Resisting the Billionaire Collection by Drew Sinclair

even close to her.
The only reason she talks to you is because she thinks you’re
me."
    "You have no idea what happened between us
before that plane went down."
    Alex turned on his brother.
    "You better tell me exactly what that
means."
    Sebastian smiled. He knew his brother inside
and out. Maybe it was an identical twin thing, but he could read
him. Even if he didn't move or say a word.
    "Forget it." He said. "You wouldn’t even
believe me if I told you anyway. Let’s just put it this way: maybe
you’ll finally know now what it feels like to come last in
something."
    Alex went deathly silent while his brother
waited for his response, smiling. His sinewy muscles flexed
suddenly and there was a flash of sunlight across his makeshift
harpoon blade. Water splashed in front of Sebastian who jumped
back, the smile vanishing from his face. When he opened his eyes
again, his brother was holding his harpoon up with a skewered fish
on the end.
    "You’re bullshitting. There wasn’t
time."
    "Jesus Alex, you need to relax. Of course,
I’m bullshitting. How could there possibly have been time?"
    Alex tried to reckon the time in his head
but it was already so long ago and it had been so crazy with the
turbulence and the accident. He couldn’t tell if his brother was
telling him the truth or just trying to rile him up even
further.
    "You've got to admit that she's something
special though, right?" Sebastian continued.
    "I don't want to talk about her with
you."
    "That's because you can see it too, right?
You can’t bullshit me bro, I know you too well, just like you know
me."
    Alex ignored his brother and began wading
back to the sand to bag up his fish. Sebastian followed him.
    "I've never seen anyone like her. She's not
like any other girl we've ever dated. All those debutantes,
heiresses, and movie starlets with their fake boobs and plastic
lips. Melanie is for real. A true, honest to God authentic American
beauty, inside and out."
    Alex stopped dead but didn't turn around.
His lengthening hair was beginning to spread out over his broad,
tanned back. The muscles of his shoulders bunched and knotted with
tension.
    “Okay." He said softly. "Look, you're my
brother all right? My twin brother. We've always shared everything,
and we’ve never held any secrets from each other."
    Sebastian smiled. Now the truth would come
out and the truth had ever possibility of setting him free.
    "You’re right bro. Come on, it’s time for a
little truth here. What’s really going on?"
    Alex turned around to face him.
    "You know how long I’ve been looking for the
right girl."
    Sebastian wanted to be as sarcastic on the
subject as usual, but he knew this wasn’t the time. His face was
serious as he nodded his head.
    "I haven’t dated anyone seriously in over a
year."
    Sebastian raised an eyebrow.
    "By haven’t dated, you mean you haven’t
slept with anyone in over a year?"
    Alex nodded his head.
    "Jesus Christ bro, no wonder Melanie is
beginning to look like the Holy Grail to you. You have one serious
case of blue--"
    "It’s not that. Come on Sebastian, grow up
for God’s sake. Do you know how many women I’ve met over the last
year?"
    "Not as many as me."
    "Granted. But a gynecologist probably sees
fewer women than you do."
    "I don’t know what you think I am."
    "Lost is what I think you are, which is why
I want you to just back off from Melanie. You don’t need to add her
to your list of conquests."
    "Oh, so you’re allowed love her but I’m not?
I don’t get the distinction. How am I any different to you where
she’s concerned?"
    "I’ve been looking for someone to get
serious with for over a year while you sleep with anything that
moves, insisting that I’m crazy. Then as soon as I find the girl I
want, you suddenly fall in love with her too?"
    "Yeah, exactly. Why is that so hard to
understand? While we’re at it, let me come clean as well. I’ll
admit that when you told me you had fallen in love at first sight,
I thought you