Page 16 of Set Play

All of my muscles ache to turn around and talk to Élise, but I keep my head down, focusing on my feet as I meander through the deserted hallways. I know what I said wasn’t fair, but Henri’s snarled confession hit me like a missile, leaving destruction and chaos behind it.

I’m drowning in confusion and heartache. My hands have scarcely left my hair, and I have to keep reminding myself to stop at the end rather than pulling it. Has she been in on all of the bullshit he’s put me through over the years? Does she even know?

Was our meeting really a coincidence or another ploy to make me look bad? Fuck…did I just dodge a repeat of the shit I went through with Jade?

Élise’s face when her brother slung his arm over her shoulder and broadcast their relationship replays in my mind and I flinch.

Mierda, what if she doesn’t know and I just accused her of faking the scene with the copycat cowboy?

Now that logic is kicking in, I realize how much of an asshole I am for that comment. I can’t picture any woman, let alone the spitfire that I watched yell at her brother today, signing up for that. Then again, I don’t really know her, so what the hell do I know?

After what feels like an hour, I find my twin. It’s clear from the look on Lukas’s face as he jogs toward me that he is ready to celebrate our win.

“¡Qué onda, mano!1” Looking at me, he freezes, face twisting with a mix of concern and anger. “¿Qué pasa? ¿Qué ha hecho ese cabrón esta vez?2”

“Nothing,” I start, but Lukas cuts the lie off with a single quirk of his eyebrow. “He didn’t do anything other than his usual crap where he runs his mouth.”

Lukas tilts his head and stares at me like he can see straight to the source of my pain. “Well, that’s nothing unusual when it comes to Clément…so why do you look so…heartbroken?”

The guys tease Lukas for his carefree approach to life, but they don’t see what’s hidden beneath it. They don’t know that he’s the most empathetic of us all. “He didn’t try and drag Flora or Soph—”

I’m shaking my head before he can finish the question. “No, it’s not that.” I still don’t really believe it myself, so it takes me several minutes to gather my thoughts. “You remember the woman I was pictured with a couple weeks ago?”

His lips twitch upward, probably hiding a smirk, and he nods. After talking about Élise endlessly since we met, I know he’s probably tired of hearing about her, but he’ll have to deal with it one more time.

“She’s his sister, mano,” I whisper, as if saying it quietly prevents the words from being true.

Fuck, how I wish they weren’t true.

Admitting this to him makes it real, final. The girl I’ve been obsessing over after only three kisses is related to the man who has made my life hell over the last six years.

Lukas continues to silently watch me, analyzing everything. Then, rather than words of comfort or retribution, Lukas throws an arm over my shoulders and starts toward the parking lot. “Well, my advice is to hang out with the best siblings and in-law ever, have un cerveza fria o tres, and forget that shit for a few hours.3”

Despite the tempest in my mind, I can’t repress the laughter that bubbles up from deep in my gut.

Leave it to Lukas to know how to make me laugh right now.

“Sounds perfect, mano. You call Flora and have her and Sophie meet us at The Tennessee Tap. Race you there?”

The bar is surprisingly empty considering there was a home game today. Then again, The Tennessee Tap isn’t a sports bar, so maybe it’s not all that surprising. Either way, I’m definitely not complaining. Less people means it’s easier to hear my family talking.

And less people who are likely to recognize me.

“So have you loca4 ladies set a damn reception date yet? You know I need time to find a hot date! After all, I am the best looking member of the family.” Lukas ribs the two women sitting across from us.

“Eh, burro5, in case you forgot, we’re identical twins. We literally look the same except for our eyes.” I playfully toss a peanut, aiming for his forehead, but he tips his head back, catching it in his mouth.

Instead of eating the peanut, like an adult, Lukas pretends to spit it at Flora, our older sister. Only, his act is a little too realistic because the peanut launches from his mouth, smacking into Flora’s chest before falling onto the table.

Her amber eyes drop down to the offending legume before narrowing on Lukas. “Heh, whoops. My bad.” He chuckles nervously just before his body jolts.

Sophie and I try to hold back our laughter, knowing Flora just kicked him beneath the table, but neither one of us succeed.

“¡Que pedo, mana!6 It was an accident!” Lukas sticks out his bottom lip in a wobbly childish pout as he tries to pry an apology out of Flora but only earns himself another glare.

Sophie reaches over, brushing a finger over the wrinkle between Flora’s brows. “Oh, stop glaring. You know he didn’t mean to hit you with a peanut, my love.”

Whether it is from Sophie’s action or her words, Flora immediately softens, turning to stick her tongue out at Lukas before looking adoringly at her wife. Watching the two of them, I can’t help the jealousy that stirs in my chest.