“My anxious gaze swept the theater."Don’t worry. I told them it was Sunday,” Ayden said as we sat down.“And they believed you?”“Of course.” He passed me the popcorn and took off his jacket. “I’m the master of deception.”“Uh-huh. So, when did you become a Hitchcock fan?”“After I saw Psycho,” answered a voice clearly not Ayden’s.We turned to stare at Blake.And Jayden.And Tristan.And Logan.All sitting behind us.I smirked at a sheepish Ayden. “Oh yeah, master of deception.”

“Ayden and Blake stared each other down. "Oh. My. God," Luna blurted from Ayden's back seat. "It's a love triangle."We all looked at her like she'd sprouted an alien from her head. "it's just like in a book. Two guys after one girl and-"I groaned. "That's ridiculous, Luna, this is not a love triangle.""Says the girl in the middle of a love triangle. Luna ignored my protests and prattled on. "Not one Hexy Boy but two. I've got to call Danica. Oooo," she squealed and clapped her hands,"We could have teams. Team Ayden and Team Blake. With T-shirt and buttons and-""I could make a website," Lucian offered."No!" My voice pitched with panic. "No teams. No shirts. No-""I'll get you some headshots," Blake said, turning his profile towards Luna and Lucian. "I've been told the left is my best side. What do you think?""Aurora's right," Ayden said. "This is buts. Blake you can follow us-""Dude, you know no one would pick Team Ayden. You're just jealous.""That's not true. My team would be way bigger than yours.""Dare to dream, little man, dare to dream.""Care to make a wager on it?""Absolutely.""Fine. How about-""You two shut up!" I shoved myself out of the car.”

“You don’t understand.She was mean to me. Very mean. And she’s dangerous. A very dangerous girl. I’m your guardian, Ayden. I have to protect you!It’s my sworn duty. My sworn duty!”“Protect me?”“Yes!” Pearl hovered frantically in front of “her boy,” and slathered her voice with disgust. “She threatened to…” Oh, she wouldn’t.“Kiss you!”She would. My cheeks fired. I stared at the floor.Ayden laughed. “Kiss me?”“Yeeeeesss,” Pearl wailed in agony. “She promised a big juicy kiss! On a real date. No pretending. With hand holding and—and cuddling!”And I thought it couldn’t get any worse.”

“His chin rested on top of my head as he stroked my hair. "It's alright," he murmured. "I'll keep you safe.""She okay?"Ayden jerked away, dropping his hands. And me.”

“Uh, do you mind?"I glanced down and saw something far scarier than any demon. A guy. My age. And I was on top of him. Straddling his hips. Oh, jeez.”

“Are you twins?""Yes. Very good." Jayden nodded. "But not identical. Fraternal. We developed from two distinct eggs. Identical twins develop from the splitting of one egg and-""I know," I said. "I've got a pair.""Of eggs?" Jayden said.Ayden closed his eyes. I would've needed the Heimlich maneuver if I'd been eating."No." I shook my head. "No, I-""Because you've got far more than two," Jayden said in a lecturing tone. "In fact, girls are born with approximately two million eggs patiently awaiting puberty to-""Ooookay." Ayden slung an arm around Jayden and gave him a rough squeeze. "Why don't you leave something for Sex Ed class, huh?" He raised one finger and plastered on a smile. "Excuse us a minute." He dragged Jayden down the hallway where they spoke in harsh whispers.”

“Ayden strolled up and nonchalantly tossed me the keys. I caught them with ease. Nah, I dropped them. Okay, technically I didn’t drop them. I just flinched when they hit me in the shoulder then I watched them drop. Did I mention I didn’t sleep well?”