I Confessed To The Wrong Twin

Ch.12

Rhys

I lean back against the hood of my car, tapping my fingers rhythmically against the cold metal as I check my phone.

The dim yellow light of the streetlamp overhead casts long shadows across the empty driveway.

Something about the sharp, dangerous fire in Jami’s eyes when she dragged me out of that restaurant told me the night wasn't over yet.

Her family is a very specific, toxic brand of crazy, how the hell is a quiet girl like her coping with such level madness? From Cole to his sister, nobody is normal.

Tsk!

Sure enough, about twenty minutes later, the front door of the mansion flies wide open, slamming back against the interior wall.

Jami comes storming out into the freezing night air, dragging a massive, overstuffed suitcase right behind her.

Her dark hair is a totally messy halo around her face, her chest heaving up and down under her jacket, and her jaw is set in pure, stubborn determination.

Behind her in the brightly lit doorway, her mother is standing on the porch, her voice piercing the quiet neighborhood.

Jami doesn't even flinch. She doesn't look back a single time. She just keeps marching straight down the concrete driveway, her sneakers clicking against the ground as she heads right for my car.

A slow, wicked smirk spreads across my lips. I pop my phone into my pocket, pushing myself off the hood of the car to straighten up to my full height.

God, she is absolutely fine when she’s furious.

The quiet, timid library girl who carefully hides behind her thick textbooks has completely vanished, replaced by this beautiful, chaotic storm of a woman.

"Get me out of here," Jami breathes out heavily the second she stops right in front of me.

Her voice is trembling with leftover adrenaline, but her eyes are fierce, locking onto mine with an intense desperation. "Please. Just drive."

"Where to?" I ask, my voice smooth, calm, and totally relaxed as I step into her space.

I reach down and take the heavy suitcase straight out of her shaking hand without asking a single question, throwing open the backdoor and tossing it onto the leather backseat.

"Campus," she says, using the back of her hand to quickly wipe away a stray tear that escaped down her cheek, though she forces her jaw to stay completely rigid.

"I already submitted an emergency housing form on my student portal while I was throwing my clothes into the bag. They keep a skeleton crew of on-call staff at the housing office for holiday breaks. I'll stay in the dorms. I don't care if the building is empty or if the heat is turned down. I just need to go right now."

I don't say a single word. I just grab the handle of the passenger door, pulling it wide open for her and waiting until she slides safely inside the cabin.

I walk around the front of the car, climb into the driver's seat, and slam my door shut, cutting off the distant, muffled sound of her mother still screaming from the porch.

The engine roars to life with a loud, aggressive rumble that echoes down the street. I shift into gear, punch the gas, and pull away from the curb, leaving the entire messy situation far behind in our exhaust.

Inside the quiet, warm cabin of the car, the silence stretches out for a few long blocks, and the frantic energy seems to finally drain out of her body.

Jami sinks deep into the passenger seat, pulling her knees up toward her chest as she stares blankly out the window at the passing streetlights.

Her shoulders drop, and all that fierce posture she had in the driveway completely melts away. She looks so small, so incredibly fragile, totally exhausted by the massive psychological weight of her own family.

The warrior from the restaurant and the foyer is gone, replaced by a girl who looks like she's carrying the entire world on her back.

"I ruined everything," she murmurs softly, her voice cracking as she keeps her eyes glued to the dark glass.

"You came all that way to the restaurant just to help me get ungrounded, and I completely lost my mind in front of everyone. I embarrassed you. I showed you how completely psycho and messy my life actually is. You probably think I'm totally insane."

I pull up to a red light at the edge of the campus district and shift the car into idle.

I turn my head, my eyes tracking the soft, full curve of her jaw line, watching the red dashboard light catch the edge of her lips.

Seeing the quiet, guarded girl completely fire up like a literal volcano tonight didn't push me away at all—it hooked my teeth so deep into this game that I don't think I can ever let go now.

Reid might like a quiet, predictable, perfectly safe life, but this? This raw, unfiltered chaos is exactly my pace.

"Embarrassed me?" I drawl out, a low, amused chuckle vibrating deep in my chest.

I reach across the center console, my large hand wrapping securely around the back of her warm neck, my thumb stroking the soft skin of her jaw to force her to turn around and look at me.

"Babe, that was the most entertaining dinner I’ve had all year."

Jami blinks her wide eyes, looking up into mine, completely searching every single line of my face for any sign of a lie, mockery, or judgment.

"You... you aren't mad at me? You don't think I'm a complete disaster?"

"Mad?"

I lean across the console, closing the distance until my face is just inches from hers. My thumb moves up, slowly tracing the plush line of her bottom lip, my voice dropping into a dark, rough whisper that entirely fills the small gap between us.

"Watching you slam your hands down on that table and completely ruin your sister right in front of me? Seeing you claim me as yours and drag me out of that restaurant by my wrist? You don't want to hear what I imagined then and the shits in my head right now.”

Her breath hitches instantly, her soft lips parting slightly against the pressure of my thumb as a deep, intense blush creeps up the skin of her neck.

She has absolutely no idea that the quiet boy she thinks she’s running to for safety is actually the furthest thing from safe. My gaze drops to her trembling hands, then back to her wide, trusting eyes.

"f**k," I mutter under my breath, my chest tightening as I pull my hand back and grip the steering wheel. "I am never letting you go back to that house again."

And I f*****g mean it even though I don't know how or why the hell I'm going this f*****g far.