by Kim Fox
She’s looking up at me with the softest brown eyes imaginable and I can’t help but kiss her. I know I shouldn’t. I know I should be waiting for Tito to be here. I want Tito to be here to share in this moment too, but we’re alone and I can’t seem to stop myself.
Our eyes slowly close as she leans up and I lean down until our lips come together in a soft romantic kiss.
A shrieking sound—like a baboon getting tortured—rips through the night, killing the passionate moment.
Zoe whips her head away from mine, looking around with wild eyes as the screeching sound rings out again.
Apparently, my brother is here after all. And now that he is, all I want him to do is leave.
I look around the forest with a tight glare and pinched lips, warning him with my eyes, wherever the hell he’s hiding.
“What was that?” Zoe asks, looking uncomfortable. “It sounded like a gorilla.”
“No. It’s a monkey.”
She laughs nervously. “There are no monkeys in Montana.”
“There is on this ranch,” I mutter. And unfortunately, I’m related to him.
We try to continue the date, but every time I get close, Tito starts screeching like a baboon in heat, ruining all of the romance.
Pretty soon, we give up and start the ride home. Ginger is still letting them rip every few minutes.
I squeeze the reins as I follow Zoe and Sporty down on my farting horse.
It seems that Tito wants to be the favorite as well.
This will only work if she likes us both, and I know that Tito knows that too. But I also know that he wants his date to go better than mine.
I grit my teeth as my horse lets out a loud one.
I’ll just have to make sure that it doesn’t.
Six
Tito
“And were the hot peppers in the sandwich really freaking necessary?” Ronin yells at me when he gets home from his date. “I still can’t feel my tongue!”
Maybe I went too far with trying to be the favorite. It’s just that Ronin had such a perfect date planned, and I still have nothing. I’m more adventurous than romantic. More fly by the seat of my pants rather than planning everything out perfectly.
“I still can’t believe you sabotaged my date,” he says, shaking his head as he glares at me from our sofa.
“Sabotage is such a strong word,” I say with a cringe. “I prefer ‘a healthy distraction.’”
“You sure distracted her with your bathing suit trick,” he says, looking pissed off. “I had shrinkage from the cold water!”
I snort out a laugh, wishing I had seen that.
“Keep laughing, moron,” he says. “We’re twins remember? She’s going to think you’re packing the same tiny heat.”
“Shit,” I mumble under my breath. I hadn’t thought of that.
“Get mad at me all you want,” I say. “You weren’t supposed to kiss her.”
He drops his eyes and takes a deep breath. I knew where he had planned to go, so I had caught up to them during their picnic and was watching from the forest.
“I couldn’t help it,” he says, looking ashamed. “She’s so perfect, Tito. I just couldn’t resist. I was wishing you were there too if that helps.”
“It does,” I say. I don’t think I’d be able to resist her either.
“Oh, right,” he says, glaring at me. “You were there. Screeching like a baboon at the dentist.”
I let out a nervous laugh and he just rolls his eyes.
“So, you like her,” I say as I sit down on the sofa facing him.
He stares at the coffee table between us and takes a deep breath. “She’s the most incredible person I’ve ever met.”
I cough twice, and he laughs. “Present company included,” he says.
“Wow, she must be pretty amazing.”
He nods. “She is.”
“Give me some advice,” I say.
His eyebrows raise as he looks at me. “Advice?”
“You know her better than I do. How can I wow her? What can I do to make this the best date of her life?”
His forehead crinkles. “The best date of her life?”
“Yeah,” I say, getting excited. “I want her to have such a good time that she can’t even remember any of the other guys.”
“You should take her to the zoo,” he says. “She loves zoos.”
I sit up straight as I get an excited rush of adrenaline. That’s a great idea. She’s a veterinarian so she’s going to love seeing animals at the zoo! Why didn’t I think of that?
I thought that Ronin might be upset that I tried to throw a couple of monkey wrenches into his romantic date, but he’s taking it very well. He’s even helping me out.
“What else is she into?” I ask, trying to pump him for every bit of information that he knows.
“She’s a huge war enthusiast.”
“Really?”
“Oh, yeah,” he says, nodding his head up and down. “Big time! She absolutely loves the Vietnam war. It’s her favorite of all the wars.”
“Hmm,” I say as I think about it. “I wouldn’t have guessed that about her.”
“Well, she’s half Vietnamese,” he says. “So, it’s her heritage. She loves talking about all of the battles.”
“That makes sense.” As soon as we’re done talking, I’m going to go on the Internet and read up on the Vietnam war. This date is going to go great.
“Did she say what her favorite food is?” I ask. A nice dinner in her favorite restaurant would be the perfect way to finish the night. Maybe I’ll get a kiss too.
“Steak,” he says. “Definitely take her out for a steak dinner.”
I grin as I start to plan it out.
This will be a date she’ll remember for all time. She’ll never be able to forget it.
“This feels weird,” Zoe says when she’s sitting beside me in the pickup truck. “I feel like I’m on a date with Ronin again. You are Tito, right? I just want to make sure.”
I grin as I look at her. “I guess you’ll never know.”
