HOW TO CATCH A BAD BOY

Emily’s eyes widened dramatically as she stared at Chandler, then they flipped to Elena and blinked a few times. Chandler crossed his arms over his chest and leveled a dry look in her direction.

“Hey Emily,” he said quietly. As frustrated as he was with Emily’s interruption, he’d never been so happy to see her in all the time he’d known her. Because if she hadn’t walked through that door, he might not have been able to keep himself from reaching for Elena just to see what she’d do. If he thought she was smokin’ hot in the yellow dress she’d worn to the club that day, what she was able to do with a pair of leggings and a crop top was a fuckin miracle of fabric. But instead of staring at her like he quite desperately wanted to, Chandler kept his gaze pinned on her twin sister. The one meeting his stare head-on, quite unapologetically.

“What’s going on?” Emily asked no one In particular.

Chandler decided to answer because Elena couldn’t seem to find her tongue, “Nothing much. Elena and I were just wondering why I didn’t get an invite to her party. I understand that you handled the invites,”

Elena felt like slamming her head against the wall, but Emily didn’t share the sentiment, “You should be glad you weren’t thrown out when you showed up without an invite then,” she said, “Last time I checked, not getting an invite doesn’t mean crash the party,”

Chandler shrugged, clearly not bothered by Emily’s comment, “Too bad, Elena wants me here. She loved my gift too, you know,”

“Well, goody for you then. But you know this is the kitchen and guests are supposed to be in the living room,”

“It’s alright, Emily,” Elena told her twin, walking past Chandler towards her sister, “Is everything okay?”

Emily nodded, “Yeah, everything is fine. Except that the hostess is missing. I didn’t know he was the one keeping you in here,”

“It’s okay, Emily. He didn’t keep me. We were just talking and I will be out soon,”

Emily rolled her eyes, and now it was Elena’s turn to grimace, except interestingly enough, she didn’t grimace at Chandler. It was aimed at her sister.

That had a smile spreading wide over his face. “It’s okay, love. There’s no need to get upset at her. Emily has always been my biggest supporter since we met even if she tries real hard to be mean when she gets the chance.”

“Love?” Emily asked in disbelief.

Elena’s face colored, and enjoying the drama, Chandler pressed, “Yes, she likes the name too, you know. Don’t you, Love?” he asked Elena, turning to face her.

“Oh my gosh, I’m gonna puke if you keep calling her that,” Emily mumbled.

“She has a name, you know.”

Elena pressed her fingertips against her temples like she was stemming a headache.

“She can decide what she wants to be called,”

“Stop it, Chandler!” they said in perfect, perfect unison. The tone, the tilt of the head, narrowing of the dark eyes.

“That is so freaky.” Chandler shook his head as he watched them. “You guys would have no difficulty fooling some people if you wanted to.”

Emily beamed at him. “Yeah. We could fool you too if we wanted to,”

He shook his head, “No, not me. You two may look alike, but when someone is put into a surprising position, you can’t mask that immediate reaction. I’d know right away.” They shared another look, but Elena broke it off when her eyelids fell shut. “You can’t fake your identities with me. I’m a wild card.” Chandler added.

“Yeah sure…. That’s a role you’re very comfortable in,” Emily muttered.

“Emily,” Elena said sharply.

Emily set her jaw stubbornly, but her cheeks flushed a slight red at the reprimand, and Chandler watched the exchange in amusement. Elena snapped out of her stunned stupor, and she stepped between them. “Okay, stop. This bickering between the both of you doesn’t help anyone right now.”

She turned a warning look in Chandler’s direction, “Chandler, I think you should go join the others in the living room,” she said.

Chandler thought It was hot, so he grinned. She was like a princess/teacher combo that was checking every damn box he could possibly conjure up in what made a woman attractive. Maybe he’d never found that combination attractive before tonight, but hell, he did now. He wanted to muss her hair. Push her buttons. Get her all riled up to see what she’d do. Maybe she wasn’t far off about the playground analogy because something about her made him think of a little kid who tugged on a pretty girl’s braids just because he liked her. And he wanted to tug those braids hard.

“Alright, love.” He said, just to see Emily’s reaction and she frowned. Elena moved to the side to let him through, and he grinned down at her when he passed.

Emily turned to her sister immediately Chandler walked out the door, “What the hell is going on between the two of you?”

Elena stared at her sister in surprise, “What the hell are you talking about?”

Emily didn’t mince words, “I mean you and Elijah’s brother. What is going on between the both of you? He seems to be around you all the time,”

Elena didn’t know if her sister was serious or trying to be funny, “All the time? Emily, I’ve seen him like what… Three times?”

“Yeah, and somehow the both of you find a way to be alone together,”

Elena rolled her eyes at her sister, “You’re being ridiculous, Emily” she said, “And even if I was, what’s so wrong about that?”

Emily paused this time and the expression on her face turned into concern. “I…. I just don’t want to see you get hurt. You just arrived in Vacaville and the way he’s always around you makes me… I don’t know…Overprotective. I don’t want anyone to take advantage of you. That’s all,”

Elena smiled and wrapped her hands around her sister, “I know, and I appreciate the concern, but just in case you forgot, I’m a big girl, and we’re age mates…. Even if you’re seven minutes older,”

Emily grinned at her, “Seven minutes is still something,” she said, “Now, let’s go out to the living room. You’re the host and you have been absent from your own party for twenty minutes,”