I wanted to head home. As much as I was enjoying lunch, I was about to fall asleep on my feet—or my ass seeing as I was still sitting down. I’d been up since well before four this morning.
Nightmares had once again woken me up earlier than I would’ve liked to be woken. Nightmares that were a constant ever since we’d moved back home.
Years ago, when we were children, my father had decided that his family deserved to die. He tied each of us up to a kitchen chair. Then, once he had us all in our spots, he’d shot each one of us. Seven kids plus my mother. Then, to make sure we were really fucked, he set the house on fire with us in it, then finished himself off by blowing out his brains.
Two of my brothers, Foss and Eden, had died. They were too young to survive something like that.
Darby, Ace, Banks—my twin—and I would’ve died, too, if it wasn’t for my sister. She’d somehow gotten herself free of the zip ties that’d been holding her to the chair. From there, she’d gotten each of us free and helped us outside before the flames could touch us.
After that day, we’d been shipped off to Houston where a nice foster family had taken us in. My sister, being eighteen, didn’t get to come with us, though she did follow.
Since we’d gotten back to Kilgore and moved onto the property, it’d been overhauled. Cleaned. Made into our neat version of a home… but even though it wasn’t the same house where everything took place, each night, I still woke up with the same nightmares.
Each night, at the time that I’d been dragged from my bed in fact.
“You’re a twin?” Desi asked.
I looked over to see her studying me.
I’d missed quite a bit of the conversation, but I nodded anyway. “Yep. All my life, in fact.”
Her lips quirked.
“They’re not identical, though,” Codie put in. “You’ll see when you meet them. Callum has that brownish reddish hair and is a little bulkier than Banks. He’s also nicer and doesn’t have a constant scowl on his face,” Codie continued.
My eyes met Ace’s.
We shared a silent laugh at her thoughts.
Banks may ‘appear’ meaner, but he wasn’t. In actuality, I was the mean one. Or, better yet, we were both mean. He just didn’t bother to hide it while I did.
I liked to surprise people. It wouldn’t do to let them think that they couldn’t approach me.
I was the person that dealt with business at the ranch. The face, you could say. I had to appear approachable. That was how business worked.
“Huh,” she said. “What does Banks look like?”
“Like me, but with a constant scowl and coal-black hair,” I teased.
Desi’s lips twitched.
“Hmmm,” she teased.
“I forgot my cookie!” Codie clapped.
My lips twitched at her exuberance.
The woman beside me sighed. “I hate dieting. Cheeseburgers are so much tastier.”
I silently agreed. My salad with light dressing, paired with my bland as fuck protein, wasn’t my favorite thing in the world to eat. However, a body needed healthy fuel to stay in peak shape.
But today I was going to enjoy my cheat day. I couldn’t wait to bite into the sandwich. It looked and smelled delicious.
“You should just start working out and eat like shit,” Codie said. “It’s what I do, and it works.”
“Yeah,” Desi snorted. “Not all of us are blessed with cute little bodies like you were, though. If I allow myself to have cheeseburgers, I start to resemble them. Even if I did work out. I might be able to have a cheat day here and there once I get back on the wagon, though.”
I doubted that would ever be the case, but I sure the fuck wouldn’t be arguing with her. Food and ass size were two things I tried to stay away from when it came to women.
Chapter 4
Slowly feeling less stabby.
-Coffee Cup
Desi
It was after lunch was devoured that I threw Codie to the wolves.
Not that I didn’t like having lunch with the two men and Codie, but I needed to have a small break.
One that didn’t have hot men sitting next to me, not allowing me to think.
“But I thought you were going to come over and help me decorate my tree?” Codie asked, sounding like she was desperate not to ride home with them.
“I can,” I agreed. “But I have to go to the store to get some ribbon, which means that I’ll be late. Plus, you’ve spilled water on yourself. No offense, but you need to go home before anything else happens to you. Or you die.”
She rolled her eyes. “It was just one accident.”
It was one ‘accident.’
And I say that lightly seeing as she’d purposefully spilled the water on herself before we’d gone out to eat just because she didn’t want to go.
I loved my best friend, but sometimes she couldn’t see what was right in front of her face—i.e., a man that was totally into her and was gorgeous.
“If you don’t mind, I’ll go to the store with you,” Callum said, startling me. “I need to grab shit for dinner.”
I grinned nervously, my belly starting to revolt at the thought of him coming with me.
But before I could tell him no, words started to pour out of my mouth before I could stop them. “As long as you allow me to eat said dinner.”
Ace gagged. “You don’t want to. It’s all protein powder and salads and smoothies.”
My head tilted sideways slightly, and once again, my mouth wasn’t syncing up with my brain. “I need to eat healthier… maybe I should learn how to make protein shakes… is there one you recommend for beginners? Ones that won’t make hair grow on my chin and cause my voice to deepen?”
Callum’s husky laughter rang out as he placed his hand at the small of my back as he started to lead me out the door.
What the hell was going on with my head today?
First, I’d seen him at the gym and had instantly recognized him as the man from last night.
I’d done nothing but dream of him all night long, and this morning when I’d seen him in the gym, my brain-to-mouth filter had started to malfunction.
There I was helping Codie lift, and the next thing I knew, I was asking him if he wanted to go to lunch with us.
Then I was sitting with him throughout the entire lunch, and despite having my ex-husband and his new ‘soon-to-be wife’ at his side, I’d actually enjoyed myself.
I’d. Enjoyed. Myself.
That kind of stuff didn’t happen to me anymore.
Why? Because I was Desi, the fat ex of one of the hottest men in town.
From day one, people had looked at me like I didn’t belong with Mal.
He was tall, rich, handsome and breathtaking.
I’d never really understood why he’d pursued me.
And now, here I was, allowing the same thing to happen again, only Callum was much, much hotter.
“You okay?” Callum asked, looking down at me with curiosity and worry.