Page 83 of The Good Girl's Guide to Being Bad

I nearly choked on my tongue, the question was such a surprise. It was like someone throwing ice water in your face, and then expecting you to function like a normal human being. Completely impossible.

“I-I…”

“Yeah?” Kyle prompted.

“I don’t dislike him as much as I used to think,” I said, choosing my words oh-so-carefully. “He’s not bad at all really. We’ve been spending a lot of time together, and…well…”

“And?”

“I think we’re becoming…friends,” I finished lamely.

Kyle tilted his head, his face a question. “Hmm. My brother doesn’t really have girls who are friends. He has exes, and then he has hookups who want to be girlfriends—who usually end up being his exes. That’s about it. I’m just worried about you…and him.”

“Kyle, it’s fine, okay?” I said, feeling my stomach hollow but knowing this was the right thing to say—even if I wished it wasn’t true. “Your brother would never like me like that. He said so himself. I’m not his type.”

“Yeah, but all the kissing and—”

I forced a laugh though my throat was dry. “Oh that? Those were just for my list, for Colton to win the bet. You know that.”

Kyle stared at me, and I knew, through our best friend bond, that he could tell I was lying. His next question proved as much.

“Okay, that’s how you think he feels, but what about you. How do you feel? Sadie, I know you. You can’t just kiss someone without getting attached.”

He’d always been way too perceptive.

“It would be really stupid of me to fall for Colton Bishop,” I said finally.

After a beat, Kyle laughed. “And you’ve never been stupid. Yeah, I guess you’re right. You two are so completely different.”

“We are different,” I said. “It would never work with us. Plus, I don’t think I could handle being just another one of Colton’s exes.”

A laugh sounded from the hallway, leading from the entrance into the studio, and suddenly Colton was there. I hadn’t even heard the door open.

“My exes all love me,” he said, shrugging out of his work shirt for the garage. It was dirty with oil stains and so were his hands. That left him in a white tee that also had a few stains—but there was nothing he could do about those. Colton’s eyes moved to his brother for a moment. They exchanged a look that I couldn’t read, and when Colton’s eyes came back to me, there was something cold, impassive, like a wall had gone up. “You’d be lucky to be one of them.”

My eyes narrowed, but worse, my heart clenched at his harsh words.

“Are we dancing or what?”

I stood and instead of answering said, “Nice of you to show up.”

Colton cleared his throat. “I had work. I told you that already.”

“You could’ve at least washed your hands,” Kyle said, eyeing the oil stains.

“I did,” Colton said. “Three times. Trust me, they’re clean.”

“Whatever you say,” Kyle muttered.

“Hey man, I don’t even want to be here, so if you’re going to give me grief—”

“No,” I said, holding my hands up between them. Our first practice wasn’t going well at all. Time to salvage this. “No, it’s fine. We’re all here now. It’s all good. We’ve got less than two weeks until the video deadline, so let’s get started.”

Colton coughed, shrugged then dropped into the seat next to Kyle. Twins or not, seeing them side-by-side like this really made their differences undeniable. Colton sat slouched, his arms stretched across the top of the sofa, looking unimpressed, as if he hadn’t a care in the world. Kyle, on the other hand, was leaning forward, eyes bright and eager to go.

“So, what’s the plan, Sadie?” Kyle asked.

Taking a deep breath, I said, “Well, I feel like the only way I even have a shot at getting picked forDancer’s Edgeis to create something so strong, so edgy, so passionate they can’t deny it. And it has to be unique. That’s where you two come in.”

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