Chapter 1

Harley

Sighing distractedly,Harley watched her twin brother and his best friend smiling in a crowd of guys across the school cafeteria from her. A pang of envy made her stomach tighten. What was it like to fit into a crowd like that? They were the popular ones, and everyone just loved the gang of inseparable friends…

Her brother, Hunter, was the biggest goofball with the snarkiest attitude, and no one else she’d ever met could compare with his sassy mouth. He was almost a complete opposite of her. Where Hunter was wild, she was sedate and calm. He liked adventure—and she’d rather be curled up reading a book… or peering over the top of the book spine, spying on Jackson Sloan.

This time, the sigh she indulged in was audible.

“You ought to just ask him out, you know…”

Her friend Amber was in the process of trying to remove some bright pink bubblegum from the wires of her braces right there at the table, which made Harley grimace at the sight. Her fingers plucked off little pink strands of the sticky chewing gum, wiping them messily on a napkin nearby.

Hernapkin.

Harley frowned in annoyance.

“You could avoid chewing that stuff, you know? The body doesn’t digest that garbage.”

“My own little private rebellion,” Amber grinned, revealing more pink caught up in the shiny silver bands. “Besides, you’ve had a crush on Jackson for almost a year now and have barely said two words to him.”

“That’s not true,” she protested.

“I’m sure it absolutely is,” Amber countered, her voice rising an octave, causing Harley to slink down a little further in her seat.

Someone was going to overhear the conversation, and it would get back to Jackson that she had a horrible crush on Hunter’s friend. Her face heated with embarrassment, and she wished the bell would ring announcing lunch was over—even though she’d barely touched her food.

“Especially if you leave out the phrases, ‘Hunter is in the garage with my dad,’ or ‘Hunter isn’t here right now’ out of your vocabulary. Tell me I’m wrong…” Amber said in a sing-song voice, waving her hands as if to punctuate exactly what she was trying to say aloud.

“I can’t ask him out,” Harley hissed evasively, watching the boy she had admired for months now. There was just something about Jackson that made her feel all fluttery inside. He was polite, quiet, and so calm compared to her brother—reminding her a lot of herself.

“Besides, he’s my brother’s best friend, and that would just make things weird for everyone.”

“Weird is having a crush on a guy who you’ll never see again in a month—and not acting on it,” Amber retorted. “Seriously though, Harley… when we graduate, everyone is going to go their separate ways and while you’ll see your brother occasionally at some family event, odds are he won’t be hanging around with Jackson Sloan anymore.”

“I don’t know…”

“And you never will know if you don’t at least talk to him.”

“Hunter is going to talk to a recruiter this afternoon,” Harley whispered painfully, seeing her brother meet her gaze. She raised a hand and politely waved, realizing that she already missed her twin.

They had always been close, having a way to sense what the other was doing, or being able to tell when the other was upset. Last night when her brother dropped the bombshell, she had known something was wrong, but had no idea what it was.

The bombshell was more like a mushroom cloud in her psyche.

Hunter wasn’t enrolling in college like her.

Instead, he confessed he wanted to join the Air Force and fly planes. Apparently, Jackson’s uncle had a soybean farm on the outskirts of town. The man had a crop-duster he used to spread pesticide and other chemicals, had taken both of the boys up a few times in the biplane.

Hunter was hooked and couldn’t wait to get in the air…

Harley was dead set on finding her niche right there in their hometown. Safe, a place she knew, and something she could handle easily. She wasn’t the adventurous half of the DNA, that much was for sure… that title belonged to her fearless brother. There was something comforting in being the dependable, trustworthy, and faithful one out of the bunch—and people appreciated that in a person, by golly!

“You should say something to him…” her friend pressed.

“Like what?” Harley hissed, glancing at Amber.

Why was she pushing so hard at her suddenly? She’d gone this long without spilling her guts for everyone to make fun of her. Why start now?

“What am I supposed to say? Something silly like, ‘hey I think you are cute, want to go out with me?’”

“Uh, Harley…?”

“Better yet,” she continued, rolling her eyes and ignoring Amber. “Maybe I should just profess my undying love to my rip-roaring high-school crush and tell him just how absolutely dreamy I think he is…”

“Harley—stop…”

“Or better yet? I could just tell him to take pity on a pathetic nerd and quickly kiss me senseless, so I have at least something wonderful to tide me over while I’m toiling away over my economics classes for the next four years, crunching numbers and doing other meaningless stuff...”

“HARLEY!”

“WHAT?” she roared back in the same tone her friend had just used.

Amber pointed just over her shoulder.

Harley froze instantly.

Turning slightly, she saw Hunter’s knowing smirk and Jackson’s confused yet pained gaze as the two lanky guys stood right behind her. Shooting to her feet, Harley nearly knocked her lunch tray off the table.

She jabbed a finger in her brother’s chest in frustration.

“Shut it, Hunter!”

Her brother held up his hands helplessly and barely held back a laugh. His eyes that matched hers danced silently with so much humor that she wanted to cheerfully kick him in the shin. Maybe she’d hide his game controller instead… or just the plug…

She glanced sideways at Jackson and felt her face flush painfully, as he met her gaze. She wanted to say something, anything, to brush off her words as if it was nothing important or some big joke… but the words wouldn’t come.

Instead, they looked at each other for what felt like several minutes before she shook her head, grabbed her books, and walked off, heading towards her locker.

Harley wasn’t supposed to leave the cafeteria, but staying there another moment longer wasn’t an option. She’d take her chances, and maybe duck into the bathroom to hide while she could.

Her shoes squeaked noisily on the linoleum flooring… when she realized there was an echo behind her. She had barely turned when the unthinkable happened.

