"Oof," he huffed as I collided with him; his deep, rich brown eyes met mine, sparking and fraught with a billion emotions. "Hi."
My hands went flat against his chest, and his grazed down my back, stopping at the base of my spine, just above my butt. All I could see were his eyes, all I could smell was his scent, and with his hands on me and his arms framing me, for a minute I could almost believe it would all work out.
In that moment, looking up at him, I wasn't afraid.
"Here they are!" Lindsey’s voice shattered the moment. “Her secret hideout. Told you she'd be here."
I peered up at Lindsey, who grinned down at me, her smile widening as she took in my proximity to Duncan, the placement of his hands. Another face appeared—Duncan’s brother. He could be his twin, and very well might be—all Duncan said was that Dane is his brother. He had the same auburn hair, the same deep brown eyes, similar facial structure. He even had the same knowing, devil-may-care, charm-your-underwear-off smirk.
"Dunky-punky," the brother said. "You left me alone with your girl's family. How do I explain to them that I don't need to be adopted? I think Kelly is about to knit me a stocking for their mantel."
Lindsey arched an eyebrow at me. “Is your twin always like this?"
Duncan sighed, nodding. "Yes, he is, unfortunately. Also, we're Irish twins, not real twins." He flipped his brother off. "And I've told you a zillion fucking times, fuck-face, don't call me that. Unless you like shitting teeth."
Dane sputtered derisively. "Okay, fuck-monkey. Come up here and try."
I eyed Lindsey, who widened her eyes at me, flicked them at Dane, and then wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
Oh boy.
Duncan has a brother who’s every bit as hot as he is, and possibly even more ridiculous.
Dane turned to face Lindsey, crossing his arms over his broad, muscular chest. "Eyebrow wiggling? Really? You have heard of peripheral vision, have you not? I'm not a piece of meat, Lindsey. If you want to ogle me, woman up and do it to my face."
"I wasn't ogling, Dane. I was…communicating. With my friend. And what I was communicating is none of your beeswax."
He cackled. "Wow, I haven't heard 'beeswax' in a hot minute."
Lindsey ignored him, giving me a serious look. "Your parents sent us to find you."
"Great," I muttered. I glanced at Duncan. "C'mon, let’s get this over with."
Duncan frowned. "Should I be worried? Your dad could give my Uncle Bax a run for his money in the huge and intimidating department." He shot a speculative look at the view beyond our property line, which dropped away precipitously. "I could take my chances that way?"
I grabbed his hand and led him around the retaining wall and up toward the house. "I'm the only one allowed to run from this situation."
Duncan looked at his brother over his shoulder. "If I don't make it, you can have my PlayStation games collection."
Dane adopted a pious expression and crossed himself. "Go with God, my brother. Peace be with you."
Lindsey cackled. "Not even gonna back him up, huh?"
"Hell to the fuck no! I saw that dude. He could rip my arm and beat me to death with it, and I prefer my limbs attached, thanks very much. I'm here for moral support, not backup if things go wrong." Dane shoved his hands in his pockets. "Plus, Dunc got himself into this mess, he can get himself out. Life lessons and all that."
Duncan looked at me. "See what I have to deal with?"
I just shook my head. "Dad isn't going to hurt you. Stop being ridiculous. We just have to have a very serious conversation that I really don't want to have."
“In all seriousness, Rune, we really do have to figure this out." He pulled me to a stop and took my other hand so he was holding both, facing me. "I'm not going anywhere. You can't shut me out of this. If you really don't want to even think about being with me, fine. That sucks, it's not what I want to hear at fucking all, but I'm a big boy. I can handle it. What I won't allow is being shut out entirely. Okay?"
I swallowed hard, yanking my hands out of his and stalking angrily toward the house. "One thing at a time, Dunc. I'm barely hanging on to my sanity as it is. I can't even think about you and me right now. Let's get through this talk with my parents and go from there, okay? Please?"
Duncan trotted after me, catching up. "Fine. I get it."
"Great." I didn't look at him—I couldn't.
I knew I was still being massively unfair to him—this wasn't his fault. Or, it was, but it was equally mine. I had no right to punish him with the attitude I was giving him, I just couldn't seem to stop myself.
