She padded toward the dressing table, a wooden masterpiece with mirrors that reflected the beauty of the décor of the room. She slid open each drawer until she found what she was looking for, T-shirts. She didn’t have any idea their date would have ended up with her naked and getting dick all night long, so she hadn’t walked with any change of clothing.

  She quickly slipped on a white T-shirt that stopped just above her knees. She stared at herself in the mirror. She looked like a woman who had been thoroughly fucked by some good dick. Her lips were swollen from Aric’s ministrations and her nipples were tight and puckered and easily visible through the cotton, obviously needing to be licked, sucked and nibbled, yet again.

  Her stomach growled in protest. Enough already, she was hungry. She needed to get something to eat; more sex could come later.

  Once she left the bedroom, she could smell coffee brewing. She followed the direction of the scent, because it would certainly lead to the kitchen where Aric, most likely, was. However, her steps faltered when she heard voices.

  Two male voices.

  One of them was Aric’s.

  Wait, she knew that other voice, eerily similar to Aric’s, yet, a bit slurred as if the person was only one shot away from becoming drunk as a skunk. It had to be Geoff’s.

  Of all people, Candace knew the two men never saw eye to eye; never would as long as Geoff didn’t get off drinking, drugs, gambling and whatever else men like him got involved in. She hadn’t seen him since Aric’s bachelor party when Aric asked the bouncers to throw him out. It’d been right after they’d made love and Candace had been too upset to care about the ruckus the men were causing.

  A gut feeling told her not to announce her presence just yet and it was exactly what she did.

  “How much this time?” Aric said.

  “Just twenty. Don’t worry bro, this one’s going to last a while.”

  You’d better make sure it lasts a lifetime because you’re not going to get another cent from me. I am not working my ass off just so you could blow it on women and drugs.”

  “Don’t ya think it’s because you could take care of your brother that the good lord’s blessed you with?” came Geoff’s snarky reply.

  She shivered at the voice. She’d never liked Geoff and was glad that he’d been a mere shadow in their growing up years. She remembered though, that there was a time when the brothers looked so alike, it’d made her uncomfortable.

  When 13-year-old Aric had stormed into the class all those years ago, she had no idea he was one of twins. After their math class was over, they’d gone on to separate classes that day. It was during lunch break, she’d seen him seated with a group of boys laughing uproariously…which surprised her, because the boy in her math class a few hours ago was sullen and didn’t exchange a word with anyone. Talk about a 180.

  But, stranger still, was why he was presently wearing a completely different set of clothing? Yes, they were equally disheveled, unkempt, but different, nevertheless. The answer to her unspoken question came soon enough when the boy who sat beside her during their math class entered through the doors of the cafeteria. It seemed that the clamor ceased in one accord and everyone drew a collective breath and stared, first at Eric— or was it Aric? Yes, Aric—and then the boy at the table who stared angrily at his mirror image. Obviously, the brothers were not on good terms, judging by the tension and hostility that were palpable between them.

  “What’s up, Aric?” his brother said with a sneer.

  “Leave me alone, Geoff!”

  And that’s how she, along with the rest of the other kids, became aware that there were two brothers named Aric and Geoff.

  It turned out that they were fraternal twins, not identical. But their similarities were so obvious, it took quite some to be able to discern the subtle differences that existed between them. They had the same eye color, same color hair, same mole on their left cheek. And they favored the same cologne. It was as if they were the male version of the Olsen twins, who’d stated in interviews that they were sororal twins, the female version of fraternal twins, yet they looked like mirror images of each other.

  If someone saw Aric and Geoff standing close to each other, which was rare because they couldn’t stand one another, then they’d realize that one was taller than the other. Candace figured out that Aric was the taller of the two, not by much, but still taller. Geoff was left-handed while Aric was right-handed.

  But then there were the differences in their personality which were glaring. Aric was the introvert, the reserve brother who kept mostly to himself and tended to shut people out, while Geoff was the extrovert, the prankster, the one forever getting into trouble for smoking weed or cutting classes or for just being plain disrespectful. A lot of his anger was, for some inexplicable reason, directed at his twin. And although only older than his brother by 18 minutes, Aric displayed levels of maturity that were far beyond his years when compared with Geoff.

  As she got to know Aric better and what made him tick, she could sense that in spite of his challenging circumstances he was driven, purposeful and had dreams to be better, do better, than what people expected of him. And while she and Aric were friends, Geoff was in the periphery of their lives, getting from bad to worse. Even then, she could tell Aric was ashamed of him although he tried to talk his brother into straightening up and getting his act together. Geoff had only gotten worse each year.

  “You’re a tight-ass, son of a fucking bitch,” Geoff bellowed.

  The harsh words jerked Candace out of her thoughts and thrust her back into the current situation between the brothers. None of them had detected she was eavesdropping. And apparently, Geoff was still up to his disappearing acts and only showing up to milk his brother. How like Geoff!

  “I mean it this time. You either get yourself fixed or you forget I exist.”

