Fool Me Once

We all stand in awkward silence while we wait for whoever he called to arrive. And then a few minutes later, I hear it before I see it. The sound of wheels rolling along the concrete. We’re on the second floor, so I have to look down, and I see him… dressed the same as earlier. He pops the front of his board up and takes it in his hand as he runs up the stairs, and my breath catches in my throat as I put the pieces together.

Holy. Shit. My gaze goes from Kolton to Keegan and back again. That’s right. There’s two of them. Both with brown hair and green eyes. Both with the perfect set of dimples. But that’s where the similarities stop.

“Jailbird,” Keegan says, a huge smile on his face. “I knew that was you earlier.”

“Keegan?” I question in shock.

“I see you’ve met my brother, Kolton.” His brother…

“You didn’t tell me you had a twin brother,” I say dumbly.

“There’s a lot we didn’t tell each other,” he says back.

“You never called,” I point out. “I… I waited… but you never called or texted.”

Tears prick my eyes, my emotions in overload. Keegan is here in front of me. He has a twin brother. He remembers me, which means he chose not to call me.

Keegan steps toward me and says, “I wanted to. I swear I did.” He shakes his head. “You wouldn’t even believe me if I told you what happened, though.”

It doesn’t really matter now what happened. It’s years later. Our son is here, and too much time has passed to think we would ever be together, like the happy little family I used to envision. But a piece of me still wants to know what happened. Why Keegan never called.

“Tell me, please.”

Keegan

Four Years Ago

“All right, man, we’re all checked out,” Mitch says, clasping a hand on my shoulder. I’m standing outside by the pool, watching Blakely walk down the wooden path and across the beach back over to her hotel. “Keegan,” Mitch says, and I nod so he knows I heard him. But my eyes can’t seem to leave the woman walking away from me, her perfect body disappearing the farther away she gets, until she’s no longer visible.

“I should’ve asked her for her number… demanded it.” It doesn’t matter where she’s going to be in a couple months. I need more time with her even if it’s long distance.

“You had a good time, and she was a great distraction, but you have a lot of decisions to make when you get home,” he reminds me. “Do you really think right now is the best time to start something you can’t give your full attention to?” Damn it, I know he’s right, but it doesn’t stop me from wanting to try. Maybe nothing will come of it, but what if something does?

“You’re right,” I say, reluctantly turning around and heading back through the lobby. Holly is waiting for us next to the vehicle with our luggage. Mitch clicks the fob and the trunk door rises. We throw our bags inside, then get in. Mitch is driving, and Holly is riding shotgun.

I’m listening to them talk about what they’re planning to do when we get home. We’ve all been living in the dorms, but Mitch and Holly will be getting their own place next month. It makes me wonder where Blakely lives—where she’ll be living. Does she know anyone where she’s planning to go to school? She seemed so alone this week. Not a single person texted or called her from what I could see—aside from that one time that guy asked her to join them for lunch and she looked like she’d rather eat nails than go.

Mitch says something to Holly, and she laughs, leaning over and kissing his cheek, and it hits me that I’ll never be able to feel Blakely’s lips on me again. I’ll never be able to run my hands along her soft skin.

Closing my eyes, I recall her every feature, what she wore… didn’t wear. How she felt in my arms. What her laughter sounded like. Holly laughs again, and I want to tell her to shut the hell up. She’s fucking up my memory. In a week, in a month, she’ll be nothing more than a distant memory. Every day it will become harder to remember the details. My eyes open, and I breathe out a panicky breath. This can’t be the end.

“Turn around,” I tell Mitch.

His eyes meet mine in the rearview mirror, and he sighs, not even bothering to ask why. He knows.

Holly looks back at me sympathetically. “Are you sure, Keegan? You said you didn’t want anything serious.” She’s right. I did say that. But that was before I met Blakely. There has to be a reason she’s come into my life when she did, and I’m not ready to let her go yet.