Sibling Rivalry Ch. 04

As I was showering in a bathroom down the hall from the room I'd just shared Gavin with Lena when she came in wearing a black robe that must have been his.

I didn't need to look at her to know that her eyes were wild with her triumph over me. I'd only want to strangle her, so I kept my eyes on the tile in front of me as she began to speak.

Dropping my clothes to the floor she asked me in a mocking tone if I were done or did I want more, referring to the deal we'd made about Nicholas.

"I never lose Stacy, you should know that better than anyone" she laughed. And how was I going to argue with that after what had just happened in the bedroom. I felt tears pricking my eyes but I would be damned if I let them fall while she stood there mocking me.

"You know what I think?" she continued, "we should probably just call this whole thing off; you obviously don't take defeat well". I guess I hadn't done enough to hide my true feelings, but then we were twins.

I somehow found my voice after that. It was clear and certain when I told her that I most definitely did not want to call off anything.

"No?" she asked curiously as if giving me a chance to reconsider and more wisely this time.

I turned off the water got out, then dried off with one of the fluffy black bath towels.

"I said no. We had a deal. I stuck to my end and now you will keep your side." I looked directly into her eyes as I said this.

She looked me up and down as if trying to assess my new-found attitude then said, "okay, whatever but when I win this round, and I will win, don't ever even think of screwing one of my men again".

With that she left the bathroom shutting the door behind her.

I continued to get dressed and then left the bathroom. I could hear the two of them still going at it as I made my way down the hall. We had come together but I felt like fuck Lena; she could make her own way home, so I took the car keys and left.

***

"Where is Stacy?" Gavin asked Lena the moment she had come and rolled off of him.

"She left" Stacy told him.

"She—left?" he queried.

"Yes she left" Lena answered a second time.

Gavin sat up on the bed and moved to get off of it as he said to her coldly, "and yet you're still here." Not a question.

Ouch Lena thought. "So what are you in love with her now?" Lena asked not caring if she sounded seriously jealous.

He didn't bother to answer her; instead he got off the bed and left her alone going into the shower.

This could not be fucking happening Lena thought, wondering why the hell Gavin wasn't still giving it to her. They used to go for hours and hours at a time. Maybe he was just taking a shower and would be back she guessed as she lay in the bed waiting for him.

When Gavin came out of the shower he left the room without so much as a word to her. Following on his heels she found him in another bedroom. This one was larger and was decorated in mostly black. The floor had soft plush carpeting and the bed looked like it could fit ten people. The room also smelled strongly of Gavin's cologne.

"What room is this?" she asked him with a sinking feeling that grew worse as she looked over at the dresser he stood next to and spotted a pair of those cheap earrings her sister wore.

Gavin pulled a pair of boxers from his bureau and pulled them on. Next he grabbed a t-shirt and pulled it on, and then he walked past her turning off the light and stepping out of the room. "It's my bedroom" he told her.

To Lena that hurt, it fucking hurt.

"So I'm not welcome in your little love nest?" she asked while following him down the stairs that led to his living room.

He walked over to the bar and poured himself another drink while Lena sat down on the couch. While he took a drink her eyes scrutinized his face. "You are in love with her" she accused him; feeling like her heart was bleeding.

"No I'm not." Gavin took another swallow of his bourbon. "But I do want you to tell me what she was doing here with you tonight."

Well, well Lena thought maybe she could turn this around in her favor after all.

Looking into his face she said, "oh I promised her that I'd let her fuck my husband if she got me back into your...good graces."

Really" his eyes regarded her like he was searching for an indication that she was lying. In this she was happy to allow him to look all he wanted.

"Yes, she's been in love with him since the 11th grade." she said meeting his eyes.

Gavin walked toward her laughing harshly as he said, "And I'm sure that had more than a little to do with the fact that you married the guy."

When he reached her he pulled her up from the couch taking her mouth in a brutal kiss, almost like he was trying to hurt her. He snatched the robe off her body and bent her over the back of his couch.

