A Blizzard of Love

“Is it always this perfect? The way I feel, the way you look at me? Is it always like this with us?” She places her hands on my chest, and I wrap my arms around her back, making sure there’s no space between us.

“The way you feel right now is the way I’ve felt from the moment I looked at you, Bri. And yeah, it always feels this perfect.”

Leaning forward, my lips brush over hers softly and slowly at first. There’s no rush tonight, and I don’t want to do anything but hold her and kiss her until the end of time.

“Hey asshole, you forgot to give Connor his—”

The bathroom door swings open, and my twin sister takes one look at us and screams. She runs out of the bathroom so fast she’s basically a blur.

“Oh god, I’m blind!” she shrieks dramatically.

“That’s what you get for barging in!” I yell as I jump out of the tub and grab a towel for Bri and me.

“The door was open!” she yells.

“It’s my house!” I yell back at her.

I pull on some clothes really quickly and turn to face Bri. “Stay right here, and I’ll go talk to my sister.”

“Yeah, I think Natalie is pissed,” she laughs, grabbing for the shirt and boxers I left out for her.

I pause and turn around to stare at Bri. “You said her name.”

“I did?” Bri pulls on the shirt and straightens. “Oh wow, I did. Maybe that means some of my memories are coming back.” She beams at me, and I smile back even though I’m panicking inside. It’s too soon. I need more time to make her fall in love with me.

When I get into the living room, I see my sister in the kitchen as far from my bedroom as possible. “You’re going to pay for my therapy.” She crosses her arms over her chest. “And since when are you hooking up with Bri Young?”

“Listen, it’s complicated, but when she comes out here, I need you to pretend we’re married.”

My sister's face falls a little, and she looks completely puzzled. “What? Why? Who? How? Spill it, Wilder.”

“Like I said, it’s complicated.” I glance over my shoulder when I hear Bri coming into the living room. “Just do it, or I’ll tell Mom about that time you broke her favorite blender because of that YouTube video.”

“I was nine, and they said it could shred marbles,” she hisses then glances over my shoulder. “Fine, but you owe me.”

“Done,” I say quickly as Bri comes over to stand next to me.

“Is everything okay?” she asks, looking between the two of us.

Chapter Nine

BRI

Both Wilder and Natalie look like they've been caught with their hands in the cookie jar.

“Everything is great,” they both say at the same time, making me laugh.

“It’s weird that I remember your name but not Wilder’s.” Though his face is still so familiar to me. There was no fear when I opened my eyes and saw him. Only safety. For as big as he is, I should have felt some apprehension, but all I felt was safe.

I walk over to Wilder, expecting him to wrap his arm around me and pull me into his side, but he doesn’t. Instead I see a worried expression still plays on his face. Something is definitely wrong.

“So what happened?” Natalie asks, motioning to my head.

“I slid off the road and hit a tree. Did you not see my truck?” I ask. I’m guessing it’s still stuck out there.

“No, I used my four-wheeler to drive over on the path.”

“Path?” I question.

“Yeah, Wilder made it so we can use it to get to each other's places. It’s off to the side.”

“That’s sweet,” I say. Wilder is still being weird. He’s gone from always touching me to not touching me at all. My eyes bounce between the two of them, sensing something is still up.

They both have the same eyes and coloring, but it pretty much ends there. Wilder must have taken up all the space in the uterus, not giving Natalie much room to grow. I’m short myself, but I'm still taller than her. She reminds me of a tiny fairy.

“Don’t be fooled. I’m the sweet one.” She smirks at Wilder, who only glares back, and they seem to have some kind of unspoken conversation. Must be some twin thing that I might never understand.

“She only came by to get some things for Evie.” Wilder grabs a bag off the counter, setting it on the island in front of his sister.

“Is the storm starting to die down?” I ask, trying to break through whatever this tension is.

“A little.” Natalie makes no move to go anywhere and looks between Wilder and me like crazy.

“You shouldn’t be out in this,” Wilder scolds her, and she rolls her eyes.

“I’m fine out there. Besides, when a pregnant woman is having cravings, you get her those foods.”