Page 56 of My Twin Sister's Ex

He took a seat at the picnic table across from me. “Is it okay if we talk for a minute before we get started?”

My heart thumped in my chest. “Okay.”

“I don’t think I gave you a good enough apology before. I’m sorry about that. I can’t fault you for being upset with me. What I did was awful. I don’t blame you if you never want to forgive me. Like I told you before, I never wanted Jackilyn to kiss me, but I shouldn’t have danced with her. That was my mistake. I should have known that she was up to something. But I gave her the benefit of the doubt.”

He really did look sorry. His eyes were rimmed with red like he was fighting off tears.

“I really care about you, Jessilyn. I haven’t really told you how I feel about you. If you understood that, you would never question my loyalty to you. That’s my fault too. I should have been more open with you about my feelings.”

“How do you feel about me?”

“I feel a powerful connection to you whenever I’m around you. I can’t ignore it or pretend it’s not there. I feel drawn to you like no one ever before.”

“I feel that way about you too,” I whispered. I could feel my pulse racing, and my palms were sweaty. I wasn’t expecting our conversation to go in this direction. But it was true; the more I spent time with Bennett, the stronger my feelings for him became.

There was no way I could stay mad at him now. I could feel the sincerity of his words.

And that meant that Jackilyn really did betray me horribly. It was sickening to think about. Why would my own sister be okay with hurting me so deeply? Because she was bored? What kind of reason was that?

“I believe you,” I said to Bennett. “And I forgive you.”

“You do?” Bennett said. “Because I can keep groveling if you want.”

I laughed. “Oh, is that what you were doing just now? Groveling?”

“That’s the word my uncle used.”

I smiled at the idea that Bennett was going to his uncle with his girl troubles. It was cute to think about him being all worried that he might lose me. It warmed my heart to know that he cared so much.

“I’m sorry I doubted you,” I told him. “I didn’t realize that you cared about me this much.”

He took my hands in his. They were warm and strong. “I do. I’ve never cared about another girl this much before.”

“I’ve never cared about another guy like this before.”

“So, are we good then?”

I nodded. “We’re good.”

He stroked his thumb over the back of my hand. “Should we get busy practicing?”

“We’d better. We need to get polished up on the last-minute details.”

I pulled my script out, but I didn’t really need it. I left it sitting on the table and got up to the grassy area next to our table. We ran through our scene, practicing the blocking just like we’d rehearsed before. Each time our lips met, the kiss was sweeter than before.

“You’re getting good at this,” I told him.

He grinned at me. “The kissing or the acting?”

“Both. I believe we may have a shot at winning the competition.”

“You think so?”

“As long as we keep working hard like this,” I said.

“Then let’s get to work.”

We ran through our scene several more times, each time getting better than the last. It felt natural and easy to be in Bennett’s arms. What a change from the first time we’d practiced together.

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