Lena hated herself for letting him inside her body in anger and maybe resentment but she was in love with him and would take him anyway she could get him. When he came he pulled out and spilled onto her back. She then turned around to kiss him determined to make the most out of this, whatever it was. As he kissed her back he picked her up and carried her back upstairs. She could not ignore the fact that he walked past the black bedroom and instead he took her to the bedroom with the hot tub.

The sex was great...incredible but as she lay beside him in the dark Lena wondered again how the hell her twin made guys feel for her the way she did . Gavin was out of his mind if he thought she believed that he didn't care for her twin, no matter how many times he came with Lena like it was the best one he'd ever had.

***

The house was quiet when I got up the next morning as I sat in the kitchen having made myself some bacon and eggs when Nicholas came in from a run. He wore shorts and sneakers but his chest was bare and made me ache just thinking about touching it. He was sweaty and his hair was damp and all I could think of was using my tongue to lick him clean.

He looked at me as he always did when we were alone, as if he were trying to decipher which twin I was. As I hadn't lowered my eyes quick enough from his body, I could imagine it was a lot harder for him to determine the answer.

We both gazed at each other for a moment, just as both of our heads swiveled around as Lena came through the kitchen doors an instant later. She looked tired and I could suppose that she would be, having gotten in close to dawn last night.

She didn't even look at her husband as she came toward me slapping something on the table in front of me. I looked down at it shocked to see a plane ticket.

"It's open, but I suggest you use it as soon as possible", she snapped.

In her other hand was that bottle of tequila from the other night; at least I thought it was the same bottle.

"You're drinking at 8 am?" Nicholas asked her incredulously, from across the room.

"Yes and--" she turned her head to face him like she wanted nothing more than to fight with him, then she took another drink, obviously to instigate their argument.

His eyes narrowed on the bottle at her lips. "Is that my fucking Partida Elegante?" he asked her, almost yelling now while walking toward her. His eyes were focused on the almost empty bottle when he reached her and then took it from her hands.

She laughed and he asked her if she were drunk.

"No I'm not drunk" she spit out and didn't really sound to me like she was. "I was trying to keep myself from having a hangover." She explained.

"Well here's a tip for you then, don't go out and stay out all night drinking in the clubs with your fucking friends." Nicholas scolded her.

I got up to put my dishes away and I guess that gave her a reason to pay attention to me again. "You need to leave" she said, in a tone that made me rethink my earlier opinion of her not being drunk.

"Why are you talking to your sister like that?" Nicholas angrily snapped at her.

"I'll leave" I told her quietly, "when I get exactly what I need, I'll leave right after that" I said walking away from them towards the stairs.

"Oh you can hang that up bitch!" she shouted at my back.

"Lena!"Nicholas shouted at her again.

I spun around to her at hearing that, my eyes looking directly into hers as I declared, "And if you think I will 'hang that up' you need to think again." Her eyes glowered back at me.

"What's the matter Lena your night didn't turn out so well as you first thought?" I had no idea what had happened, if anything at all had. I just knew that I felt like pushing her buttons the same way she pushed mine.

And I was getting Nicholas in my bed, one way or the other. I glared at her to get my point across before leaving her alone with her husband, who was looking back and forth between the two of us like he wanted to know what the hell the big secret was.

***

The next few days I dodged calls from Gavin, not wanting to admit that I was upset that he had chosen Lena over me. My feelings didn't make sense to me and they were too complicated to work through. I would rather pretend that it hadn't happened or at least move on from it.

Lena wasn't seeing Gavin either, for whatever reason. She was too busy at home sticking to Nicholas's side like she was his body guard. Not to mention that she'd taken to torturing me by having sex with Nicholas in random places in the house so that I'd see them. She always made it so that I could hear even I didn't get the visuals, hell the neighbors could hear, she was so loud.

Yeah Lena and I were definitely not on speaking terms and of course Nicholas was right in the middle trying to get us to work out our differences, hounding us both to talk about it, but of course neither of us was spilling.

***

A little over a week had passed since the night Lena and I had spent with Gavin. I decided to replace the bottle of tequila that Lena had taken as sort of a peace offering to Nicholas, since Lena and I had been fighting so much, and he'd been trying so unsuccessfully to get us to stop.

