Not Even Close (A New Generation) by Elizabeth Reyes (books to read in a lifetime txt) 📗

them when they first got to know them. Then sheremembered. “Oh, well if you’d ask Nena, she’d say I’m the smarter one. But don’tlet her fool you. The girl’s brilliant, I’m just the better student. It’s why Iwas always labeled the brainier one. Yet, we always got the same grades whichif you think about it. That probably makes her the smarter one. I was forever reading,studying and meticulously preparing for tests while she usually just winged itand the outcome was always pretty much the same.”

“Just means you’re more organized and like to be prepared, notthat she’s smarter.” He sprinkled kisses at the corner of her lips, down herchin until he gently sucked her neck for a second making her entire bodytingle, before coming back up. “You probably would’ve done just fine if you’dwinged it too.”

They moved things to the sofa in his small front room. He took aseat first pulling her down over him as he lay back until she was lying overhis big hard body. “That it?” he asked as he wrapped his arm around her andpulled a strand of her hair out of her face with his other hand. “Because I’mcurious about something else still.”

Tilting her head, Vannah thought about it. “That’s about all theusual stuff people want to know.”

“Seriously? Mostly about your differences? I mean I get it. Mostpeople think twins and instantly they think, polar opposites. I’m curious aboutwhat you two have in common. Despite your differences I’m sure you have a lotin common.”

Even this made her heart swell. Most people focused on the questionsto answers that might help them tell them apart. “Well, we both like to cook.But then that goes with the territory. Our family owns multiple restaurants.”

“Multiple? Did not know that. You made it sound like your familyowned a restaurant. We’ll get back that, go on.”

“We’re both well . . .” She paused feeling a little guilty. “Upuntil I left for school, we were both really into our YouTube channel.”

“Yeah, I was surprised you hadn’t mentioned that before.”

“Because I knew you’d ask for the name or link and then you’dfind out I had a twin. I figured once you knew I’d tell you about it.”

“What’s it called?” Wincing, Vannah couldn’t help gigglingagainst his chest. “What?” he asked sounding even more curious now.

Bringing her head up she chewed the corner of her bottom lip. “Westarted it in high school, and she chose the name so . . .”

“So what?” He peered at her with a smirk.

“Sizzling Sisters.” She laughed outright. “But it’s a play onwords,” she added quickly. “We originally planned on it being all about cooking,so the sizzle was about the cooking not us being sizzling. And at first it was,until we started getting more into fashion and makeup and then we started doinghair and makeup tutorials. We could’ve changed the name. Still can, but thelinks are all over the place now with that name, so we never did.”

Those smoldering eyes bore into hers. “Guess you can say the namestill works.” He must’ve misunderstood her reaction, because of her inabilityto take a compliment like a normal person to mean something else, since he wasquick to add. “I mean not that I was checking out your sister, in fact I couldhardly look her in the eyes after what happened today, but you are identicaltwins and you’re sizzling as hell.”

“I would never think that.”

“That you’re sizzling?” he asked looking so incredulous she hadto laugh in spite of her inability to just accept a compliment with ease.

“No.” She shook her head. “That you’d be checking out my sister.”

“Good, ‘cause I never would.” He smirked. “Get the feeling she’dcall me out on it right quick.”

“She would,” Vannah laughed.

He chuckled nodding as if he had no doubt. “So, you do cooking andfashion tutorials?”

“We do a lot of everything now, anything that might pick us upmore followers.”

Vannah explained more about how it worked. They were actuallymaking money now from the sponsors that reached out to them to advertise ontheir channel. How the channel was part of the reason Nena decided to put offcollege for the first semester. “She’s still undecided about whether she’drather not go to a trade school instead and learn more about film and editingand possibly take that route instead of a traditional career. We also post commercialsabout the restaurants and even film there often when we have some kind ofpromotion going on.”

“I still think you should stick with a career in the culinary world.”

Before she could respond, he kissed her deep, and it went on fora long time. Squirming as her entire body trembled in response, Vannahwould never get enough of his kisses. A phone ringing in the other room barelyregistered and neither moved to acknowledge it. Until it started up again and Vannahhad to pull away. “That might be my parents,” she said ruefully as she pushedherself up and away from him. “They’re the only ones who’d call back-to-back likethat.”

She got up and headed to the kitchen where she’d left her pursewith her phone in it. As soon as she reached the kitchen, she realized itwasn’t her phone. Glancing down at the screen on the counter, it rang one last time,but she caught the name, Irma.

As her stomach began to tighten, she reminded herself that A. Thiscould be anyone. It could be a client or family member or even just afriend. And B. She and Byron had only technically been going out a week and he hadn’tmade it clear until today how he wanted this fun arrangement to work.

“Did you not get it on time?” Byron asked as he walked into thekitchen.

Glancing down at his phone, she picked it up just in time to seethe text preview that popped up now from Irma.

I’m outside are you still. . .

“It was your phone ringing, not mine. Irma?” She made sure heknew she’d seen who’d called him back-to-back and apparently was now outside.

Before he could read the text or respond to her question, abuzzer rang downstairs. His jaw going taut wasn’t missed as he slipped the phonein