Page 40 of The Game We Played

“Alaia! Is your boyfriend here?” Beth and Anne shout from inside the house. They’re shouting in unison, which can mean only one thing – they’re going to spend the day trying to freak out Tanner.

“This is your chance. Scamper before they realize you’re here.”

“I think I can handle your sisters.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” I open the door and usher him inside.

Beth and Anne are waiting in the living room. “Tanner, meet my sisters. Beth and Anne.”

“Hi!” They speak and wave in unison. It’s completely freaky.

“Nice to meet you both. I brought you each a present.” Tanner hands each one of them a bottle of moonshine.

They inspect the bottles to ensure they’re exactly the same before thanking Tanner. They stare at each other. They’re obviously doing the creepy telepathic twin magic thing.

“Now, we feel bad,” they speak in unison. It’s going to be a long day of this.

Tanner frowns. “Why do you feel bad? You don’t need to give me a present.”

I sigh. “They feel bad because they were going to spend the entire day testing you.”

“Testing me?”

“Switching out their shirts so you get confused as to who’s Beth and who’s Anne. Whenever you think you have it figured out, they’ll lie.”

“We do not lie!”

I ignore the twins. They’re the world’s most accomplished liars. “I’ll help you out. Beth has a tiny scar on her left earlobe from where Anne tried to pull out her earring when she was twelve.”

Beth glares at Anne. “You nearly killed me.”

“You shouldn’t have stolen my earrings.”

“Those hoops were mine. Alaia gave them to me for my birthday.”

They march off bickering.

Tanner chuckles. “They’re even more fun than I expected.”

It feels as if someone punched me in the gut. He thinks my sisters are fun. I’m not fun. I’m the serious one. The boring one, as my sisters tell it.

“You can have fun with them all day,” I manage to say between gritted teeth.

He throws an arm over my shoulders. “I’d rather have fun with you all day.”

“Ahem!” Dad clears his throat as he enters the living room with Mom. “No one will be having any fun today.”

Mom elbows him. “I hope to have fun today.”

“You’re allowed to have fun. We’re married.”

“Dad,” I moan. “He didn’t mean that kind of fun.”

Dad narrows his eyes at Tanner. “I know who he is. I know what kind of fun he prefers.”

“You promised to behave,” I remind him. I sat my family down before Tanner arrived and made them all promise to be nice to him. I didn’t expect my sisters to comply but my dad? He’s usually nice to my dates.

“That was before he put his hands on you.”