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DANE

I know I shouldn’t be nervous about seeing Amelia, but fuck…just hearing her voice has me feeling like we’re going right back to that night. The one that changed my life forever.

The entire walk up to Amelia’s apartment, I can’t deny my heart is in my damn throat. I play hockey for a living, and I swear even trying out for the Badgers didn’t make me this nervous, but the minute the door opens, I forget about everything else.

My gaze meets those deep blue eyes and the world stops.

She’s here. In front of me, after all this time, and somehow she looks even better than I remember. Even despite everything that’s happened…

My brother is a fucking idiot.

“Hi,” I say like a dumbass, with the smallest wave. Her dirty-blonde hair looks freshly curled, her lashes thick and full against her bright eyes. That perfect pout of hers, glossy and plump enough that it makes my damn cock twitch. I shift my stance, because that’s not what I’m here for.

I don’t miss the way those bright eyes widen at the sight of me, or the way her gaze flashes to my mouth, but as much as it makes my heart skip a beat, it also cuts me to the bone. Because I know she isn’t reacting to me. She’s reacting because I look just like him .

My brother, her ex.

Sometimes being a twin fucking sucks.

“Hi,” she says, blinking away the surprise on her face. “Come in.” She waves me into the apartment. I take two steps in, feeling more on the spot than I think I’ve ever felt in my life.

The place isn’t all that put together yet, which tells me either she hasn’t had time to unpack, or perhaps she just got here. I’d put money on the latter, being as Barrington is a small town and I know pretty much everyone in it. Being a local celebrity of sorts tends to have that side effect.

Amelia rushes around picking things up, and I stand there like an idiot, taking it all in. The boxes, the wet wipes on the kitchen table, the quiet evidence of the chaos that is her life.

The life my brother should have valued more than he did.

I slide my hands into my pockets, watching as she gathers her things. Our eyes catch one another, and the unspoken truth between us hangs in the air.

I think about Amelia all the time. I haven’t stopped thinking about Amelia since that night. How it should have been me. How that night, if my brother hadn’t shown up, things might be different now.

Instead, like always, Dex couldn’t stand to let me have something, someone, for myself. No, my brother has always been a greedy bastard with everything in life, and clearly he hasn’t changed. And now Amelia is one of those things he’s discarded because his arms can only hold so much.

What kind of asshole keeps a marriage and four kids a secret? Not just from the women in his life, but from his family?

My brother, obviously.

The reporters finally stopped when Richie threatened to punch one in the face. It’s bad enough my brother did what he did, but his choices affected more than just the women in his life. They soured our name too.

Once, I was known for my own accolades, and now half the time I get mistaken for the man who couldn’t keep his dick in his pants or tell the truth to save his life.

And of all people…I thought he would have told me the truth. But I guess I was wrong.

Mom keeps saying she wants to reach out to the women, I think because she feels responsible in some way, but I’m not sure any of us are ready to deal with the repercussions of that. The only woman Dex ever brought home was Amelia, so what are the chances the others even know about us, since we had no clue about them? Probably slim to none.

“Okay, so I just put her down, so she should be okay until I get back,” Amelia says as she leads me down the hall to a small room with a pack-n-play.

I stop dead in my tracks as I peer over the edge of the pack-n-play. Amelia sent me photos of Lyla, but I’ve never actually seen her up close, in the flesh.

She’s so…tiny. But she definitely has her mother’s long, dark eyelashes, and the trademark Rose birthmark just below her ear.

She lies there, her tiny chest rising and falling so peacefully, and I can’t help but be enamored by her.

“Right,” I say, blinking and shaking my head. “Piece of cake.”

I offer Amelia a soft smile, noting how she takes her bottom lip in between her teeth.

“Thank you,” she says, but I can tell the words are difficult for her. Not because she’s ungrateful or anything, but…I know it’s got to be awkward, staring at my damn face right now. At least on the other end of a text, she can pretend I’m not…him.

I’m not my brother, but genetics can be a bitch sometimes.

I settle my hand on the edge of the pack-n-play, taking a stop closer to her. Her gaze flashes up to meet mine—after all, I’m a good six foot two and she’s barely five foot four.

But she holds my gaze steady.

“Of course,” I say, my voice cracking only slightly. I tap my fingers against the bar, offering her a genuine smile. “Good luck, Mia.” The words are as normal as can be, but the way I say them feels more like an exposure of my heart than encouragement.

What I really want to say is sorry.

I’m sorry my brother’s an asshole.

I’m sorry, it should have been me. I would have never let you go.

“You’re going to be late if you don’t get going,” I say, tearing my gaze away from the beautiful woman before me.

Part of me wants to tell her she doesn’t need to go to any interview, or work at all, because every instinct in me wants to swoop in and carry her off to my place. I want to do what my brother obviously couldn’t—I want to take care of her and Lyla because they deserve better.

But I also know I can’t overstep my boundaries with Amelia. Giving is in my nature, unlike my brother, but the last thing I want to do is drive away the woman who I’ve been in love with for the last year, unbeknownst to anyone except my damn houseplants.

I know that the coals of the fire that was her relationship with my brother are still hot. I can’t expect her to jump back into a relationship, let alone a relationship with her ex’s fucking twin, when things are still fresh and bloody.

And I really can’t expect her to understand that I’ve been harboring these feelings since the night I met her. Talk about a stage-five clinger.

So instead of pouring my hopeless heart out to Amelia in front of my adorable niece, I smile and tell her she’s going to kick ass today.

Watching her leave dredges up the memory all over again of what felt like the worst day of my life.

I’d lost the home game that day, because I had just found out that Dex was traded to the Stingrays. The team I’d had my eye on for ages. I’d always planned on trying out, after I built up some years under my belt for the Badgers, anyway.

And then, like always, Dex had to come in and steal the things I wanted. First with Amelia, then with the Stingrays, and then the perfect image of the family I wanted so badly.

As she pulls out of the driveway, I let out a sigh. Lyla is quiet, and one check shows she’s still sleeping like a little angel, so I do the only thing I can do to keep my mind from spiraling over the should haves, could haves, would haves of my life.

I busy myself with unpacking the boxes, one by one, because at least for the moment, I can give Amelia what she needs.

Even if I can’t give her the love she deserves.

When I’m mostly done unpacking and organizing, Lyla finally awakens. Picking her up out of her pen, I can’t help but marvel at how tiny she really is, settled in my arms against my chest. She coos and blows little raspberries against my shirt, and the anger I feel for my brother only intensifies.

With my niece as my witness, I promise her and I promise myself that I will do whatever it takes to make things right.