Page 305 of My Unexpected Mate

I was thankful that she bumped into me that day.

I was thankful that Nick managed to convince me to go to one more hotel.

I was thankful that Mrs. Black was out that day working in the garden. I was thankful she approached Aria, talked to her, and told me about it.

I was thankful for each and every decision that led me to my sister.

I got out of bed and looked through the window. It snowed last night. It was beautiful. The tree branches were hanging low because there was a thick coat of fresh snow on them. The streets were completely iced over, making driving impossible until the snowplow passes through. The sun was shining, and it made the snow look like a field of diamonds.

It was beautiful. I love the snow.

I opened the door to my room and quietly walked over to my sister’s bedroom. I opened the door and peeked inside. She was still sleeping. I smiled to myself mischievously. It was time to wake her up like the proper twin brother I was.

“GOOD MORNING, SLEEPYHEAD!” I yelled as I jumped onto the bed next to Aria.

She gasped and jumped up. “What the hell?!”

“Happy Birthday!” I said, grinning like an idiot.

“I will beat your ass,” Aria mumbled as she laid back down.

“Is that a way to wish your favorite brother a happy birthday?” I joked, pulling the covers off of her head.

“You are my only brother,” she said, glaring at me.

“Yes, I am,” I said, proudly. “And it is my birthday today.”

She rubbed her eyes and yawned. I chuckled. We both love to sleep. But today is our first birthday together, and we were not spending it sleeping.

She looked up at me and smiled. “Happy Birthday!”

She sat up and wrapped her arms around my neck. I hugged her back immediately. I pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head.

“Happy birthday, love,” I said softly.

She pulled back and looked at me, smiling. “I can’t wait to spend the day with you.”

We had decided we won’t be buying each other presents this year. Instead, we will be spending the day together, just the two of us. We will be making breakfast and lunch together. We will be watching movies together. We will be talking and sharing things about each other we hadn’t gotten a chance to learn about yet.

It will be just the two of us, and then, later tonight, our friends will join us, and we will have a little party.

Nick wasn’t happy at all when we told him our plan. But he had to agree. I won’t be surprised if I see him staring through his window, trying to look inside the house.

“So, how many girls have you slept with?” Aria asked me as I was making the pancake batter.

She raised her eyebrows at me and smirked. I guess the official “getting to know one another better” part of our day has started. And she dived right into it with the most difficult question.

It wouldn’t have been difficult for me to answer this a few months back. Until I met Aria, I saw girls as something to fuck. I never had a relationship and I never wanted one. It sounds horrible, I know. But that was me.

But now, I realized how big of an asshole I had been. If somebody did that to my sister, I would rip them apart. They would regret touching her and treating her like a piece of meat.

“I don’t really know, to be honest,” I mumbled, rubbing the back of my neck nervously. “There were a lot of girls.”

Aria chuckled. “Really?”

I nodded and turned around to get the pan.

“Why are you embarrassed?” she asked me.

---