Page 13

CHAPTER 13

ETNA

It’s early when my eyes open. I’ve woken in beds that aren’t mine too many times to count, so it’s not unusual for me to not immediately recognize my surroundings in my groggy state, especially since it’s overcast this morning. However, the lodge-y décor and little holiday knick-knacks around the room remind me and I smile.

Keno is close—much closer than we used to sleep—though we’re not touching. I wonder if it was subconsciously that we’d previously slept with such distance between us. I don’t remember telling myself to stay at the edge of the bed. Honestly, I’d always thought I had plenty of room.

This is different. We’re both in the middle. Together. I can feel his body heat under the covers because he’s so close.

I admire him for a minute, just because I can. He’s still sound asleep. Looking so peaceful and free of worry. No lines of concern mar his forehead because my sister is being a bitch. His long lashes touch his cheeks, so dark in contrast to his light skin.

Picking up my head, I search out the glowing numbers of the clock. It’s just past seven. Glancing out the window, I muse how much earlier it feels with the clouds looming. Was there a storm forecasted? Hopefully, that doesn’t mess up anyone’s travel.

I climb out of bed carefully so I don’t wake Keno. He doesn’t move. Just lets out a quiet sigh in his sleep. Smiling, I slip into some socks and leave the bedroom, shutting the door as quietly as possible.

Keno’s parents have a late morning flight. Though it doesn’t take off until eleven, they need to drop off the car and navigate an unfamiliar airport, so I think they hope to leave around eight. My plan is to make them breakfast so they’re not subject to airport food so early in the morning.

I’m surprised to find Edna sitting at the island with a mug of tea. Her eyes flick up as soon as I step into the room and lock on me. There’s a childish compulsion to say, oh, you’re not going to pretend I don’t exist today?

I don’t. I’m not thirteen anymore.

Without a word, I open the fridge and start pulling out ingredients. What had I planned this morning? There are still eighteen eggs left. Oh, and a loaf of bread. French toast it is. Bacon, too. Sweet.

With my findings on the counter, I dig around in the cabinets as quietly as I can until I find the bowl I need to mix the eggs and the grate pan to bake the bacon. I eat bacon far too much to eat it fully greased. This way, the grease drips off, and it’s still tasty.

“Etna—” Edna starts.

I can hear the defensiveness in her voice. Which means this isn’t an apology at all. I raise my hand with a cracked shell in it, sending bits of egg whites flying like silly string. I wince. Oops.

“Don’t,” I cut her off. “I’m really fucking pissed at you for making Keno feel shitty and unwanted. Until you’re ready to apologize, we have nothing to talk about.”

I can feel her upset. Hear the way her breaths stutter. She swallows and gets to her feet. Without a word, she leaves her mug on the counter and heads toward the stairs to the loft.

Edna and I have rarely fought about anything. When we do, it’s usually short-lived and we’re talking in a matter of hours. I’ve never been so upset with her. I also never thought she’d treat someone so important to me the way she has.

Though I might remember I’m not thirteen, I’m not sure my twin does. The longer I think about it, the more furious I become at how she’s made Keno feel. She will not treat him that way if she wants to be a part of my life.

The pain in my chest knowing I might lose my twin sister makes my hands pause. I take a deep breath, glancing toward the stairs. She didn’t go upstairs completely. She’s sitting on the landing in the very corner, watching me.

I turn back, resolutely ignoring her. Bottom line is I don’t need her permission to marry anyone. I could understand it if I wanted to marry her best friend or an ex or some shit. But not Keno. He’s mine. He’s always been mine. I’ve never had to, nor will I ever, share him.

The thought makes me smile. Maybe this is why neither of us has had a girlfriend since we met. Maybe we’ve always been possessive of each other without realizing it and the thought of sharing the other with someone is just… appalling.

I pause with the big bowl of eggs and begin peeling bacon out of the plastic container to lay across the grate. Since it’ll shrivel up a bit, I squish them a little so I can fit the tray in the oven and turn back to my eggs.

I’ve gotten the eggs all mixed with milk, vanilla, and cinnamon, the large griddle covering the stove with two of the propane burners on, and have just begun melting butter on the griddle when Keno walks in.

