Page 33 of Resisting the Running Back

It feels like a double date.

To be clear, it’s not one. But it still feels like one.

“Sophie Summers, how the hell have you been?” Tanner asks as he hops out of the driver’s seat of Cassie’s car as his fiancée gets out of the front passenger seat, her blond hair in a ponytail swinging behind her.

She gives me a quick hug as Tanner embraces Sophie, and my eyes edge over to the two of them. I wonder if either of them will say something about my feelings for Sophie.

Jesus, I hope not.

Maybe this dinner idea wasn’t such a good plan after all.

I wonder if Sophie is attracted to my brother.

We’re identical twins, but attraction has as much or more to do with personality as it does with looks. There have been plenty of women who went for me over my brother and vice versa. And there have been plenty of women who were gorgeous on the outside but showed their true colors on the inside.

There are huge differences between us. A couple of inches in height, for one. Tanner is taller and leaner, while I’m the shorter one with thicker and more defined muscles. A lot of it stems from our very different positions. As a running back, I need to be quick and able to break through tackles with my lower body strength, while Tanner needs stronger upper body strength to throw the football and manage plays.

I brush the errant thoughts from my brain. It doesn’t matter who Sophie is or isn’t attracted to. The fact is he’s engaged to Cassie, and the other fact is that I’m hopelessly in love with Sophie and have exactly zero plans to act on it.

Except, of course, to play the game in public and shower her with as much affection as I possibly can since we’re supposed to beengaged.

“It’s so lovely to meet you,” Cassie says to Sophie.Do not say you’ve heard so much about her. Do not say you’ve heard so much about her. Do not say you’ve heard so much about her.“I’ve heard so much about you.”

Jesus Christ.

“Tanner says you’re a high school teacher,” Cassie says, her voice inflecting at the end like a question. She leans in a littleconspiratorially and says, “My kids are about to turn eight and six, and I need you to prepare me for what to expect.”

Sophie laughs, and Cassie laughs, and I feel like I dodged the first bullet of the night.

My brother catches my eye, and as I move over to give him our inside handshake where we slap hands forward, then backward, grab hands, shake once, fist bump, and hug, he quietly murmurs to me, “Everything okay?”

I raise both brows and nod as I press my lips together, and the secret look doesn’t seem to be lost on him. I can’t lie to him. He’d know anyway thanks to our twintuition.

He knows he’ll get the full story later when we can talk.

But for now, we’re taking our women out to dinner.

We head to our favorite steakhouse downtown, and we’re seated at a quiet corner booth. Sophie slides in first, and I move in beside her. My thigh touches hers, and neither of us moves. I glance up and spot Cassie openly staring at the two of us, studying us as if she’s coming to her own conclusions about what’s going on here.

I tilt my head at her, and she glances back at her menu as if I didn’t just totally catch her.

“What’s everyone ordering?” Tanner asks.

“Surf and turf,” I say immediately, setting my menu down. “And some whiskey. Anyone else need a drink?”

Sophie raises her hand. “Me. Margarita, definitely. And I’m looking at the salmon.”

“Oh, me too! On both of those,” Cassie says, and it’s like they immediately bond because they want to order the same thing. “What about you?” Cassie asks, elbowing Tanner.

“The filet,” he says. “And tequila, obviously.”

“Straight tequila?” Sophie asks. “You still drink that?”

She remembers his signature drink? She leans across the table a little to tell this story to Cassie. “I remember this one time inhigh school, Tanner drank straight tequila until he puked in the bushes, and Miller had to drive us home.” She giggles.

Tanner tosses a glare in her direction. “As I recall, you were watering the bushes yourself that night, and that’s why you caught me.”

She holds up both hands. “Guilty as charged. But my excuse is that I was mixing beer and rum. Ah, to be young again.”

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