She chuckles as she looks out the window. “You’re Tito. Only you have that smirk.”
I take another quick peek at the gorgeous girl sitting beside me while she’s looking out the side window. She’s wearing a beautiful navy blue and white striped dress with a stylish belt around her waist. The wind is picking up her black hair, making it dance all around her. I wish that Ronin was here to see how beautiful she looks. It feels strange to be doing this without him.
“Thanks for wearing a shirt this time,” she says, grinning as she looks over at me.
“I can take it off if you want me to,” I say, grabbing the bottom of it. “I did five hundred crunches this morning just in case.”
She laughs as she shakes her head. “Ask me again after a bottle of wine.”
I grin. “I will.”
“So, where are you taking me? Somewhere good I hope.”
“Somewhere amazing, but it’s a surprise.” I can’t wait to see her face when we get to the zoo. Ronin even gave me the brilliant idea of blindfolding her and only removing it when we’re inside the zoo! She’ll be so thrilled when she’s surrounded by all of the animals that she loves so much.
“Do you and your brother do this a lot?” she asks. “Share dates?”
I shake my head. “First time.” And hopefully the last. We’ve always dated separately, but lately, with all of the mates moving onto the ranch, we started to yearn for our own shared mate. We both feel that it’s time to try and find that special lady who will complete our fated triad. I can’t help but think that she’s sitting right next to me.
“I have to admit,” she says, “this is a little weird for me. And the fact that you’re twins is making it even weirder.”
“Just think of it like I’m a guy who just happens to look like your last date, but has a much bigger penis.”
She snorts out a surprised laugh. “You may look alike, but when you open your mouth
, it’s like night and day. Ronin is so sweet and romantic, and you’re so…”
“Amazing? Sexy? Fun? Charming?”
She has a sexy grin on her face as she studies my face. “I don’t know yet.”
“Well, that’s what this date is for.”
She smiles and nods. “I guess so.”
We spend the rest of the drive talking and joking around. I’m surprised how well we’re getting along. Ronin was right. This girl is amazing.
But things take a turn for the worse when I try to get her to put the blindfold on.
“There’s no way I’m putting that on,” she says with a laugh. “That’s how girls end up soaking in barrels full of formaldehyde in the middle of the desert.”
“Good point,” I say, tossing it into the backseat. “Can you close your eyes instead?”
She takes a deep breath and then reluctantly closes her eyes. “This better be good.”
It will be.
She’s going to love this zoo.
I park the car, pay for the tickets, and bring her inside, guiding her as she keeps her eyes closed.
“Where are we?” she asks as I place her in front of the elephant pen. “An amusement park?”
“Better,” I say, feeling giddy with excitement.
She sniffs the air. “An amusement park with manure?”
“Open!”
Her eyes fling open and her face tightens as she realizes where she is.
“This is a zoo,” she says slowly as she looks around with a shocked face.
I grab her arms and grin. “I know! Isn’t this great?”
Her face starts to pale as her eyes find me. “No,” she says with an edge to her voice. “I hate zoos.”
I jerk my head back in shock. “But… but… elephants.”
She turns to the elephant beside us and her whole body tightens. “Elephants in the wild live in herds from anywhere between eight and a hundred other elephants. Look at this poor guy. He’s all by himself. In the wild, he’d be walking between thirty and fifty miles per day! He’s just standing there.”
I turn to the elephant, begging him to move with my eyes. He doesn’t.
She looks around in a panic. “I have to get out of here!”
“Um,” I say, feeling my stomach harden. “Should we see the tigers first?”
She bolts past me and doesn’t stop running until we’re back in the parking lot.
“Why would you ever take me in there?” she asks when I catch up to her. Her eyes are fierce. Accusing.
“I thought you’d like it.”
“You thought a veterinarian would like visiting an animal prison?”
I gulp. “Well, when you put it like that…”
She pushes past me and heads straight to the parked truck. I follow, wondering what went wrong. Ronin said she loved zoos.
Then it hits me. That fucker set me up.
It’s not like I don’t deserve it, but still.
“I’m sorry about that,” I say as I open the door for her. She climbs in and sits down on the seat with a huff. “Want to do something else?”
She turns to me and the hardness in her eyes lightens a little bit. “Are you going to bring me to a slaughterhouse next?”
A smile creeps across her lips as I laugh. “I could find one. Or we could just go straight to dinner.”
“It’s three o’clock,” she says.
“We’ll take our time ordering.”
She laughs and rolls her eyes. “Fine. Whatever.” I jump back when she grabs the door and closes it.
“Are there any other fun family destinations you are against?” I ask when we’re back on the road. “Waterslides, maybe?”
Her frown turns into a smirk. “I love waterslides.”
“Of course you do,” I say with a laugh.
She seems to be getting more relaxed the farther we get away from the dreaded zoo.
“Sorry about that,” she says as she runs a hand through her dark hair. “I’ve had some bad history with them before.”
“Did you fall into the lion’s den when you were a kid?”
She laughs. “Something like that.”
I change the subject and get her talking about her job, which puts a beautiful smile on her face. The date seems to take a turn into a better place and we both start having fun, which is a welcome relief.
