Naughty & Nice (Surrender to Them 7)

We went to the dining room table and the awkwardness seemed to pass. I was amazed by how different they were, despite being twins. They had common interests, but different directions. Zach wanted to move to the city and find a job at a big company once he graduated in hopes of working his way up the ranks. Andy wanted to go to law school and possibly open his own firm one day. He really wanted Zach to be there with him when he did, but Zach seemed rather apprehensive about the idea. Andy was rough around the edges, but he was confident. Zach was a lot sweeter, and I felt like there was more to him than what I could see on the surface. He carried some turmoil behind those ocean-blue eyes while Andy would have probably rushed into a tornado without even thinking about it—smiling the whole time.

They’re both so fucking hot and every time I make eye contact with one of them, my stomach tries to breed butterflies.

“So, are you finally going to tell me how you figured out I was Santa Claus?” Andy tilted his head to the side and sipped his beer.

“I’d be interested in hearing this story too.” Zach leaned back in his chair.

“Well…” I sighed and shrugged.

I might as well tell them at this point.

“And don’t tell me it was a lucky guess. I don’t buy that for a second.” Andy narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

“Yeah, you’re right. It wasn’t a lucky guess. I saw you guys swapping the costume behind the mall.” I reached for my glass of water and smiled.

The day I fell head over heels in lust—the reason I finally had the courage to actually show up here.

“Interesting.” Zach nodded and sipped his beer again. “I thought we were well hidden back there.”

“Not if you have to park that far out.” I chuckled under my breath. “I had no idea why Santa Claus was changing in the parking lot until I realized you were twins.”

“That’s why you were looking at me the other day.” Andy sipped his beer and smiled. “And here I thought you just liked what you saw.”

Oh I did, there’s no denying that.

“I mean…” I stammered over my words and looked down.

“Did you like kissing my brother?” Andy’s expression twisted into a grin.

What the fuck?

“Come on man, that isn’t nice,” Zach grumbled under his breath and turned towards me. “You don’t have to answer that.”

“She doesn’t have to answer it, but maybe she wants to.” Andy leaned forward. “It happened. It’s okay to talk about it.”

There’s the guy that I sat across in the food court. I guess it was foolish to think he had changed his stripes.

“The kiss was obviously a mistake.” I stared at my plate and sighed. “Leave it to me to walk in here and embarrass myself.”

“You didn’t embarrass yourself.” Andy shook his head quickly. “You went after what you wanted—now I’m doing the same.”

I’m afraid of what I want—and maybe even more afraid of what you want.

“I feel like you’re just humiliating me.” I lifted my head slowly. “And I don’t like it.”

I should have just kept going when I was outside. I shouldn’t have let him lure me back in here with a kiss.

“I’m not trying to humiliate you. I saw the way you kissed Zach—and I’m pretty sure Zach wouldn’t have hesitated for a second if you weren’t supposed to be meeting me tonight.” Andy looked over at his twin brother.

He sure didn’t try to push me away…

“If we’re being honest, my reaction when I saw you—it wasn't just surprising. I recognized you from the mall. I followed you earlier today because I wanted to talk to you, but I didn’t make it before you disappeared. That wasn’t the only time I’ve seen you—I saw you at Spencer’s a few days ago with your friend.” Zach blinked a couple of times and sighed.

“What he’s trying to say is that he likes you too. I’ve seen that far away look in his eyes all night.” Andy nodded and sipped his beer.

“I was just thinking about things. I’m not trying to steal your date.” Zach shook his head and looked almost offended.

“It’s okay to want something. There’s no harm in that.” Andy slid his chair back and stood, locking his eyes on mine. “You wanted something the day we met in the mall—when you left that message on my phone.”