“A chocolate shake, please.” Brenna sounded perfectly normal, but she stared at the poor girl like a total lunatic.
“Could you make it two and two Cherry Cokes, please?” I slid my hand over and gave Brenna’s hand a shake to snap her out of her weirdness.
“Sure.” She gave Brenna a nervous smile and nodded at me.
“And could you ask Saxon to stop by for us?” I asked.
She looked at me for a minute, turned her head and looked some more. “Is Saxon your evil twin?” she asked suddenly.
Brenna laughed out loud.
“If I’m the good one, that’s just plain sad.” I offered her my best charm-your-pants off smile. She grinned right back, sweet and warm as syrup over waffles.
“I’ll get him for you. Wait just a minute.” Cadence moved like the skates were part of her body.
“She’s gorgeous,” Brenna remarked, then looked at me from the corner of her eye and half-smiled. “I can totally tell you agree.”
I put my arm around Brenna’s shoulders and pulled her over. “ You’regorgeous.” I kissed her forehead. “Why can’t you get a job skating around in a cheerleading outfit?”
“Do you realize how much Cadence probably gets hit on and harassed any given day?” Brenna kissed my neck right where she knew I loved it most.
“Well, I guess you could get a cheerleader skirt and skates to wear around town. We could just go out skating, you know, with you in your cheerleader skirt.” I tugged her tighter and she nestled down, her head on my chest.
“Do you know how to roller skate?” She craned her neck to look up at me.
I scoffed. “Seriously? I practically taught Saxon.”
Just then my evil brother skated over, fast, backward, turned, jumped the curb and landed hard right outside Brenna’s door.
Brenna clapped, obviously impressed with his daredevil stunts. “You have serious moves, Saxon.”
He stuck his head in the window, pulled Brenna over and kissed her, just on the side of her mouth. Kind of like he was purposefully trying to irritate the fuck out of me at first sight. “Jesus Christ, it’s good to see you Blix. I think you got hotter since school ended if that’s humanly possible.”
“It’s the tan. Stop trying to butter me up.” She pointed at him and he grabbed her finger. I saw her flush and pull her hand back, then look at me with nervous eyes.
“Get your hands off of my girl.” I said it cheerfully, but with an edge I’m positive he heard and understood. Saxon was always a little too touchy with Brenna. He could say whatever he wanted; I knew for a fact that he still found Brenna attractive and somewhere, deep in him, would probably always have a thing for her.
“Hey, brother. How was Mama D?” His black eyes flashed.
“A phony bitch.” I cut him a look and shrugged.
“Heard you clocked Dad.” He gave me a nod that was all admiration.
“Yup.” I felt a little swell of pride. I had punched Gerald for Brenna, but I had me and Saxon and my mom in the back of my head when I was taking the swing.
“Did they write you out of the will?” Saxon’s mouth smiled, but his eyes flashed with the hungry worry that comes from wanting something someone else has to give you.
“I hope to hell they did. I wouldn’t piss on their money if it was on fire.” I raised my eyebrows and he gave me another curt nod, this one tinged with anxiety. “You would have had a ball there. Loose women, lots of booze.”
“Hey, I’m reforming. Slowly.” He flicked his eyes back and forth, and his mouth twitched with disappointment when he didn’t see what he was looking for. Or, more specifically, who.
“So, she’s the one, right?” Brenna wriggled closer to me and kept her voice low, so Cadence wouldn’t be able to overhear.
“She’s the one I like. I haven’t convinced her to like me back. And probably won’t.” He leaned on the door and turned to check that she wasn’t coming up behind us.
“Why not?” Brenna demanded, squeezing my knee right where she knew it tickled me slightly. “Have you tried asking her?”
“The douche-bag boyfriend caught us together the other night, so it’s been all fucking love and roses between them. You know how it goes.” His face was all lumped up with jealous rage.
Man, I knew that look all too well. I’d seen it in the mirror everyday he and Bren had been together.
Cadence skated back over, our drinks on a tray. She slid up next to my door with an easy grace and handed the cups in. “Were you ready to order?” she asked politely.
Saxon grinned at her. “This is my good twin and the girl,” he said to Cadence as if Bren and I weren’t sitting there.
“I figured it out.” Cadence smiled a kind of shy smile that was a little out of place on her face just because she was so beautiful.
Girls as good-looking as Cadence didn’t usually get all flustered and shy. Saxon would be that good. I exchanged a look with Brenna and she raised her eyebrows high at me.
“I’m Cadence.” She tucked her order booklet into her little apron thingy and stuck her hand out. We shook and introduced ourselves.
Saxon turned to her. “If we can duck out a little early, maybe you want to hang with the golden twin and my girl, Blix? Shift’s over in fifteen minutes, and we could give you a ride if you want.” I could tell he was trying to keep his voice nonchalant, and I was surprised at how quickly he was willing to offer her a ride with Bren and me.
“I have to see what Jeff is doing.” There was apology spread all over her words.
“Yeah, you know. Whatever.” He checked over his shoulder again. “Look, I gotta take that car of wild cougars over there. Big tip time.”
He pulled in and kissed Bren again. She stiffened and pulled back, but Saxon hardly noticed. He was trying to see Cadence’s reaction without being too obvious. I saw Cadence glance at him with wide eyes and a set mouth.
We ordered and Cadence skated away, obviously a little pissed. I knew how she felt.
Brenna gave me a nervous look. “He really likes her, doesn’t he?” she asked.
I nodded.
“I think she’s into him, too. Did you see how she looked at him? When she said that thing about checking with her boyfriend? It was sort of like she was apologizing to him.”
I nodded.
“What’s wrong, Jake?” Her voice was strained with worry.
“Nothing Bren. I just think Saxon’s being weirdly touchy. I have a feeling it’s to make Cadence jealous, but I hate it.” I heard more anger in my voice than I meant. I knew I had pushed too far. Bren edged away from me and sat stiff and straight.
“I can’t help how he is, Jake. I mean, I didn’t grab at him or anything.” She flicked at the straw in her soda. “It’s complicated, you know. I mean, he’s still a friend, but sometimes he blurs the line, I guess. If it’s weird for you, I could talk to him. I understand, just…even though I care about him, it’s not like I want him to kiss me and stuff.” Her words were running and slightly panicked.
“That’s not what I mean.” I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel in a furious beat that reflected my swirl of shitty feelings. “I’m not blaming you. It’s just had to wrap my head around sometimes. You two were together. It’s hard for me to forget that.”
“Yeah, we were.” She ran her fingers over mine lightly, like she wasn’t sure if we should hold hands or not. “But I couldn’t stand to be with him. Not because there was a thing wrong with Saxon. He was actually nice and funny and even occasionally romantic.”
“You’re not exactly making me feel better, if that was even what you were trying to do.” I flipped my hand up so my palm and hers were pressed together.
“I’m just saying…I guess we’ve never talked about it all, and, you know. I want to. To explain better. The way I feel about him, I mean, I care about him. And you. At the same time, but not the same way, of course. It’s confusing to explain.” Her chin wobbled a little and her voice coasted low. “The bottom line is that I don’t want to be without you. I never did. If I had wanted Saxon, he would be my boyfriend right now. But I wanted you. And I’m sorry it had to be Saxon I was with when I figured it all out, but it was. But there is good to him, and maybe he can be happy now with Cadence. That’s all I’m saying.