Jackson crashed right into her.

Only their combined reflexes kept her books from dumping onto the floor as they caught them before he handed them to her.

“I…uh…” Jackson’s voice cracked nervously.

“It’s fine,” she hissed quietly, glancing over her shoulder nervously to see if anyone was witnessing her utter humiliation that was about to occur before the guy of her dreams. “Look, it’s just…”

“I never thought you were some ‘pathetic nerd’,” he admitted quietly. “You’re just Hunter’s sister and well…”

“It’s weird?”

“It’s not, but…”

“We’ve barely talked, and you don’t…”

Harley froze when Jackson unexpectedly leaned forward and quickly kissed her, cutting off her words.

She would never forget the scent of him, the feeling of his breath on her lips, nor that painful way her chest clenched in such an overpowering burst of joy. That brief kiss only lasted for barely five seconds, but to her?

It went on for what felt like a millennium, branded straight onto her heart.

“I’m going to the recruiter with Hunter this afternoon,” Jackson whispered. “I never thought it would be right to ask you out because I was always planning on leaving right after graduation.”

“You are?”

“I probably shouldn’t have kissed you either,” he began and then hesitated, “but I’m really glad I did. Economics, huh?”

“Business management,” she corrected breathlessly, stunned, unable to look away from him as her brain struggled to catch up with what had just transpired.

Words… good. Guy… nice, she thought numbly.

“You’re smart. Brilliant, in fact. I think it would be a good fit for you.”

“Are you feeling alright?” she blurted out in confusion, closing her eyes and trying to focus on everything that had just happened. Were they really having such a normal conversation after Jackson had stolen a kiss from her?

Was it actually stealing though?her brain pointed out sagely.

“Am I okay?” she questioned rhetorically, not expecting an answer.

Just to be sure she wasn’t dain-bramaged, as Amber would call it - or that this wasn’t some sick prank, Harley looked around for a camera. She then patted her head, sticking a finger in each ear quickly, to make sure it wasn’t leaking brain matter.

The bell rang overhead, causing a ton of other teenagers to pour into the surrounding hallway. She was getting bumped and nudged by the crowd as Jackson stood before her. He never said another word, just nodded silently and watched her with those deep, gorgeous eyes that seemed so mysterious, before he turned to walk off.

Her brother appeared out of nowhere, grabbing Jackson about the shoulder, almost in a headlock. He was practically hugging the guy as they took off down the hallway together.

Amber walked over and stood there impatiently.

“Well?”

“Well, nothing,” she whispered, staring down the hallway where the duo had disappeared together. Nothing, yet everything, had just happened in the blink of an eye—and somehow Harley knew she would never be the same.

* * *

One month later…

Her world as she knew it was falling apart.

Harley stared at the van in front of the house in numb silence. She couldn’t think, couldn’t speak, and could barely breathe as she waited for the proverbial axe to fall.

‘Karma giveth—and Karma taketh away…’ another Amber-ism that somehow seemed appropriate at this moment.

Not only had Jackson kissed her unexpectedly a month ago - to the day, but that afternoon? Both males had revealed that they had applied for the Air Force Academy several months ago - and got accepted. The die was cast, and her world was changing before her very eyes.

Her twin, the sweet and fun-loving part of her soul, was leaving her behind. He’d mentioned it, talked about it briefly, but apparently his mind was made up a long time ago… and he’d taken the steps to advance without her.

All those dreams of going into business together, being partners, seemed to dissipate suddenly before her very eyes. Not only had her crush kissed her, effectively stamping himself right into her heart… now her brother was leaving her behind, breaking it right in half.

Hunter was taking off to live his own life, to have his own adventures—and Harley would be here waiting.

She felt envious of him in that moment, and a little bitter. She’d always been the ‘safe one’ while Hunter had been the ‘adventurous one’—each complimented the other so well.

Her twin was the Yin to her Yang…

… And now she would be alone.

Lost.

“Harley?”

Her brother’s voice cut through her reverie, just as a knock was heard at the front door. They looked at each other and for a moment, she saw a real flash of fear in his eyes before it was quickly hidden away in that devilish, wild smile that was so endearing.

“I’ll be home before you know it,” he said easily.

… Yeah, in four years or longer, her mind screamed internally.

“I’ll still be here—like always,” she retorted softly, trying not to cry.

“We can still have our business together. I just want to have some fun first…” he hedged, as they heard again a knock just before their father opened the front door, allowing the recruiter in.

“Hunter, we’ve got to head out. We are ‘wheels up’ in an hour,” the recruiter said candidly. “Uncle Sam doesn’t wait.”

“I gotta go,” her brother whispered, before hugging her. “I love you, sis.”

“I love you, too,” she replied, hugging him tightly. “You and Jackson take care of each other, okay?”

“I think you are gonna miss him more than you’ll miss me,” he teased, but his eyes were bright with unshed tears as he suddenly cleared his throat. “You know he’s actually a real dork, and you could do so much better than him, right?”

She smiled tremulously as her parents quickly crowded her brother, hugging him, as he tugged a bag onto his shoulder before racing out the door. Turning to look out the window, she watched as Hunter climbed into the van happily without looking back.

Somehow, she knew deep down in her soul that Jackson was in that van too—and he was probably going through the same bittersweet goodbyes with his own family on the other side of town a few moments earlier.

They were two peas in a pod…

And Harley was stuck here, left on the vine to rot, where the world was normal and other ‘peas’ just hung around for much too long.

Nothing exciting would ever happen here. Normalcy was expected. Conformation was key or else the town gossips ran rampant… and now?

Her one true confidante, her twin, was gone.