“They’re identical twins,” Emmett whines. “They lookidentical.”
Felix just laughs, but Teddy stares right at me as he says, “No, they don’t. It’s easy to tell them apart. You’re just not looking close enough.”
I’m on cloud nine until he adds, “Her name is right there on her necklace.”
Stella throws her head back and laughs after I tell her about my interaction with Teddy. The party died out and everyone who isn’t staying here went home, leaving me and Stella alone with Felix and his teammates.
She glances over to where Teddy and the guys are tossing a football in the front yard. “I think it’s great he’s here. You will have a chance to hang out with him more.”
“Oh, yeah. Another chance for him to not notice me.” I don’t even try to hide the defeat that spills out with my words. I have had a crush on Teddy since the moment I met him.
Felix is fifteen months older than me and Stella. He went off to Valley U while we were still in high school. I’ll never forget the first time Felix introduced Teddy to us. It was after a home game. We’d all come down to watch Felix play.
It wasn’t anything Teddy said or did. It was in all the things he didn’t say or do. He is quieter and sweeter than the rest of Felix’s friends. He smiled with those dimples, looked me in the eye and repeated my name like he was committing it to memory. That was all it took. I was smitten.
And every interaction, everything I’ve learned about him since, just makes me fall harder.
“Oh please, he totally notices you. How else did he see that necklace?” She lifts her chin and drops her gaze to it.
“He notices me, of course he does, I’m his best friend’s sister, but he doesn’tnoticeme. There’s a difference.”
“He was checking you out.”
“I don’t think that’s what he was doing.” My face heats.
“He’s a straight, very hot-blooded college guy. He checked you out. He probably just thinks you’re not interested because your default mode around him is to hide or barely say two words back to him.”
It’s true. I tend to freeze up around him. Teddy makes me nervous. When he talks to me, or anyone really, he gives his undivided attention. And all that attentiveness from a guy that already makes my insides feel like goo is overwhelming.
And okay, it isn’t fair to say he doesn’t notice me; Teddy is always friendly, but he doesn’t see me the way I see him. I know, because he treats Stella the same way, like he’s looking out for us because it’s his obligation as Felix’s best friend.
“Felix and Teddy are staying until the twenty-third.”
Three nights longer than Stella and I planned.
“You want to stay?”
“Don’t you? Teddy is here!”
I shush her, but my face remains hot.
“He isn’t listening,” she says with a small laugh.
“What about all our plans? We were going to do holiday stuff, like bake cookies and watchHome Alone.”
“I know.” She turns, so her body is angled toward me, her eyes pleading with me. “But if we stay, we can do all that and ski and hang out with Felix. What are we going to do at home by ourselves that we can’t do here?”
I hesitate. The answer is nothing, but I’m still torn.
“Please?”
“Okay,” I relent.
She squeals and her smile gets bigger.
“But we’re getting a tree for the cabin, and you have to go with me on the bunny hill.”
“Whatever you want,” she says and hugs me. “This is going to be so much fun!”