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“Just stay out of the way.”

“What? You don’t want me shirtless on the bed with a rose in my mouth?”

“Oooh. A Valentine’s themed calendar...”

“Never gonna happen. I’m going out to grab some food. I’ll bring something back.”

“Good, because my stomach is making more noise than thunder during a summer rainstorm,” she responded in her singsong voice tinged with a bit of the southern accent New York had dimmed. Something shifted inside me. Buying this place was right. For the first time in a long time the sunshine that was locked deep inside my twin was starting to shine again. And these past few years I was too busy making it to even notice it had dimmed.

“What are you in the mood for? Everything’s mostly closed this time of year. There is an incredible Thai place about thirty minutes away worth the drive.”

“Spicy. Bring me something hot. It’s cold and windy.”

“I’ll make a fire before I leave.”

I felt guilty for painting her when I saw her ruined designer clothing. I carefully picked them up deciding to try and salvage them. Then I left Char and Carlos to it. She meant well and is a total pain in the ass, but I’m damn lucky she surprised me. I was going to just let Christmas go by with stacks of work contracts and a good bottle of wine.

Humming‘Here comes Santa Claus,’under my breath, I pulled over at a boutique shop to find a present for Char since her gift had knocked me for six. Truthfully, I never felt lonely without a girlfriend because I always had my sister. Other women were just for sex, while Char filled all the love and companionship I needed.

I was gone a few hours and by the time I got back Carlos had finished and Char had paid for his private car back to civilization. We ate the Thai while watching a cheesy movie on Netflix. Over a smooth glass of red we reminisced the best and worst times we had in this very house. I raised my glass. “To making new memories and forgetting the bad.”

“To finding our one true summer love,” she smiled into the fire wistfully. I didn’t raise my glass to that one, instead I put it down to throw a new log onto the flames. “That reminds me… Hunter wanted me to meet him at some dive bar for Naughty Elf night.”

“Let’s go!” She drained the rest of her wine.

“There’s a dress requirement for women. It’s tradition. They won’t let you in unless you go as a naughty elf.”

Her nose wrinkled. “That’s so misogynistic.”

“It’s a contest. The twenty-dollar cover charge is put into a stocking. The last time I went the girl who won ended up taking home 5k.”

“I can be naughty.”

I picked up my wine glass swirling it in my hand. “Funny, that’s what Hunter said.” I slowly raised it to my lips, pretending to be chill while gauging her reaction.

It didn’t disappoint.

The tiny nerves under my spine felt like a nest of nettles as her cheeks flushed and the pulse in her slim neck quickens. I’ve seen all these signs before. Usually, when I lean in to kiss the woman of my choosing. Seeing the tell on Char when she thinks of Hunter had me seeing red—not the fat jolly kind. There was no hiding my annoyance when the muscle of my left jaw ticked.

“It was just a few stolen kisses on a hot summer night a lifetime ago.”

“That’s it?”

“… in the sand…. Our clothes stayed on.”

I put my wineglass down and picked up the fob keys to my Tesla from the basket made of sea grass Char had placed on the coffee table. “He’s dead.” I growled. “We’re going to elf night just so I can kick his ass. Ten years or twenty he broke bro code.”

Char rolled her eyes. “Calm down.”

Instead, my nostrils flared. “Hunter is a ho.”

“A hot one, though.”

“I can’t handle it Char. You’re my twin. The ying to my yang. I won’t see you be played.”

“Oh relax. I wasn’t played. He was. I kissed Matt after.”

“How did I miss all this?”