Page 33 of Forever Mine
She stops and sniffs the air. Closing her eyes, she hums. “Smells delicious.”
Her compliment makes me stupidly happy. My normal culinary skills don’t go past chicken, tofu, steamed rice, and some sort of vegetable. The dietary regimen while we’re in training and playing matches sucks, but I adhere to it. Offseason is another story. I let loose and gorge on pizza and junk food.
Taking the dessert box from her, I lead her into the kitchen. She looks around with interest. Thankfully, she doesn’t notice the slight discoloration on the wall where Ryder and I patched the hole. We couldn’t find an exact match to the eggshell paint color at the hardware store, but it’ll do for now.
“Nice place.”
“It can get messy and loud at times with three guys. Four counting Elijah, but he’ll move into the dorms tomorrow.”
My heart already aches at the thought.
I pull out a barstool at the island for her to sit on, then go around it to wash my hands.
She props her elbows on the granite, those pale verdant eyes on me. “Can I help with anything?”
“I’m just about done. You can keep me company while I finish up. Want something to drink?”
She points to my glass of iced tea. “Whatever you’re having.”
I grab the pitcher from the fridge, fill a glass, and hand it to her, not able to tear my gaze away. There’s just something different about her I can’t pin down. Or maybe it’s just my imagination since I haven’t seen her in over a year.
“You’re staring.”
“I’m trying to figure out what’s changed.”
She laughs—deep and throaty and wonderful. “Like plastic surgery different? Weight loss different?”
My lips pucker to the side as I consider those and dismiss them almost immediately. “I can’t describe it. You do look more muscular than I remember.”
Liz flexes her arm, and I may gawk at the definition of her biceps. Damn, she really is packing some serious strength behind her feminine figure.
“Months of PT and the gym. I like to run, too.”
She runs now?
“We used to have to bribe you with coffee and scones just to get you up in the mornings for school. The only time I ever saw you run was when Jay was chasing you.”
Her smile abates slightly. “How long did we date?”
I peer up at the ceiling, doing the mental math. “You first hooked up the summer before eleventh grade.”
Her hand flies to her mouth to stop iced tea from spewing everywhere. “Hooked up?” she coughs out.
“No! Sorry. Not then. You guys did that at prom.”
Oh my god, shut up.
Her eyes flare comically wide until they practically take over her entire face.
“Ignore me. I tend to get verbal vomit sometimes.”
Her smile returns. “I guess twins tell each other everything.”
“Pretty much.”
Those wide eyes return.
“Noteverything,” I baldly lie because Jay and I don’t keep secrets from one another.