“I can’t believe your favorite animal is a goat,” I say with a laugh.
“Why not? They can scale a cliff with hooves. Do you know how hard it is to climb with hooves?”
I turn to her with a smirk on my face. “Is that a serious question?”
“I don’t know,” she answers with a shrug. “Maybe you’re hiding hooves in those shoes. Doesn’t the devil have hooves for feet?”
“You’re saying I’m the devil?”
“I’m saying it’s possible.”
I turn to her and she grins back at me. God, she’s beautiful. This date is finally going the way I was hoping it would. The zoo fiasco is behind us and now it’s time to pull out the big guns. I know she’s going to love talking about this.
“What’s your favorite war?” I ask.
“My favorite… war?”
“I love the Vietnam war,” I say as I puff up my chest. “Hanoi tunnels, the Tet Offensive, Agent Orange. When they dropped the napalm I was like, yes! I mean, I wasn’t alive yet, but if I was I would have been super stoked.”
She doesn’t have the reaction I was hoping for. In fact, she looks horrified.
“You hate war, don’t you?” I say slowly when I realize what I’ve done. Ronin set up a trap of verbal napalm and I walked right into it.
She nods as she glares at me.
“And you especially hate the Vietnam war, don’t you?”
She nods again.
“Me too,” I say, furrowing my brow as I look out the windshield. “So tragic. Such senseless destruction and loss of life.”
“Why would you think I liked war?”
I sigh. “Faulty intel.”
“That’s two strikes,” she says, holding a peace sign up. “Are we going to make it to the restaurant before number three?”
I gulp as I pull off the highway and onto a side street.
“You’re in luck,” I say, shaking it off as I pull into Cowboy Steve’s Colossal Steakhouse. “Because we’re here!”
She frowns when she looks up at the sign that has a huge cow’s head with X’s over the eyes sticking out of it.
“I’m a vegetarian.”
I sigh, remembering how Ronin was the one who recommended that I take her here.
“Of course, you are. Strike three?”
She turns to me with a grin. “Strike three. You’re out.”
It takes an hour, but I finally find Zoe some vegetarian food. After the zoo disaster, the Vietnam debacle, and the steakhouse catastrophe, I convinced her to give me one more chance.
This time, I’m not taking anyone’s advice. This time, I’m just going to be myself.
And this time, she’s going to love me.
“We can’t go in there,” she says, looking up at me with disbelieving eyes.
I grab her hand and smile. “We can and we will.”
She squeezes my hand as I pull her toward the waiting parents of the bride and groom. “I’ll be Benjamin Parker, real estate tycoon, and you’ll be my wife, Elizabeth.”
“A real estate tycoon who’s wearing shorts to a wedding?” she whispers as we get in line to congratulate the bride and groom.
“Look around,” I say checking out all of the hippie guests. “We’re the dressiest ones here.”
It’s true. This family is full of hippies. A couple of relatives are wearing tie-dye shirts and more than a couple smell of stale weed. The bride is wearing a loose dress with long lace sleeves and a crown of flowers on her head. The groom has an old plaid suit on and his scruffy beard is almost as long as his hair.
It’s hippies galore, and where there are hippies, there’
s vegetarian food.
“They’re going to know we weren’t invited,” Zoe whispers as we get closer.
“Just be cool and smile,” I whisper back.
“But—”
“Congratulations,” I say, rushing past the father’s outstretched hand to give him a big hug. “Such a wonderful addition to the family. What time is dinner?”
He looks shocked as I pull away. “Who are you again?” he asks.
I quickly turn to his wife, ignoring his question. “You look beautiful!” I say, giving her a big hug too. She looks as shocked as him.
To my surprise, Zoe is playing the part perfectly, hugging and smiling and introducing herself as Elizabeth, wife to a real estate tycoon. She hugs the confused parents and before long, we’re hugging the bride and groom, congratulating them on their recent vows.
“Thanks,” the bride says, looking at us funny as we walk in. I keep my ear peeled and hear her turn to the groom. “Who are those two?”
“Must be friends of my parents,” he answers back.
Zoe grins as she looks up at me with excited eyes. “I’ve always wanted to crash a wedding.”
“We’re not crashing anything, Elizabeth Parker. We’re honored guests.”
She laughs as I pull her to the bar and order two drinks. This is what I should have done from the beginning. Relied on my own instincts instead of following that traitor Ronin’s advice. This is the smile I wanted to see on her face.
“Where are we going to sit for dinner?” Her brown eyes are sparkling and for the first time, I notice the beautiful birthmark under her right eye. “They must have assigned seating.”
“I’m on it,” I say with a smirk. “Watch this.”
There’s a wide grin on her face as I turn to the people talking next to me. “Beautiful wedding,” I say when there’s a break in the conversation. “It’s a shame two of the guests couldn’t make it.”
“Huh?” the man says, looking confused.
“Michael and Linda,” his wife says, slapping his arm. “I told you they couldn’t make it because their son has chicken pox.”
“Oh, yes,” the man says, nodding like he totally remembers.
“Enjoy the wedding,” I say, lifting up my glass with a smile. “We’ll see you on the dance floor.”