  Geoff snickered. “Don’t worry, dear brother, your secret is safe with me.” He snickered again. “For now.”

  It wasn’t so much as the words he said but how he said them. Candace found herself shivering. What did Geoff have over his brother’s head? The Aric she knew was a good guy, someone who did things above board. He was never one to act on something impulsively, unless he had a gut instinct that it was something worth risking. He had dated a lot of girls, worked a lot of odd jobs before he became the rich man that he was today, but as far as she knew, he hadn’t done anything illegal.

  What was Geoff talking about?

  Was that why he was giving him money?

  She was so deep in thought she didn’t hear the footsteps coming her way until it was too late for her to react.

  “Where the fuck are you going?” Aric exploded.

  Geoff was standing right in front of her. “Well, well, well, what do we have here?” he said very slowly as he took her in from head to toe. “If it isn’t cutie Candace Parker with the big ass,” Then he stared at her breasts in a lecherous manner.

  Candace willed herself not to flinch, but she wasn’t going to try to hide her disgust. She felt the tension in her body building.

  Aric’s hands clenched and unclenched as he strode toward her. He maneuvered his way around his brother without touching him and wrapped his arm around her waist. “Get out!” he said through gritted teeth. There was no need for introductions.

  She knew him well enough to be able to tell he was struggling to rein in his temper, but only for her sake.

  Geoff grinned evilly and held his hands above his head. “Easy big bro, why so much hate for a brother who’s got your back? And to think you’re with her when Shawna’s not even cold in the grave. You sneaky mother-fucker”

  Candace could feel Aric vibrate with anger and this time, she didn’t blame him. She wanted to punch Geoff really hard.

  “All right, Geoff, we’re done here.” Candace drew comfort in the fact that Aric’s hold on her waist had tightened. “You might want to beat a fast retreat before an anonymous call informs the police where they can find the next stash.” Actually, Candace hadn’t meant to say a word but, well, Geoff wasn’t really a great guy.

  And now that she got his full attention, he didn’t look too happy.

  “You still have that saucy tongue after all these years, huh?” he said icily and came to stand toe to toe with her.

  Aric’s muscles bunched up, but she placed a hand on his back to calm him.

  “I enjoyed the heat while it lasted, though,” Geoff said.

  She had no idea what he was talking about. Then his gaze travelled lower down her body, intentionally stopping at her breasts which were easily seen through Aric’s shirt she wore. When he eventually lifted his eyes and looked at her, she refused to flinch and met him gaze for gaze.

  “G’bye, y’all,” Geoff said at last and then to his brother, he said, “I’ll be in touch.”

  “Don’t be!”

  Geoff snickered and then was off with a jaunty salute.

  Candace made sure to count to ten before she turned to Aric – both to give herself time to think through the entire scene that just happened and to give Aric the time to cool off.

  “Want to tell me what that was all about?” she asked casually even though she was feeling anything but. She knew Aric was not an idiot – he would figure out exactly what she meant. And he did.

  “You heard?” he asked. His eyes were still stormy.

  She nodded her head. “He’s extorting money from you, isn’t he?”

  Aric continued to look at her as if weighing some heavy decision. After a few moments, he nodded, ran a hand through his hair and went back into the kitchen to pour himself a cup of coffee.

  Of course, she had figured it out while she was eavesdropping. What she didn’t expect was Aric’s quick admittance of it. He, however, seemed to be watching her fixedly as if waiting for her to pass some judgment on him. She was not about to do that; she’d lived long enough to know there was never an effect without a cause.

  “Would it be too personal to ask why?” she asked very slowly.

  Aric downed his entire cup of coffee in two gulps. His eyes were frank when he looked at her and said, “I am not Kenny’s father.” He took a deep breath and expelled it in a gush. “He is.”

  Chapter Nine

  “Bu—but that’s not possible,” Candace stuttered. “How can you not be her father? She looks…she looks…”

  “Just like me?” Aric finished the sentence for her. He felt his lips curl painfully. “She would look just like Geoff, too, if he bothered to take a bath regularly and stopped taking drugs.” He tried to shrug, but found he couldn’t so he simply continued to stare into her eyes as he divulged the secret he had never told a living soul before. “I married Shawna because she told me she was pregnant with my baby. Turned out it was Geoff’s – they had an affair before Shawna decided I was the better brother.” His laughter sounded as rough as sandpaper even to his own ears.

  Candace’s eyes had gone soft as she stared at him, frozen in place. There was no pity in them, however, only understanding and a keen sense of hurt and betrayal on his behalf. He could see the confusion in her eyes, could feel her pain for him as she came over and hugged him tight. “I am so sorry,” she said brokenly.

  And because she was trying hard to be strong for him, he found the strength to finally reveal everything and unburden his soul.

  “They continued to have an affair, even during our marriage,” he said. His voice was strangely bland and he wondered if he had really stopped caring that he had been cuckolded by his twin brother. “It was how I knew about Kenny. I found out about their affair very late into our marriage and hired a PI. He delivered more than I hoped to find. The facts were undeniable – hotel bills and pictures before Shawna and I ever met and after we did. He suggested I had a paternity test done on Kenny.”