I planned to just leave it on the desk in his study but when I went to take it in he was in the room having a drink, of the same tequila that I had bought for him. He was dressed a beautiful tux that made him look like he owned the world.

As he turned to see me standing there ogling him the small smile on his face crippled the blood flow to my heart. He walked over to me and I handed the bottle to him and he thanked me.

"Sorry if I was staring" he disclosed. I hadn't even realized that he was.

"It's just that every time I look at either you or Lena it takes me a minute to figure out exactly who I'm looking at, especially now that you wear your hair the same." He remarked.

He put the bottle I'd given him away and then poured me a shot from the open one on his desk handing it to me. It burned all the way down but not like the drink Gavin had given me. It was more of a smooth burn, the kind that you could take over and over again not realizing just how potent it really was. It tasted delicious. And fuck, it hit hard. I think I got tipsy that fast from that one shot.

"You have to sip this stuff" Nicholas said grinning as though he got what it immediately did to me, as I looked in his direction blinking and trying to clear my head.

"Hey" Nicholas said to me a second later sounding like he was far away, "if you're not doing anything tonight Lena and I are about to go to this dinner party I have to attend; hence the monkey suit", he tugged at his tie. "If you want to come, I mean it might not be the most exciting night of your life, but you won't be sitting in the house alone."

My face must have shown exactly what I was thinking about that statement because just as I was about to tell him what I thought about his pity invite he laughed. The sound tightened my nipples and I had to look away from his sexy face.

The next thing I knew he was taking my arm and guiding me out of the room, "it's not a pity invitation he said as if he'd read my mind I want you to come."

Just hearing those words had me dangerously close to doing just that now, especially as his hand at my elbow was sending flames up my entire arm and those flames were spreading rapidly to every other part of my body. I wondered if it was his touch or the tequila making me feel like I was on fire.

He helped me up the stairs, not that I really needed it, and then letting go of my arm he asked if I could be ready to go in an hour. I told him that I would be.

***

The dress I chose was satin and forest green in color. I knew that it would compliment Nick's eyes perfectly. It had a sweetheart bodice with a classic empire waist and a sweeping hemline. Its long sleeved jacket gave it a Victorian styled elegance.

I pulled my hair back into a simple bun at my nape with a part down the middle. I chose black Ferragamo high heeled sandals to complete the look.

When I looked in the mirror even I couldn't tell that I wasn't my twin but then frowned at the thought as soon as I had it. I was not, in any way, trying to be Lena.

They were both in the living room when I came down the stairs. Lena looked stunning as always in a yellow dress that looked like it was molded to her and was very revealing. The slit up her right side showed the length of her leg every time she took a step. Her eyes traveled down my body and I was surprised when all she did was shrug with her eyebrows not saying anything nasty. We rode to the event in Nicholas's car.

***

The building that the gala was being housed in was absolutely breathtaking. We had to walk up a mountain of steps to get in and then there was the foyer. The art displayed on canvases around the vast room was incredible. Most of it was sketches or paintings of architecture in some stage of its planning.

As we walked into the ballroom where we were going to spend the evening I saw that it was filled with round, cloth covered tables, all with elegant place settings. It all looked so ordered I had to wonder if the seating was already arranged how Nicholas had gotten me in on such short notice.

All the names and faces of the people that Nicholas introduced us to became a blur after a while to me. Social engagements weren't really my thing but the tequila had mellowed me out some so I found myself being more talkative and also really enjoying myself.

I took it easy on the champagne not wanting to get wasted. It seemed like every time I looked up a waiter was passing by with a tray full of the stuff.

Lena was her naturally perfect social butterfly self. She handled Nicholas's business associates with ease and charm. She even managed to be nice to me though I knew it was only an act.

***

Two things happened to change the atmosphere of the evening.

I think I had a small heart attack when I looked up to find Gavin making his way toward us. Lena hadn't noticed yet because she was engaged in conversation with the wife of some guy whose name and title I couldn't recall.

