Page 72 of Sinful Like Us
A six-foot-four armored knight lords over a four-poster bed. Beanbags surround an expensive game console, fantasy paperbacks spilling out of a bookcase. Boxers, tees, and jeans pile on a dresser—more messy than clean, but I’ve seen this place look like a hurricane ripped through.
The bed is made and most empty cans of Fizz and Sprite are actuallyinthe trash bin.
What’s new: the dumbbells in the corner, handwraps and boxing gloves on a desk, hiding a stack of 10thgrade homeschool textbooks.
Xander Hale gawks like I just laid out a mission to Mordor. Jaw hanging, eyes wide—he slowly shakes his head. “What?”
My brows pull together. I didn’t expectthisreaction from him.
All I can think is:unfuck this before I fuck it completely.
I need Xander on board with the twin switch. Because pretending to be my brother while my brother pretends to be me is a type of manipulation.
A twin swap for a one-day prank is different. Easy. Harmless. To swap with the intention to fool others for my own benefit, not just for shits and giggles—it’s wrong.
Clear-cut.
And the only way to make thisokayin my head is to ensure we’re not tricking people who matter to us. Her parents—Banks can’t run into Rose and Connor Cobalt.
And Xander—he has to know the truth. Hell, even if we didn’t tell him, I think he’d notice that Banks isn’t me.
We decided that I’d tell Xander the plan only a couple days before the trip. Less time for him to agonize over the details, the better. But now—staring at his slack-jawed, wide-eyed expression—I’m afraid we miscalculated.
He needs more time to process.
My stomach clenches, and I repeat the first part of the plan. “I’m switching places with Banks. He’ll be here next week to protect you, then I’ll be back.”
Xander is balancing on Maximoff’s old skateboard. Fizz soda in hand, he sinks down in a daze and sits on the board. “You can’t be serious…” Brown hair hangs in his eyelashes.
“I trust Banks with you,” I say with everything I have, “and right now, I need to be with Jane.” It’s never felt more necessary.I can want and desire my girlfriend, but Ineedto be the man at her side come Scotland.
Not Tony.
Not her brothers.
Not Maximoff or Farrow.
That man has to be me. She wants a teammate, and she needs to see that we’re meant to stand at the end of the line together. That no matter the circumstances, I’ll rip through shackles and be there for her—always.
Forever.
That word stuns my churning brain and ripples through me like life-threatening voltage.
Forever.
I’m barely hanging ontonowwith Jane. I can’t think about more.
Xander flicks his soda can tab. “That’ll never work, Thatcher—you switching with Banks, I mean.”
“Are you against it?”
“No,no way. I’d do anything for you and Banks. You guys know that.” His amber eyes soften on me. For a single beat, he’s that nine-year-old kid that I carried to safety. Fragile and innocent.
But he’s not nineanymore.
Tissues and lotion are on his nightstand, his voice has dropped, and if he were still standing, he’d stand tall at six-two. His biceps are cut, gaining more strength.
He’ll be sixteen this month, on Christmas day, and I’ve been waiting for him to make it there.
