Steady

Chapter Eight

"Yes, you are."

The conversation is getting entirely too real and entirely too intimate for my liking, so I steer the topic to safer ground before the butterflies have a chance to break out the maracas.

"I bet you were quite the heartbreaker in high school."

Jay grins. "What makes you say that?"

"Just a hunch."

He stretches his legs out in the roomy floorboard and crosses his arms.

"Well, my senior year, maybe. But before that, I was just the 'nerdy twin'. Jake was the ladies man."

"So, he died your Junior year?"

"No, senior. We went to different schools."

Confused, I shake my head.

"The summer before senior year, Jake and I told our parents we didn't want to attend the same school." Jake huffs, like that was the biggest mistake of his life.

I'm an only child who has always wanted a sibling, so I don't understand why on earth he'd want to be separated from his twin.

"Why?"

"We wanted to know what it felt like to not be 'one of the twins'. So, we flipped for it and Jake ended up going to live with our dad and I stayed with mom."

If they went to different schools, that meant that they lived in different towns. So that meant...

"How long had it been since you'd seen Jake?"

Inhaling a shaky breath, Jay fidgets in his seat and pushes his knuckles into the steering wheel.

"Months."

My heart sinks at the idea that he'd gone so long without seeing his brother, only to never be able to see him again. I can't imagine what that would have been like for him—for a part of him to just disappear like that.

"I'm so sorry, Jay."

We both fall silent, giving the situation the respect it deserves. When Jay finally speaks again, his voice is so low I have to lean forward to hear him.

"I felt it, you know. That whole 'twin telepathy' shit everyone's always going on about? Yeah...It's real."

The pain in his voice tells me that he's still hurting. Still mourning. It's so obvious that his heart is still broken, still lying in a million shattered pieces at his feet.

Not knowing what else to do, I do the only thing that comes to mind. I turn the key in the ignition so the radio flares to life and lean over Jay to open the driver's side door.

"Get out."

His eyes flash up to meet mine. "What? Why?"

"Get out. There's one thing on earth that makes me feel better when I'm thinking of all the heavy stuff I've lived through, and I think it will help you."

He arches one thick brow. "And I need to get out of my truck for this?"

"Yes. Scoot."

Jay reluctantly steps outside and I drop to the pavement after him. Closing the door behind me, I turn to find Jay throwing me a quizzical look, like I've lost my mind.

"Just trust me," I say before opening my arms to him.

The radio is loud enough to be heard with his windows down and understanding lights his eyes as he moves closer. After putting one hand in his and moving his other hand to my hip, I lean close, breathing in his warmth, his smell, the strength of his body beneath my touch.