Gavin stopped right in front of us and he and Nicholas shook hands and spoke. It was obvious that they knew each other but not in that sense that they were friends or even close associates. I took a serious swallow of the drink I'd been carting around all night as Gavin's eyes swept over me while mine avoided his gaze.

"And who is this Gavin asked Nicholas?" nodding in my direction.

"This is my wife's twin sister Stacy." Nicholas answered.

Gavin and I finally made eye contact. His blue eyes were ice cold and just when I thought he might say something like, "why the fuck have you been ignoring me.", Lena showed up. The look on her stunned face was priceless.

She was clearly at a loss as to what to say and it was actually painful to watch. Gavin didn't help her out in any way as his eyes lazily perused the entire length of her body. I thought it was beyond bold for him to do that but he wasn't looking like he cared that Nicholas was standing there.

When Lena finally found her voice she sounded strangled as she turned to Nicholas and told him that we should probably go take our seats. She barely spared Gavin a glance when she told him it was nice to meet him then she practically pulled Nicholas along behind her to get away from where Gavin stood.

The nightmare just got worse because we were all seated at the same table. Nicholas sat between Lena and I and Gavin sat directly across from me with his date sitting next to Lena. She was a pretty blond who he introduced as Kelly. This was probably the only thing that Lena and I agreed on as we glanced at each other surreptitiously. Neither of us liked Kelly; though she said little more than hello, as she sat down to join us.

Lena kept asking a million questions along the lines of how Nicholas knew Gavin, which seemed to me to border on paranoia. Gavin was asking conspicuous sounding questions as well, about the length of Nicholas and Lena's marriage. At least it all seemed suspicious to me. Nicholas didn't seem to notice though as he answered the questions, meanwhile Gavin kept shooting Lena glares like he wanted to stab her with his dinner fork.

I was waiting on pins and needles for Gavin to drop the bomb he appeared so inclined to want to. When he finally did he ended up dropping it in my direction, not Lena's as I kept waiting for him too.

"So Stacy, you don't live in the state right?" he asked me pointedly.

I needed to take a sip of water before I could answer. "No I don't uhm live here" I told him clearing my throat.

"Hmm" he responded, "so you'll be leaving soon then?"

"Yes, in about a week." I wondered what the hell he was getting at.

And then he told me.

"So you've gotten everything you came for then?" My eyes shot to his and the smolder in his let me know that I was not mistaken in questioning what he meant. I could feel my face light up like a Christmas tree. In that moment I wanted my sister's head on the end of my dinner fork.

"No." I answered him honestly. He seemed to be cruelly satisfied with my answer and laid off of me for the rest of the night but I could barely function after that.

By the time the evening was over I had a headache and both Lena and Gavin were looking at each other like they reveled in hating one another. I wasn't certain about Gavin's feelings but I know for Lena that it was a huge front.

Before we left for the evening to go home Gavin made a big production out of sliding a business card across the table to me, asking me to give him a call. As if I didn't get his meaning quite clear enough he tacked on soon to the end of his statement.

***

No one spoke on the ride back to Lena and Nicholas's house. I wanted nothing more than a hot shower and to curl up with my novel and to go to sleep.

When we got inside the house Nicholas asked Lena and I if we wanted anything to drink. I declined and Lena did as well so he headed up the stairs saying that he was going to take a shower.

"Well I guess I'm going up to take a shower with my husband then" Lena smirked at me once Nicholas was gone and then she followed him up the stairs.

Okay. I'd seriously had enough of Lena. Sometime during the evening I had decided I would definitely be leaving soon. With her words grating on my brain as I went up the stairs on the way to my room I don't know what made me stop in front of their bedroom door.

I didn't bother to knock. I just twisted the doorknob and when it opened I went inside.

Lena was standing with her back to me, her gown unzipped and her mouth and hands all over Nicholas. They both froze as I came into the room both looking at me, Lena shockingly and Nicholas as if he expected me to have something important to say.

"Don't stop on my account" I told them. "As a matter of fact when you're done helping her out of that thing you can come help me." I said to Nicholas.

I spoke to him however; I kept my eyes entirely on my sister, daring her to deny me.