Page 53 of My Twin Sister's Extremely Famous and Incredibly Hot Neighbor

My blood freezes. I don’t know how to sign her name. I’ve never studied Jera’s signature. I’m so dead.

Everyone watches me as I fiddle with the napkin, trying to get it just right on the console. My mouth goes dry as I wrack my brain. If I can remember what her signature kind of looks like, I can maybe get close. But I don’t remember anything. My mind is blank.

Sweat breaks out on my forehead. I know I have to do something. I take the pen and scribble a large J and then a squiggle that doesn’t really resemble Jera’s name, but I guess I can blame it on the napkin if people ask why it doesn’t look normal. “Here,” I say, handing it back to Dustin.

“Thank you so much,” the girl says, grinning at us. Luckily she doesn’t look too closely at it. “Your dog is adorable,” she says to me.

“Thank you.” As if on queue, Squint barks.

People take our pictures as we wait for our food to come out. It’s awkward, and I don’t know what to do with my hands. I pet Squint and wait for the awkwardness to end. The girl finally hands us a paper bag with our meal in it.

“Have a great night! Thank you for the autographs!”

I give her a wave as Dustin pulls out into traffic. The smell from the burgers makes me salivate. Luckily it doesn’t take too long to get to Dustin’s house. We take the food inside and sit down at his table to eat.

Squint runs to the corner of the kitchen where an automatic doggie water dish now sits. I smile at Dustin. “Is that my present?”

“No,” he says as he takes out our food. “I’ll give you your gift after we eat.”

“You just want to torture me some more.”

A glint enters his eye. “Maybe.”

I pop a french fry in my mouth. “Mmm, this is good.”

“For fast food burgers, you can’t beat In-N-Out.” He takes a bite of his burger.

“I guess after this it’s just kale and legumes, huh?”

“Yeah. I have to get in shape. This show is set on the beach.”

The image of Dustin in the water, his chest muscles glistening, pops into my head. “I think you’re already in shape,” I say under my breath.

Dustin chuckles. “Glad you think so.”

After we eat, Dustin comes up behind me and puts his arms around me. “Are you ready for your gift?”

CHAPTER28

Inod, excited to see what he got for me. “Absolutely. I can’t wait.”

He leads me over to the patio door, slides it open, then we step outside. It’s dusk, but not too dark. His patio is lit by twinkle lights strung on an awning, which gives everything a magical glow. A little further out he has a cute little gazebo with a couple of chairs and a table. I turn and gaze at him and wait for him to give me a present, but he just stands there, smiling. His gaze keeps flicking to something behind me, and I look to see what he’s staring at.

I gasp as I realize the fence between our properties is gone. There are spots where I can see holes that still need to be filled, but that’s all that remain. I blink back tears as it hits me what this means.

I turn to him. “You tore down your fence.”

“They’ll come back and fix the holes tomorrow. They promised they can restore your property to the fullest. I’m getting a new one installed later in the week. I’ll make sure it’s installed solidly on my property.”

Emotions rise in me, and I can’t stop the tears from falling. Dustin gave in to what Jera wanted. He did it for me. He wasn’t acting nice to me to get what he wanted. Jera was wrong. He does like me for me.

He pulls me to his chest. “Hey, why are you crying? I thought you’d be happy.”

I can’t help the sobs from coming. I cling to him and try to get my emotions under control. It doesn’t work and I turn into a blubbering mess. “I am,” I say, but it comes out choked and high pitched.

He holds me close, softly stroking my hair. “I don’t understand why it means this much to you, but I’m glad you’re happy.”

My throat tightens as I think about it. Him tearing down his fence and rebuilding is overwhelming to me. Jera has to be happy now. She’s gotten what she wanted. And maybe now she’ll see that Dustin isn’t the jerk she thinks he is.

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