Page 171 of Pretty Broken Wings

“I know I didn’thaveto.” I step around Gage to hand a long, wrapped gift to Axel. Before he can grab it, I throw it at his chest.

Axel jumps in surprise. “What the–”

“It’s bread. Figured it was a bit of a tradition at this point.”

Axel unwraps the item, which is, in fact, a long baguette. He laughs, eyes shining.

“Shoulda hit him in the head,” Gage grumbles.

I plop a bag in front of Axel. “This is the real gift.”

Axel doesn’t take his eyes off me, and there’s a hunger there. But slowly, he pulls an item out of the bag. “Nail polish?”

“For you,” I say. “And me. Figured you could get your skills up. For real this time.”

Axel looks surprised, then excited. Then he frowns. “For me?”

“Yep.” I pop the p. “You’re gonna let me do your nails so I can tell you two apart.”

Axel gasps in fake outrage.

In reality, I want to spend more time with him. More time where his legs are pressing into mine, and he’s touching all over me. More time talking about nothing and everything all at once.

Gage laughs. “Oh, how perfect. Raven won’t be the only princess in the house.”

I expect Axel to argue, but he just smirks at me. “Okay, game on.”

Gage’s present is in front of him. I squirm. Axel’s gifts were funny, but Gage’s are more thoughtful. Gage opens his slowly, and when he sees what’s inside, he stares for a minute.

“It’s okay if you don’t like it, I just thought–”

“Raven.” Gage shuffles through the books on tape I got for him, looking through the titles. I worked with their mom to find all of Gage’s favorite books from when he was a kid.

Gage looks up at me, eyes shining with tears. “It’s perfect. Thank you.”

I can’t keep a smile back, and I kiss him.

Axel clears his throat. “Is now a good time to tell you you’ve gotten us mixed up?”

I laugh, pulling away from Gage, but both of them look serious.

“You’re lying.” I poke at Axel’s chest. He just raises an eyebrow. “Am I, princess?”

I glance between the two of them. I’ve known them for long enough now that it’s second nature to tell them apart. The way they act feels like night and day. Except right now, they’re both acting the same.

“Hey,” I narrow my eyes. “Not funny.”

Neither of them reacts.

“Let’s play a game.” The one on the right stands. “You run, we’ll chase.”

I stiffen, a thrill running through me.

“You guess who’s who correctly, and you get to pick who to peg. You guess incorrectly…” He looks down at me, a grin twitching on his lips.

The other one speaks up, “You get it wrong, and the name you guess gets to pegyou.”

The twin beneath me stands. I could swear it’s Gage, but he gives me a mean smirk, and that flips everything upside down.

I suck in a breath, licking my lips. I feel alive. Before, I would have run for the hills. Now, I enjoy the thrill. Because Gage shows me what it’s like to love when you’re scared. And Axel… Axel shows you can be broken and still lovable.

And I think that’s what I was looking for all along.

The End.