Want You Still by CE Ricci & Marley Valentine

Author:CE Ricci & Marley Valentine [Ricci, CE & Valentine, Marley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-02-08T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

pierce

“Look what the cat dragged in,” a familiar voice calls from behind me in the locker room of our local gym.

A hand lands on my shoulder, and when I glance up from where I’m lacing up my shoes on one of the benches, I find my friend Parker smiling down at me.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I ask, grinning. “Because the way I see it, there’s only one stray in here, and that’s you.”

Parker clutches his chest, taking mock offense. “Damn, is that the way you talk to the only person here who missed your insufferable ass?”

“Don’t let him lie to you,” Julian calls from where he and his husband, Deacon, are shoving their bags into lockers. “I missed you plenty.”

Deacon glances over his shoulder and shrugs. “I’m not getting involved.”

“You gonna be able to keep up after all that time away?” Parker teases. “What has it been, three weeks since you showed up?”

“Give the man a break,” Julian chides. “He was too busy getting married and then sipping margaritas on the beach with his wife to show up to the gym.”

“Mojitos, actually,” I correct, rising to my full height. “Tequila and I aren’t known to be friends, so I stuck to rum.”

“Tomato, potato.”

Deacon shakes his head fondly at Julian before glancing over at me. “You guys had a good time?”

I think of the clusterfuck of a mess I’ve found myself in and settle on a response that is completely inadequate. “Yeah, it was nice to get away after all the…stress.”

Well, Emily certainly had a good time. I did to the best of my ability, seeing as every time I’d look at her, I couldn’t stop searching for similarities between her and her brother. Any sign or indication that I might’ve missed in the time since knowing the Thompson twins.

Yet every time, I came up empty-handed. It should’ve been expected, what with them being fraternal twins, but it was frustrating nonetheless. And it made it difficult to enjoy what our all-inclusive resort had to offer.

Grabbing my gym towel, I hang it around my neck before shoving my bag into one of the lockers, waiting for the rest of the guys to finish getting ready.

“We’re still waiting on one more to fill in for Brandon,” Julian says, checking his phone. “He should be here any minute.”

“I’m here now, actually.”

Ice shards fill my veins at the familiar, low timbre, and my eyes sink closed in prayer that I’m just imagining his voice. Except, when I steel myself and turn toward the door, I find I’m thrown right back in the midst of this inescapable nightmare while staring into a pair of green-hazel eyes.

Will.

Fuck. No, it’s Auden.

Even though I can’t afford any slip-ups when there are other people around, retraining my brain is clearly proving to be more difficult than I originally thought. It’s almost like I’m subconsciously refusing to merge the two, because when I finally submit to calling him Auden, just like everyone else, it’ll be like Will doesn’t exist.

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