Beautiful Sacrifice (The Maddox Brothers, #3)(41)

Dalton and Zeke were happy to stand back and watch.

“Hey!” I yelled at Taylor’s crew. “Make them stop!”

Dalton crossed his arms and shook his head. “I’m not jumping in between two Maddox brothers. I want to live.”

A crowd began to form around us, and Darren rushed over. When recognition hit, a similar resignation softened his face.

“Darren!” I yelled. “Do your job!”

Darren’s eyebrows shot up. “Have you seen these two fight?”

I shook my head.

“I have. They’ll quit when they quit.”

“When will that be?” I asked, not sure who was punching whom.

“All right! All right! You’re gonna get us arrested, f*ck nugget!”

The brothers stood up, bloody, their shirts ripped. I tried to remember what Tyler was wearing when I’d first seen him. I couldn’t. They were both wearing T-shirts, one white and one blue. As they stood in front of me, I couldn’t tell which one was my friend and which one I’d just kissed. It was unsettling.

I pushed past them, making my way to the exit.

“Falyn!”

A hand cupped my shoulder and whirled me around. There he was, my friend Taylor, in a blue T-shirt with red droplets around his collar and a split lip.

I sighed, touching a place near his eye that looked like carpet burn. “You okay?”

“Yes, I—”

“Awesome. I’m going home.”

Taylor followed me outside, interrupting my getaway just a few feet away from the door. “Falyn, whoa. Stop!”

Reluctantly, I stopped.

“I’m sorry, okay? I had no idea that was going to happen.”

I crossed my arms. “You have an identical twin brother. How was I supposed to know? You even have the same tattoos!”

“I told you that!”

“But you didn’t tell me you also had the same face!”

His shoulders fell. “I know. I should have told you. If I’d known you were coming, I would have given you a heads-up, but …”

“But what?”

“The twins thing. It’s so stupid, and it’s worse for us because we look so much alike. He’s just my brother. We’re not the same person. But when we’re together, it’s like we’re starring in a freak show.”

“Whatever. I’m going home.”

“Falyn.” When I didn’t stop or turn around, he caught me by the wrist and pulled me against him. “Falyn.”

I looked up at him. His features were so severe that they might even be frightening if I didn’t know him better.

“It really f*cking bothers me that my brother kissed you before I did.”

“What makes you think I would ever let you kiss me?”

“You let Tyler kiss you.” His expression softened. “You thought he was me, didn’t you?”

I pulled away from him and crossed my arms, pissed that he was right.

“So … do you still want me to kiss you?”

“If I can slap the shit out of you after, sure.”

He thought about it for half a second. “I think it’d be worth it.”

I pressed my lips together, trying not to smile. “I’m glad it wasn’t you. It was disappointing.”

“He’s a bad kisser?” Taylor asked, amused.

“No. There was just … nothing”—I referenced the space between us—“there.”

“Huh. Now, I’m curious.”

“I’m not kissing two brothers in one night.”

Taylor looked down at his watch. “We are now four minutes into tomorrow.”

“No.”

I walked down to the street corner and pressed the crosswalk button. Taylor followed me, staying quiet until we reached the front door of the Bucksaw.

He chuckled as I turned the key in the lock.

“C’mon. Aren’t you a little bit curious?” he asked.

“Nope.”

“I am,” he said, following me inside.

I shook my head. “I don’t exist to satisfy your need for competition with your twin.”

“That’s not what this is.”

“This isn’t about you being jealous?” I asked, turning to face him. “It doesn’t bother you that you’ll be walking back to Cowboys, knowing he kissed me and you got the shaft? I don’t want you to kiss me for rivalry or ego.”

“Just to get you to Eakins, right?” As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he regretted them. He reached for me. His hand cupped my shoulder, and he brushed my bangs from my face. “I am a royal f*cking skag. Sorry. I’m just pissed.”

“I knew there would be conditions. I don’t want anyone holding anything over my head. I left my parents, Taylor. I can walk away from you.”

His brows pulled together. “Don’t you think I know that?”

I sighed. “I want to go to Eakins, and I don’t want something like petty jealousy getting in the way of that.”

He took a step back, his expression changing. As if his anger was just barely contained, he kept his voice low and controlled as he said, “I’m not jealous. I f*cking hate that his mouth was on yours. I’ve never felt that heated toward one of my brothers, ever, until tonight. I’ve been trying to play this off, but whatever this is … it’s not petty, Falyn.”