He looks around the kitchen, still half asleep. His disheveled state makes me smile. He rubs a hand through his short hair that’s sticking up in odd directions as he walks toward me. I wrap an arm around his waist and pull him into my side.

“Why are you up so early?” he asks, his last two words distorted by a yawn. He’s tired enough that his inhibitions are lowered, and he wraps his arms around my waist without a thought.

“Your parents leave early, and I want to make sure they get good food before they go.”

Keno takes a breath and then peeks up at me. “You got up early to feed my parents?”

I kiss his forehead. “Yeah. Airport food is grossly overpriced and not necessarily good. Besides, it’s one less thing they need to stand in line for, so maybe they can stay an extra ten minutes since it’ll be a while before you get to see them again.”

There’s that look. Right there. I’ve done something that means a lot to him. I can see it in the way he stares at me with his eyebrows slightly puckered and that doe-y look in his eyes. A smile that looks almost sad but is really emotional is on his lips.

“Thank you,” he says and turns in on me a little more. I adjust my body so I can hug him properly.

My eyes meet Edna’s across the distance, through the railing of the stairs. She better see that I’m going to protect this forever. No one is going to get between us. Not even my twin. No matter what her reason is.

I close my eyes and hug him a minute longer before I turn us back to the side so I can get some French toast on the griddle. Though it might not be the best idea, I manage to get the first one on with only a single hand. It becomes a challenge after that to see if I can do it without streaking as much egg all over the griddle.

Keno laughs. “I can let you go,” he offers.

“I can’t.”

He grins, turning his smile onto my shoulder. I bet if I looked, his cheeks would be pink.

We’re quiet as I get my first four pieces of bread onto the stove. I’m quite pleased with the success of that. One-handed. I can totally cook one-handed.

“I’m not sure if this trip was a success,” Keno says quietly.

I look over his shoulder at my sister. I’m not sure if she can hear us or not. “It was,” I assure him. “Our parents are happy. Excited. Your mother is super excited.”

“Can I ask you a question?”

“I’m not sure you’ve ever asked if you could ask a question before.”

“Sorry. I just… Do you think Edna’s upset because you’re with a guy? I realize sexuality isn’t something either set of parents really asked about besides the initial curiosity, but… I just don’t understand why she’s so upset, and I can’t help but think she doesn’t want you with a guy.”

“She’s with a guy.”

Keno snorts. “You know what I mean.”

“I doubt it, but I don’t really know that for sure. This is between me and her, and I think you’re just caught up in what she’s going through.”

“You really don’t think it has anything to do with me at all? The fact I’m a dude?”

“I truly don’t. My sister is many things, but she’s not homophobic.”

He sighs. “Okay.”

I flip the slices and am super happy with how they look. Not bad for a griddle and stove I’ve never used before. They smell amazing, too.

“But you know what?”

“Hmm?” Keno answers.

“I’m looking forward to making our own traditions. For holidays and birthdays and anniversaries. Special occasions and everyday moments. To fill our house with memories. You and me.”

Keno sighs. “You’re going to give me a cavity. Have you always been like this?”

I chuckle while I pull the first pieces of French toast from the griddle. And begin on the next. “Want to grab the bacon out and put a second load on?”

He nods, and I finally let him go. As soon as I have soggy bread on the griddle, I back out of the way for Keno. I watch him as he peels the bacon off and sets it on a paper towel. He uses a fork to unstick the next pieces and lay them out. I move again to make room for him opening the oven and then flip my French toast.

His arms wrap around me from behind, just like he had for the very first time thirty-six hours ago. I feel his lips against my shoulder. Pressing more firmly and then moving. It takes me a minute to realize he’s kissing me.

“I want all that too,” he whispers. “Whenever we talked about the future we wanted—living next door together and our families going on trips together—I remember thinking, it really can’t get better than that. I was wrong. This is already better, and we’ve barely begun.”

“There it is,” I say, grinning.

“What?”

“I knew you had sweet and sappy in you, too. It just took you a minute to find it.”

His hand slides up my stomach and pinches my nipple. I laugh, swatting his hand away.

