Page 28 of My Twin Sister's Ex

There was so much more to Bennett than what seemed to be on the surface. He was a deep, insightful, amazing guy who had been through a serious tragedy and was doing his best to cope. Thinking about it made me want to take him in my arms and kiss away all his pain. Hold him until everything felt better.

My heart warmed as I pondered the subject. I put my hand over his and looked him in the eye. “I’m so, so sorry you had to go through all of this. I’m here for you now if you ever want to talk about it.”

He seemed surprised. And pleased. He took my hand that was over his and enveloped it in his grasp. “Thank you. That means a lot to me. I might just take you up on that. Mrs. Monroe is always telling me I need to find someone to talk to. I don’t exactly have the greatest support group. I have my uncle, but not anyone my own age.”

I had noticed that Bennett tended to spend a lot of time alone. Maybe that would change now. “Well, you have me. I mean, to talk to.” I felt my cheeks heat up. “We should get back to running our lines before lunch is over.” I was about ready for the ground to open and swallow me whole.

We ran through our lines a few more times before lunch was over. “I’ll see you in drama,” Bennett called as we walked back in the building, parting ways.

“See you later.”

Reese caught up to me. “Do you like him?”

My eyes widened. “What? Why would you think that?”

She smiled. “You’re totally glowing.”

“There’s a rumor going around that we’re dating,” I told her.

“And are you?”

“No. We’re just partnered up for drama.”

“But would you want to be his girlfriend if he asked?” Reese pressed.

“What kind of question is that?” My cheeks were on fire.

Reese’s eyes lit up. “Ooh! You’re blushing. You really do like him.”

This was all happening so fast. Was it possible that something might happen with Bennett and me? Did I want that? I hadn’t stopped to think about it. But he was an amazing guy and easy to talk to. It felt natural being with him, and we were definitely friends now. But could it be possible for us to be more? Jackilyn sure wouldn’t like it, and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to keep something like that from her.

* * *

Iwalked into drama and took a seat next to Bennett. Reese sat on the other side of me. She kept smiling at me, and I wished she would stop before Bennett noticed and wondered if there was something up. Thank goodness he didn’t seem to notice.

Mr. Brownley had us split up into our groups to practice our scenes. He wanted us to work on blocking out the scene today. I had a feeling we were going to have to practice our kiss soon. I didn’t want him to do it during class where other people could watch our awkward first practice kiss. Maybe we could practice it in the park after school. For some reason, that made me feel giddy, and butterflies fluttered in my belly.

Mr. Brownley walked around the room, checking in with the different groups. When he got to us, he stood and watched as we laughed, pretending to be young and in love.

“Why don’t you two try standing closer here?” Mr. Brownley said, interrupting us as we got to a section where we were declaring our love for each other.

Bennett took me in his embrace, and goosebumps chased down my arms. He smelled good, like soap and manliness. I looked up into his blue eyes as he smiled down at me, and my stomach flip-flopped. For a moment, it didn’t seem like he was acting. He was looking at me like he cherished me.

I gazed up into his eyes and recited my next line, telling him how devoted I was to him.

He smiled down at me, and something clicked into place. I liked him.Likeliked him. Everything was moving so fast, but I was helpless to stop it. I wasn’t sure I wanted to stop it. I wanted him. The real Bennett. Not the guy he was pretending to be in our scene. The guy who’d lost his mom and was hurting. The guy who needed a shoulder to cry on and someone to hug. I could sense how badly he needed it, and I wanted to be the one to be there for him, to soothe his pain.

We finished our scene, and the class period ended. My head spun with the new information of what I’d just realized. I had a massive crush on Bennett Andrews. I didn’t know what I would do about it, but there was no denying it. I wasn’t sure I was going to survive getting through our after-school practice without falling for him even more. How was I supposed to kiss him without getting my feelings all tangled up in the situation?

I silently freaked out for the rest of the day. And I did my best to avoid Jackilyn. She knew me better than Reese. If my best friend could tell I was glowy, then my twin sister would definitely know I was crushing on someone. I would be dead meat if she found out I liked her ex. Dead meat. Plus, she’d think I’d been lying to her before about not being together with him.

So I did my best to avoid her. It was all I could do. I drove to the park after school and pulled into the parking lot just as Bennett did. At least I wasn’t late. I hated it that I was late all the time.

“Hey,” I said when we’d both stepped out of our cars. “Ready to get started?”

“Sure am.” He followed me to the picnic table where we’d been sitting before.

“I think we should practice all of our scenes this time.”

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