Double Or Nothing: Gemini (Zodiac Alphas) Read online

  “Those boys have been an interesting pair, as you know,” she said. “I take it you haven't kept in touch with them since high school?”

  I shook my head. “No, haven't talked to anybody at all besides my parents since I left.”

  The phone next to Rosa began to ring. It was one of those old school phones, the kind that I'm pretty sure had an actual bell inside of them. It was shrill and caused me to wince.

  “Do you need to get that?” I asked.

  “I probably should,” she said, with a nod.

  “Yeah, go ahead,” I said, placing a few dollars onto the counter. “I'm just going to grab a gallon of milk.”

  “Do you want change?” she asked.

  “No, you keep it.” I then turned and walked to the back of the store while Rosa answered the phone. Based on her side of the conversation, it was clear she was taking someone's grocery order. I didn't want to interrupt and I didn't want to stand there awkwardly and wait for her to finish. Even though I desperately wanted to know what her kids had grown up to be, I decided to just duck out and head to my parents. They were waiting for me anyway.

  So I grabbed the milk and walked back to the front of the store. As I passed Rosa, I gave a wave. She pulled the phone away from her ear and covered the mouth piece.

  “Katie, come by and see again before you head back home to California,” she said. “If you have the time.”

  “I'll try to do that,” I said, with a smile. “Thanks for the milk.”

  She nodded and went back to speaking on the phone, while I stepped out into the heat once again. The sun hit me right in the eyes, causing me to squint and look to the side. I wasn't looking where I was going and within two steps I felt my face collide with another body.

  "Oh, shit," I said, stumbling backward. "I'm so sorry. I wasn't paying attention."

  “It's no problem,” a man's voice responded.

  With my milk in one hand, I used the other to shield the sun from my eyes. It took me a moment for my gaze to focus on the man in front of me. When I finally realized who it was, I nearly dropped the milk onto the sidewalk.

  “Castro?” I said, and my heart fluttered behind my rib cage.

  Chapter 2

  It was like the stars had aligned for me to run into the young man that I was just thinking about. It felt surreal but almost like it was meant to be. I mean, if my mom hadn't asked me to pick up the gallon of milk for her, I would have never stepped foot into the Mini Mart. If I hadn't done that, I wouldn't have walked straight into Castro on my way out.

  “Castro?” I said again, shaking my head.

  He smiled, pushing his thick blonde hair off of his forehead. His bright blue eyes seemed to glow out in the daylight. They appeared fluorescent, so bright that it was almost as if they were illuminated from the back side.

  “That's me,” he replied. “Do I know you?”

  “Have I really changed that much?” I asked, with a chuckle.

  He cocked his head to the side and gazed at me for moment. I watched his eyes as they analyzed me and I could tell he was thinking hard. There were a few seconds of pause and then he smiled wide.

  “Oh my gosh,” he said, unable to take his eyes off of me. “Katie McGlass.”

  “Finally,” I said. “I thought you were never going to figure it out.”

  “You've...” he said, with a short pause. “...grown up.”

  Castro gave me a quick once over as he spoke.

  “So have you,” I replied.

  I was joking either. The little dark-haired boy that I'd spent so much time adoring had grown up into a full-fledged man. His over-sized shirts and baggy pants had been replaced with a well-fitted green polo and light gray slacks. He no longer wore skater shoes and now had on what appeared to be extremely expensive brown dress shoes.

  Besides his attire, though, he was the same. His smile, his eyes, his hair. All of it was the same. The only thing that was different about his body was that his skinny little arms and legs had become muscular and ripped. It was clear that the man had committed himself to the gym, or sports, or both.

  “My God, Katie,” Castro said, shaking his head. “This is so weird to run into you again. I haven't seen you since high school.”

  “It's very strange,” I said. “In fact, it's even more strange that I ran into you right here in front of your mom's store. I was just asking her about you and your brother. Are you living in Badger still?”

  Castro leaned his head back and laughed. “No, no. I left at around the same time as you did. I come back every year, though, because my mom still holds a birthday party for Paolo and I. We're in our mid-twenties and she still likes to do it for us.”

  He paused for a moment before continuing. “I live in New Hampshire now. I got into town yesterday and was just heading into the Mini Mart to spend a few hours with Mom. This has got to be the craziest coincidence ever. I'm standing in front of the beautiful Katie McGlass. This is insane.”

  I got the warm fuzzies in my belly when he called me beautiful. It was such a sweet thing to say. I don't think a single guy in California had ever called me that. Most of them were so rude.

  “We seriously need to catch up,” I said. “I just got into town a few hours ago, but I was thinking about you and your brother. I'm not joking. I pulled into town, and as soon as I saw your parent's Mini Mart, I started wondering what you guys were up to. It made me think about all of those summers growing up.”

  “Remember the bike jump?” Castro asked, with a playful smirk.

  “Do I remember?” I replied, pulling the bottom of my dress up a bit to reveal my scarred knee. “Does this answer your question?”

  Castro glanced down and then gently touched the scar with his fingertips. “You know, we probably should have gotten you stitches. It wouldn't have scarred that badly.”

  “Well, we didn't want to get in trouble,” I said.

  “Oh, that's right,” he said, with a laugh. “So we used super glue and duct tape to stop the bleeding instead. I guess it worked.”

  “Yeah, I think it's fine," I said. "Besides, who knows if stitches would have helped prevent the scars."”

  “I'm pretty confident that it would have,” he said. “But oh well. Too late now.”

  “That's for sure.” I dropped the bottom of my dress, letting it fall back into place. “So what have you been up to, Castro?”

