my heart to steady. I promise my pussy another round with George tonight, but she whines that it’s not the same and that she wants the real thing. Me too, honey.

But family first. Always.

“Emily, this is Cowboy. Cowboy, this is Emily. I’ll leave you to it, I guess.” Even telling her my too-obvious nickname for him seems like revealing too much, and I need to get out of here. I can’t watch him fawn all over her. Usually, I get a kick out of seeing her charm melt the coldest hearts. But this time, I can’t watch.

I force myself to walk to the breakroom, though my feet want to run, even giving Emily a small encouraging smile as I pass her. Poor guy probably won’t know what hit him once Emily starts actually flirting. When she gets her mind stuck on something, she’s fierce as a firecracker, and I just stand back and ooh and ahh.

Fuck, they’re going to have pretty babies, I think out of nowhere. I look at my sister, the mirror image of myself, and Cowboy, the sexy, brooding literal definition of tall, dark, and handsome. But he’s not that pretty boy kind of handsome. He’s got an edge to him. One I hope Emily can handle. Cowboy’s not her usual bad boy, that’s for sure, and I hope she hasn’t bitten off more than she can chew.

My teeth grit together, wishing they could be the ones biting him. But nope, that’s not how this plays out. Never has been, never will be. No matter how much I want it to be.

Fuck it. I’ve got work to do. I grab a candy bar out of the vending machine, gobbling it in too few bites that I don’t even taste but hoping it’ll get me through the little bit of time left until I can close for the day.

My couch and a beer sound like a damn good plan right now. I could use some company, but only one face comes to mind. One that’s out there smiling at my sister’s sweet jokes, falling under the spell of her flirty compliments, and probably dropping to his knees to worship her body, so like mine but also not.

I scrub at my cheek, cursing the smudge of grease I know he didn’t fully wipe off.

Fuck.

Chapter 5

Brody

My conversation with Sophie plays back out in my mind at warp speed. Different . . . same . . . two sides of the same coin.

But they’re not.

They’re twin sisters. There’s two of them, which explains so much. I tease apart the last few days . . . the garage, the resort, the almost kiss.

Minutes ago, I was on the verge of kissing Lil Bit. She’d been all wrong at the resort, but back here in the garage, the connection was undeniable. Confusing then. Perfectly understandable now.

And things start to make the barest bit of sense—why one is so fucking fiery and one is like silk. Lil Bit’s ball-busting, wrench-wielding venom comes back to me, and I smile. Emily coming on strong at the resort . . . ice cold.

But Emily is smiling like she just found the grand prize at the end of a scavenger hunt, and I think I’m the gold coin.