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“Liam Vaughn is your brother?” he asks, his face paling.

My pulse riots in my ears. “You’re Ethan? His best friend?”

Delaney—no, Ethan—nods.

He swallows, steps back, and lets go of my hand.

Chapter 15

Past: One Year Before the Accident—Twenty-Three Years Old

When I first droveto Ravenswood Library in the middle of a hurricane, the rain felt like a dawn of a new era, washing away the grime from the past—Anderson men and their bad luck with love, my uncertainties about my place in the family, my fear of commitment. I was going to meet the girl who believed in me, who encouraged me, who made me laugh and liked me as the nobody Delaney, the Keeper.

I wanted to touch her and kiss her and listen to her often random and whimsical thoughts as they popped up in her mind. I was tempted—so very tempted—to dive in headfirst and experience why Dad still has a smile on his face whenever we talk about Mom, even if the smile is tinged with sadness.

My Nova, my dreamer, made me brave.

When my lips touched hers, a shot of adrenaline jabbed straight into my heart. Every inch of me thrummed with awareness.

One taste and I was addicted.

But now, I feel like I’ve been punched in the gut.

She’stheAlexis. Liam’s sister. The one woman I’m never supposed to look at, not to even mention touch. It’s a vow I made—and we Andersons are men of our word. You can blame that on our British aristocratic ancestors for passing the honor gene down to us.

I still remember vividly the day Liam warned me off his sister—a seemingly innocuous car ride toward the lake house our friend owned during our junior year at Columbia.

“You’re my best friend, but seriously, you have issues. I’m sorry for any girl who dates you, jackass.” Liam had shoved a few Cheetos into his mouth.

I snickered as I maneuvered my car toward the exit on the freeway. “They knew what they signed up for. We can have fun, but I’ll never give them my heart.”

He whistled. “If I were Cleo’s older brother, and I heard you say this, I’d punch you in the face and dismember you a tiny piece at a time. Thank God you’re my friend and my sister is out of bounds.”

“Who said so?”

“You better not, dipshit. Or else I’d kill you. Lexy is the most important person to me and deserves far better than you. She’s better than both of us combined.” He glared at me, his jaw tightening.

Liam Vaughn, my evil twin, the guy who said rules were made to be broken, was never serious, but he sure was then. “There’s no way on earth I’d introduce you to Firefly.”

“Fuck. Chill. You have nothing to worry about from me. I won’t do anything to jeopardize our friendship. I owe you one.”

“You sure do. You’re lucky I got that misdemeanor off on a technicality. Fucking hazing rituals. Imagine the headlines, ‘Anderson family’s fourth son arrested for theft of the famous school mascot, while running stark naked across campus.’ You’d be a pariah.”

I rolled my eyes but remained silent. He was right. College fraternity hazing or not, I should’ve drawn the line at breaking the law, but the lure of having an identity in a family, in a fraternity, was too hard to resist for the eighteen-year-old me.

Liam sighed. “But seriously, you’re always keeping everyone at arm’s length. Aren’t you afraid of growing old and dying alone, dipshit?”

“No. I have you, asshole. Like any girl would want you.”

He then chucked a Cheeto at my face. “God, why do I put up with you?”

Another flash of lightning splits across the skies, the thick clouds hanging low, smothering us in its wrath. I yank my collar, struggling to breathe and trying, but failing to ignore the redheaded vixen sitting quietly next to me.

Too quiet. Alex is never quiet. We haven’t spoken until today, but her vibrant personality blazes through every letter and text. She’s the life of the party, the girl who moves with the wind.

Passionate. Untamed. Impossible to ignore.

The windshield wipers swipe aggressively at the rain, but it’s no use—the world is one blurry mess of grayscale, red taillights from other cars winking in front of me, forcing me to drive at the pace of a snail.