  “Oh, Aric!” Candace lamented and hugged him tighter.

  He could feel her tears wet his shoulders. He was grateful she cared enough to cry for him. There could be no words to describe how devastated he had been when he found out his brother was Kenny’s biological father. But for the baby, there could have been no way he would have ended up with Shawna; there could have been no way he would have married at twenty two. He had given up so much for the life he knew he couldn’t abandon; the life he had thought he helped to create. The discovery of his brother and wife’s affair had almost killed him, especially since he thought he’d lost Candace because of it.

  But then, he wouldn’t regret it.

  Not now.

  Especially not now.

  He held her shoulders and pulled away from her a fraction, so he could look straight into her eyes. “I love Kenny like she is mine – heck, she is mine and I wouldn’t let Geoff within ten foot of her if I can help it. And he knows it; that’s why he is always hitting me up for cash…because he knows I want to keep her and would do anything to do so.”

  “Of course, she is every bit yours as if you were her biological father.” Understanding was crystal clear in her eyes as she nodded. “I feel like she is mine too, even though we’ve only spent these past few weeks together.”

  She really wouldn’t be able to fathom how much those words meant to him. Ever since finding out about Geoff and Shawna, he had been in all kinds of pain and agony over the deception and betrayal. He’d felt used and abused. He didn’t have the slightest idea about what to do with his life and he constantly thought about divorcing Shawna. But he hadn’t wanted his baby girl to suffer the brunt of a broken home, especially from a tender age. He hadn’t been happy being married to Shawna, not in the longest time, and only love for the little girl had kept him in the loveless marriage. Until Shawna herself ended it all.

  And by some twist of fate, he was here with Candace.

  He never thought he would be revealing the secret around Kenny’s birth to anybody. It was one he vowed he would carry to his grave. But telling Candace about it seemed the most natural thing in the world.

  “Thank you,” he said softly.

  A slow smile spread across her beautiful face as she tiptoed to kiss him lightly on the lips. “You are a good man, Aric Simmons, and I am lucky to be with you.”

  Suddenly, he felt lighter than he had in years. Every little worry fell off his chest like they were paper weight when they’d felt like huge rocks before. He looked at the beautiful woman in front of him and realized that he was the lucky one. Most men never got a second chance with the woman they loved, but this was a second chance staring at him in the face, with the woman he loved – the only woman he’d ever loved.

  He wasn’t going to blame any divine being for messing with his life’s journey. He was pretty content with where he’d found himself, which was right here in Candace’s arms.

  “And I don’t know what I did right, Candy, but I was one lucky dude to be in the same math class with you.”

  ****

  Two weeks later, and Aric still remembered the morning at his house like if it was yesterday.

  He was sure it was at that moment when Candace leaned over to plant a kiss on his lips that he fell irrevocably in love with her. Of course, he had always been in love with her, but it was at that moment he knew he wasn’t going to try living without her again – not ever.

  Throughout the following week, he never went a day without seeing her, never went a day without calling on her just to say ‘hi’ or, as corny as it may sound, to just to hear her breathe over the phone. When the week ended, he took her out of town to see an opera. And boy, oh boy, wasn’t he delighted she was receptive to every of his advances. He loved seeing her smile, loved seeing her dress up for him, loved seeing the glow in her eyes when she saw their girls, loved watching her make dinner for the entire family, loved that she was getting used to having him and his daughter around her.

  They were altogether a family already. He was just waiting for the right moment to let the words out, to pop the question. And this time, he wanted it to be perfect, no blurting out the words like a gotdamn fool.

  The perfect opportunity came when Candace and Lyric came to spend the following Saturday morning at his house. He hadn’t heard a word from his reckless brother and it was just as well; he wasn’t in the mood to deal with any of his shenanigans. He was buoyed by happiness, euphoria even, and he didn’t want his brother to dampen his spirits.

  Geoff was never one to lay low for a long time so Aric knew that it wouldn’t take too long before he re-surfaced again, but by then, he swore he would be ready to effectively deal with him once and for all. Even if Kenny was not a part of the equation, he still needed to find a lasting solution to his brother living off him.

  Aric mentally brushed thoughts of his brother aside. He had everything in place. He didn’t make any elaborate plans because he wanted his proposal to be as simple and uncomplicated as his feelings for Candace. He wanted her to accept him unconditionally without artifice or pretense. He wasn’t confident that Candace would accept him – far from it; he had no idea if she still loved him like she claimed she did all those years ago, but he was willing to pile all of his winnings on this bet knowing that if all she wanted with him was all they had going at the moment, he would still take it.

  Hell, he would take her under any condition.

  So, that afternoon, he floated in the water, content to watch Candace and the girls play about in the swimming pool some feet away from him. They were laughing hard and splashing water all over the place as they bounced around. For the thousandth time, Aric could not get over the girls’ resemblance to him. They were like two peas in a pod and anybody could easily believe he was their father and that Candace was their mother.