Page 63 of A Stealthy Situation

Walk away from Harrison and avoid him like the plague.

Or tell him the whole truth.

Everything.

Including the cheating and hope like hell that he doesn’t turn me in.

“What do we do?” I whisper, not really expecting an answer.

“Drop the class? Shave our hair? Move to Mexico?”

“That isn’t funny.”

“I’m not joking.” He sits next to me. “It’d help me out with Asher and West too.”

“If you think they can’t hunt us down in Mexico, you don’t know our brothers.”

He sighs, looking out my window. “Do you ever sometimes think that school isn’t for us?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, we both suck at it.”

“Says who? We’ve always had top marks.”

“Except that one year we were put in all the same classes.”

I try to forget that year. I almost had to retake math, and his English results were in the hole. We had to make up this whole lie about spending too much time together and always fighting, which meant we had no time left to study. Somehow, everyone bought it.

“Okay, so maybe we’re stupid about some things, but it doesn’t mean school isn’t for us. Is that why you don’t want to go back? You think you’re dumb?”

“Something like that …”

“You’re not dumb. Quit that. And also, why won’t you just let me be mad at you? It would be a lot easier right now.”

He laughs and tackle-hugs me to the bed. “Because I know you don’t want that. It always makes us both feel shit.”

“Stupid twin stupid bond. Aren’t we supposed to have superpowers?”

“I don’t think it works like that.”

I gaze up at my ceiling, following the patterns in the cracked paint with my eyes. “Do you think he looked at you and pictured you naked?” I ask Em.

“What?”

“Eh. Nothing.” It’s not something I’ve ever considered before. That someone I’m with might be equally as attracted to my brother because I’ve never actually cared. If you’d asked me, I probably would have thought it was hilarious, would have loved it, because Em and I share everything, and we love that people can’t tell us apart.

I think this is the first time ever that I don’t love it so much.

The fact Harrison has this whole friendship with Em that’s caught me by surprise makes me uncomfortable. I hate that he couldn’t tell the difference. Hate that if something happened to me, it wouldn’t matter because he has a backup guy. A replacement.

Fuck, my thoughts are getting dark.

“I need a drink,” I say.

“No, you need to talk to him.”

“Can’t.”

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