Page 2 of Mr. July

So, she tried something else, giving me her best lost little girl look. The one she wore the day I found her crying on the playground in fourth grade after her frenemy Olivia declared her a loser because she had a boy’s name. The ultrasound tech had told my parents they were expecting twin boys. My mother had everything monogrammed with our predetermined names. She wasn’t going to change it after Charlie came out with lady parts. Something that occasionally gets to Char.

“Aw, shit.”

“It’s for the dolphins, Chase. They need us.”

Mid eye-roll, she flashed me a picture of dolphins in captivity. “We need to end this, Chase. With the money from the calendars, we can save one. Maybe two. Every dolphin our charity buys back from these horrible resorts or aquariums—gets released off the coast of Florida. No one will pay to ride them in the Bahamas. Momma dolphins won’t be ripped from their calves and pods can be free like they were meant to be…,” she broke off practically in tears.

“Hell.”

I’m a sucker for animals and she knew it. Always have been. If I weren’t such a workaholic living in a fancy high-rise, I’d have dogs. Big ones. The fluffy kind that shed, get hair everywhere, and piss off the country-club type women who eye me while dreaming of golden-haired babies.

This was a bad idea.

I also knew it was better to just give Charlie what she wanted than to endure her tactics to get me to comply. My twin isn’t above playing dirty, like giving out my new cell number to exes on social media—encouraging them to “reach out.” Or text her sorority sister from college Riley, whom I found terribly annoying—that I was DTF and giving her the code to my building. That happened after I was two hours late to our birthday party one year because I was closing my first contract for the firm. Char was livid after inviting half of ‘upper southern society’ and blowing a hefty sum of her trust fund to hold the party at a country club outside of Charlotte.

“Chase… if you don’t cooperate, I’ll have to cancel the calendar.” She batted her eyes, giving me the pouty lip.

I took the bathing suit from her fingers and strode back to the photo shoot area.

“Thirty minutes. Tops. You owe me big time for this.” I shot a stern look at her over one shoulder.

“I knew I could count on you. The poor, captive dolphins can, too.” Defeated, I shrugged. “Carlos! He’s in!” Charlie waved both her arms above her head. She was so excited—she resembled someone stranded on a deserted island, using their arms to wave an SOS to a plane in the sky. I quickly answered a few emails, then tucked my phone away.

Carlos narrowed his eyes at me. “Fine. I’m sorry, okay? Let’s get this done.” Despite the wind picking up, I grabbed the hem of my shirt.

“At least we won’t need to spray tan you.”

“Spray what? No. I’m not losing my man-card over this.” Resigning myself to the fact that yes—I’m really about to be a calendar guy I parted the curtain to the changing tent. “I better still be able to father kids after wearing this…”

“Why wouldn’t you?”

“I have a big package.”

She rolled her eyes.

“I’d strip down right here to show you, but you are my twin and that’s kind of gross.”

“Trust me. I’ve heard plenty about your ‘package’ over the years from friends.

“What? As if I’d ever hook up with any of the girls in your sorority.”

“Natasha?”

“What?”

“She said—”

I shuddered. “Never happened. Despite her best attempts.” With that I stepped inside the tent and dropped my board shorts. Natasha was whack. Stalked me throughout college and I thought I was finally free of that money-hungry viper when I heard some footballer knocked her up. All of Char’s friends are gold diggers. Or man hunting cougars in training, taking tips from their middle-aged mothers. Sometimes, I think it’d be nice to find someone but I’m in a relationship with my career right now. Finding a woman can come later. I have plenty of time.

“I look like a tool.” In the cheap full-length mirror set up in the tent, I caught sight the tight spandex hugging my “assets.” My skin still had that summertime glow. It was a gift. Summer is my time. Turning away, I pull back the curtain and stared out into the ocean reading the waves. They were high, perfect for getting on my old board and forgetting everything but riding the next one.

The ocean is in my blood. Charlie and I, we didn’t have the best home life, but we had each other and the beach house our parents rented every summer. I’d do anything for my twin and she damn well knows it.

Sure, on the outside, we appeared to have it all. Summer house, check. Flashy cars, check. Parents who spent an enormous amount of money at the country club, check. But after the parties, endless buffets, and nights under the stars—were the fights when the car rolled to a stop past the gates. Mom was almost always drunk, wobbled in her heels picking fights that escalated into broken vases crashing against the walls.

I got my looks from my father. Dad was a lover. Too nice. Too rich. Too handsome. He had a soft spot in his heart not only for Charlie and Mom, but for every woman who looked his way. Women wanted him—it didn’t matter he already had a wife and kids.

But mom didn’t sign a prenup. Dad loved his money… so that’s how it went. When Charlie and I got older we’d get carted off to the shore house for summer with our Nana. When she died… we stopped going altogether. Dad sold the shore house. Shortly after, he and mom finally parted ways. He’s on wife number three now, while my mother is on her third boob job.

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