Page 31 of My Twin Sister's Extremely Famous and Incredibly Hot Neighbor

“I was enjoying the time with you.” Dustin stands and turns to me. “Jera, I mean it when I say I’ll come if you need me. If Luke shows up and you’re frightened, scream. I’ll hear you.”

“I will.” I gaze into his brilliant blue eyes. There’s a softness there that takes me aback.

Dustin acts like he wants to say something, but no words surface. He just stares at me with a look I can’t quite decipher.

“I guess I’d better go now.”

“I’ll walk you home.”

I laugh. “You don’t have to do that. I live next door.”

“I want to make sure you get home safe.” His words imply so much more.

I hadn’t thought about the possibility of Luke hanging around outside my sister’s house. I decide having Dustin take me home isn’t a terrible idea.

“All right.”

CHAPTER16

Dustin walks with me up to Jera’s doorstep. I set Squint down and he runs off to sniff the rocks by the side of the house. I glance around, but I see no sign of Luke. Still, I have no idea if Jera gave him her gate and door codes. He could be inside the house waiting for me.

“Do you mind checking out the house for me?” I ask tentatively.

Dustin stares at me. “You think Luke might be inside? Did you give him your security codes?”

“I don’t know.” It comes out before I realize how stupid that sounds.

Dustin makes a face. “You don’t know? What does that mean?”

I scramble to think of something rational. “He could have looked when I typed in my code. I don’t know if he can get inside or not.”

He nods. “Ah, I get it. I don’t mind looking around for you.”

I punch in the code and let Dustin in. “Wait here,” he says. He disappears into the house.

I watch Squint do his business and then pick him up again, holding him tight to me. Dustin comes back after a few minutes. “He’s not here.”

Relief floods over me. “Thank you for checking.”

“You really should change your codes.”

I nod, even though I don’t know how to change the codes. Maybe Jera will help me do that. “I’ll look up how to do that in the morning.”

Dustin doesn’t like my answer. “Why don’t we do that now?”

“It’s one in the morning.”

He pulls out his phone. “These locks aren’t hard to change. Let me just Google it.”

He’s right. It only takes a few minutes to figure out how to program the lock for a new code. I type in my old ATM PIN number, resolving to change it back to Jera’s code in a couple of days so she never knows.

Dustin steps back. “Okay. I feel better now. At least he can’t get inside.”

“Yes. It’s unlikely he would bust the door down.”

Dustin flinches. “Are you sure you don’t want me to stay the night? I could sleep on the couch.”

Even though Jera has an alarm system, it would be better with Dustin around. “Yeah, I’d actually like that. And you don’t have to sleep on the couch. There’s a spare bedroom.”

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