A door in the hall opens and Keno takes a step back. I’m not sure if he’s shy, self-conscious about PDA, or maybe he’s just not confident showing this part of us yet. If it’s just a him thing and he doesn’t care for PDA, that’s fine. But if it’s any other reason, we’ll work through it.

Keno’s parents step into the room, his dad carrying the rolling suitcases instead of dragging them. “I didn’t expect anyone up,” his mother comments as Keno goes to help his father.

“Etna wanted to make sure you had something other than airport food this morning,” Keno says, flashing me a smile.

His mother looks at me with a grin. “Thank you, sweetheart. That’s awfully kind of you.”

“If I could guarantee you’d be able to heat it up, I’d send you with lunch, too,” I tell them.

Keno and his father set the luggage by the door as his mother sits at the island. His father joins his mother and Keno comes back into the kitchen. He pulls down plates and sets about making two and then sliding them across the counter to his parents.

My parents join us ten minutes later. They wanted to make sure they said goodbye to Keno’s parents. I might be loving that they exchanged numbers to keep in touch. They’re already happily talking about extended family trips.

Keno remains close to my side throughout the morning. He puts a little more distance between us when my sister comes downstairs, but I pull him back. I don’t care what her problem is or if she’s unhappy seeing us together. She needs to put her big girl panties on and get over it.

We see his parents off at eight-twenty, and my family stays until about two. Unsurprisingly and very disappointingly, Edna remains silent the entire morning. I barely get a wave when she and my parents leave.

I roll my eyes to cover the fact it stings. She’s a good person. I know she’s not just throwing a fit because she can. That’s not who she is. For some reason I can’t possibly think of, she’s hurt by my relationship with Keno and… I don’t know why.

What I know is that I won’t let it affect my relationship with him. I will spend my life with this man. And Edna will come around.

Eventually.

I lock the door and join Keno in the living room to watch their car pull away through one of the big front windows. “I know this is easier said than done, but don’t let her bother you.” I press my lips to his temple.

Keno sighs heavily. “I hate that she doesn’t like me.”

“I promise, it has nothing to do with you at all.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I do know that. I know Eddy better than she knows herself. She’s upset with me, but she doesn’t know why yet.”

“If you know her better than she does, you should know why she’s upset. Then you can tell her.”

Laughing, I tug Keno onto the couch. We wrestle and struggle to figure out who’s going to lie on top of the other. I win, but I think it’s because he was laughing too hard to put up an actual challenge.

“Just ten minutes, then we’ll pack up and get out of here,” I say, hugging him tightly.

“Then we can go home and get back to cuddling. I feel like we’re putting some in the bank in case we miss a day.”

“We’re never going to miss a day. As it turns out, I’m an avid cuddler. Who knew?”

Keno snorts.

A knock at the door makes us both pick our heads up. As if we could see it from where we’re tucked into the couch. Sighing, I get up to answer it. We booked for an extra night, even though we had every intention of getting out of here today. We have a game tomorrow, so we’re heading home and hitting the gym this afternoon to work off some Christmas calories.

Anyway, that can’t be the cleaning people, or whatever. Looking around on my way, I don’t think my parents forgot anything.

After flipping open the deadbolt, I pull the door. Edna stands there. Her eyes are glassy. Miserable. She steps inside and hugs me.

I wrap my arms around her. Much better. You never leave someone you care about mad.

“Love you,” she whispers.

“Love you,” I repeat.

Her arms tighten and then she backs away. She looks over my shoulder, pauses, and then waves to Keno before turning and sprinting back to the car.

Keno comes to my side, and we watch her practically dive in. My mother waves from the passenger seat and my dad drives off for the second time.

“See? Already she’s figuring her shit out.”

He releases a heavy breath. “I hope so.”

Me too.

Our phone’s ding with the same notification. Keno and I look at each other as he pulls out his phone. I lean in close to see what our assignment is today. It reads ‘ Time to master making out .’

“We managed while drunk,” Keno says, slipping his phone back into his pocket. “Probably can figure it out sober.”

I snort as he takes my hand and leads me back to the couch. Make out with my man for the rest of the afternoon or pack? Make out, please!