I thought I was done being surprised by this family.
But when he walked through the door—smug, sun-kissed, and twenty shades of infuriatingly hot—I realized life wasn't done punking me just yet.
Aiden Thorne.
The twin I was supposed to marry.
The twin who ghosted his own wedding.
And now? He was strolling into my living room like it was just another Tuesday, wearing aviators indoors and a smirk that made my spine itch.
"Miss me?" he said, pulling off his sunglasses with all the drama of a K-drama second lead who knows he's about to ruin everything.
My mouth dropped open.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" I shrieked, flinging a couch pillow at him.
He caught it midair. Of course he did.
"I see your aim's improved," he teased. "Marriage has been good for you."
I was two seconds away from dropkicking him with love and rage.
Adrian, standing just behind me, didn't say a word. But the shift in the room was instant. His posture turned to steel, eyes narrowed like a hawk zeroing in on a very annoying rabbit.
"You have ten seconds," Adrian said, his voice low, "to explain why you're here."
Aiden looked between the two of us. His brows shot up. "Wait… are you two actually—"
"Yes," I snapped.
"But that's…" He turned to Adrian. "You really married her?"
"I had no choice," Adrian ground out.
"Excuse me?" I glared. "I didn't exactly have a long list of options either, you aisle-dodging jerk!"
Aiden raised his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay! I deserve that. But—look, I didn't know what was happening. Grandma said something about an emergency. I came as fast as I could."
That was a lie.
He looked too tan. Too relaxed. Like he'd been sipping cocktails somewhere far from reality while I was dealing with the romantic equivalent of a hostage situation.
And don't even get me started on the way he was looking at me now.
Like I was still the girl he'd been flirting with over texts and late-night phone calls… before disappearing like a limited-edition lipstick shade.
"You know what?" I said, stepping forward, chin high. "Your timing is perfect. You can take your seat at the divorce celebration party."
Aiden blinked. "Wait, you're divorcing him?"
Adrian stepped in before I could answer. "That's none of your business."
Aiden smirked. "You always did like to clean up my messes."
Adrian didn't flinch.
But I did.
Because that smirk wasn't just cocky—it was curious. Calculating.
And for a terrifying second, I realized what Aiden was really thinking.
He wanted me back.
Not because he cared.
But because his brother had me first.
⸻
Later that night, I was in the kitchen slamming cabinet doors and whisper-yelling at Nari on speaker.
"He just walked in! Like nothing happened! Like I didn't almost cry actual tears into my wedding mascara!"
Nari was losing it. "THE AUDACITY. He skipped your wedding and now he wants to flirt like it's The Bachelor: Twin Edition?! Girl, do NOT let him mess with your head."
"Too late," I muttered.
Because here was the horrible truth:
Part of me still remembered the butterflies.
The text messages.
The way Aiden made me laugh when I had no idea who Adrian even was.
Back then, Aiden was charming and loud and sparkly.
Adrian was… a rumor. The cold twin. The serious one. The backup plan.
But now?
Adrian was the one who brought me soup when I was sick.
The one who pretended not to notice when I cried in the shower.
The one who silently protected me even when we were pretending we hated each other.
So why—why—did Aiden still get to make my heart skip?
And more importantly…
What the hell did that mean?
⸻
The next morning, I opened the fridge and found something new on the whiteboard:
HOUSE RULE #7:
No falling for the wrong twin.
(Again.)
Written underneath, in two different handwritings:
Define wrong.
Define falling.