“The name thing?” she asks, head cocked.
Wearily, I explain, “I was supposed to be named Tristan, and he was supposed to be named Christian.” I flop out a hand. “Ergo, Tristian. And if you want my opinion on the stupidity of coordinated twin names, we’ll be here all night.”
She squeezes my arm, sending me a soft grin. “Then I won’t ask.”
The ballroom is filled with people my parents know, from family, to friends, to business partners, social acquaintances and anyone my mother thinks will improve her and my father’s position on the social ladder. It’s so crowded and loud that our arrival doesn’t make much of a ripple. I pull Story into my side and whisper little details in her ear. “That group of men? They’re in my father’s social club. Combined, they’re worth about a hundred billion.”
“Dollars?” she squeaks.
I nod, pointing to another man. “That’s Robert Wilson, president of Wilson Tech.”
“The guy building a rocket ship that looks like a dick?”
“That’s him.” I grin and tilt my head at the redhead standing nearby. “The woman with him is his third wife, Lacey. She was the Baroness when I was a freshman.”
Lacey gives me a small smile as we pass, and Story twists to get a better glance. “You’re messing with me.”
I give her a sober look. “Not in the slightest.”
“Tristian!” My name lifts over the party noises in a high-pitched squeal. A moment later, Izzy and Lizzy are pushing insistently between a woman in a beaded dress and a man in a gray suit. “You’re here!”
“Told you I was coming,” I say, dropping Story’s hand to reach for Lizzy. I pick her up and give her a big hug, then do the same for Izzy. The two of them then bombard Story, grabbing her by the waist and hugging her tight.
“He didn’t tell us you were coming,” Lizzy says, giving me the stink eye.
“It was a surprise,” I insist, patting her on the head. “I was just telling Story that the woo-woo twin stuff is fake.”
Lizzy looks at Story, nodding. “When Izzy hurt her ankle, I didn’t feel anything but annoyed. Because she complains a lot.”
“Hey!” Izzy says, giving her sister a playful shove. “You’d complain too if you had to walk around with a crutch for two weeks.”
Story laughs. “When was this?”
“Last year.” Izzy tugs at the collar of her frilly blue dress.
As nice as it is to see Story and the girls get along, I know that wherever they are, my mother will be sure to follow. Having the girls wasn’t easy. She went through hell to get pregnant a second time, which turned her into a bit of an overbearing parent.
Sure enough, a moment later she’s found us.
“Tristian, darling,” she says with a smile, swooping in. I lean in to kiss her cheek, pausing at the tense, aggressively cheerful comment she whispers into my ear. “Tell me you didn’t bring your frat house sex toy to our Christmas party?”
The comment doesn’t come as a surprise. No, I’d been waiting for it, but it still raises my defenses. I plaster on a matching smile and say, “Mother, you remember Story, Killian’s stepsister?”
“Of course, yes.” She instantly looks down at the twins, apparently unwilling to give Story more face time than that. “I think it’s time for you two to head upstairs.”
“But—”
“You know the rules,” my mother says, face stern. “You can be here for an hour. After that, it’s just adults. It’s already half past ten, which means you’ve swindled me enough.”
Izzy opens her mouth to protest again, but I drop down to their eye level. “You really want to hang out down here with a bunch of boring adults?” Lizzy nods. She’s no fool. “Look, I’ll have Benedict send you up a surprise. It’ll be worth it.”
Izzy eyes me skeptically. “A good surprise? Not your gross, healthy stuff?”
Story snorts next to me, earning an alarmed look from my mother. She bends, cupping her hand beside her mouth to fake-whisper, “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure it’s the good stuff.”
Lizzy’s face lights up. “Thanks, Story!” They both give her another hug before conceding the night to the stuffy old people.
As they disappear upstairs, my mother says, “They seem to have taken to you, Miss Payne.”
Story’s gaze snaps up at the name. “Oh! My last name is Austin, actually. And they’re such sweet girls.”