  “Believe it or not, I've actually just graduated from medical school,” he said, humbly. “I'm about to start my residency”

  “You know, it's kind of funny, but I had a feeling that you'd gone off to medical school,” I said. “You and your brother were always the smartest ones in class, by far. That's really cool, Castro. Seriously, congratulations.”

  “What about you?” he asked. “What's been keeping you busy since high school?”

  After hearing that Castro was a doctor, it made me feel even more embarrassed about my current employment situation.

  I sighed. “I went to design school, and now I'm just working a regular old job. My goal is to become an interior designer, but I haven't found a good firm to work for.”

  “Where are you looking?” he asked, seeming genuinely interested.

  “Just around where I live, out in San Francisco,” I said.

  He shrugged. “Maybe you should just work for yourself.”

  “Maybe,” I said. “I don't know, though. We'll see.”

  We both paused for a moment as an old truck rattled down the road, raising a cloud of dust as it passed. I didn't take my eyes off of Castro, though. I couldn't. It was like I was hypnotized by how handsome he was. It was strange to see the little boy I'd once known now all grown up into a successful doctor. Still, it made me happy to see that he'd made something of his life.

  “So what's going on with Paolo?” I asked. “What's he up to?”

  Castro parted his lips to respond, then hesitated. “We're never too sure what Paolo is up to.”

  “What do you mean?” I as
ked, cocking my head to the side.

  He shrugged. “He's a hard man to stay in touch with, let's just say that. I think he does odd jobs, but I'm not exactly sure.”

  I frowned. “So, I'm guessing he didn't become a doctor like you,” I said.

  “Yeah, not so much,” Castro replied.

  "Are you guys still close?" I asked, even though the question made me feel like I was prying. It was pretty clear that Castro didn't want to divulge very much about his brother. I wanted to respect that, but it also caused my curiosity to pique.

  “He and I don't talk as much as we used to, but we're still close,” he said. “We're brothers, after all. We'll always be brothers, no matter what paths we take in life.”

  “That's awesome,” I said. “I wish I had a sibling to know what that felt like.”

  He smiled. “Hey, what are your plans for tomorrow?” It was obviously an attempt to change the subject, but I didn't mind.

  “Not too sure yet,” I said, with a shrug. “I just got into town and was going to head over to my parent's tonight. I'll be here for the whole weekend, but we don't have any plans set it stone yet. At least none that I know of.”

  “Tell you what,” Castro said, as he took my free hand and held it. “If you end up with nothing to do, maybe you'd like to come by our place tomorrow afternoon. That's when my mom is having the birthday party for us. I'd love the chance to catch up some more.”

  “Your party?” I asked. “I wouldn't want to intrude.”

  “Nonsense,” Castro replied. “You're more than welcome. I'd love to have you there and I know everybody else would want to see you, too. Will you at least think about it?”

  “Yeah, for sure,” I said. “I'll think about it. What time is the party?”

  “Around three,” he said. “You don't have to bring anything, just yourself and that beautiful smile.”

  I tingled all over again as he called me beautiful for the second time. But the tingling increased to a whole new level as Castro lifted my hand and gently kissed the top of it. He kept his gaze locked on me as he slowly pulled his face away and released.

  My panties practically melted off of my body right there on the sidewalk.

  Is this guy a total gentleman or what? I thought to myself, as I stood there with a stupid looking smile on my face.

  “Okay, sounds good.” I stuttered over my words. “Yeah, around three. I'll try to make it.”

  “Here, let me walk you to your car,” he said, taking my hand once again to lead me toward the curb. “Which one is yours?”

  “It's the rusty one,” I said, chuckling. “The one with the hood that's a different color than the rest of it.”

  He didn't respond, he just led me to my car. I unlocked it, and as soon as I did, he opened the door for me. My jaw dropped, as I don't think anybody had ever opened my car door for me in my life. Seriously. Ever.

  “Thank you, Castro,” I said, climbing into the driver's seat. “You're so sweet.”

  "You're very welcome!" he replied energetically. "I can't tell you how happy it makes me that I ran into you today. I truly hope you can find the time to swing by the party tomorrow."

  “Out of curiosity, do you think Paolo will be there?” I asked.

  Castro nodded. “Yeah, I'm sure he will be. He's never missed a birthday party before anyway. I don't see why he'd start now. You should swing by for that reason alone. I'm sure Paolo would like to see you, too.”

  “Well there's a good chance I'm going to come,” I said. “I just need to make sure that my parents haven't already planned something. If not, though, then I'll be there.”

  “Deal,” Castro said, his face beaming. “You have a good day. Drive safe.”

  Then he turned and walked away, making his way back toward the Mini Mart. I watched him as he moved, my eyes glue to his muscular butt, which moved up and down in cadence with his steps. I would have stared all day if I could have. Unfortunately, a few seconds later and he had stepped into the store, disappearing from view.

  I headed toward my parent's with a bewildered smile glued to my face. I couldn't believe I had just run into Castro. Of all of the people that I would have wanted to see coming to town, it would have been him. The only thing that could have made it better is if I'd run into his twin brother also. In fact, the more that I thought about it, the stranger it seemed to have seen Castro without Paolo by his side. I knew people grew up and grew apart, but still. Those two had always been as thick as thieves, and now it seemed like Castro knew almost nothing about his brother.

  With renewed energy, I finished the drive down Main Street and then turned onto the old farm road that led to my parent's house. My mother was for sure going to wonder what took me so long to grab the milk.

  Chapter 3

  With my suitcase in one hand and milk in the other, I made my way up to steps that led to my parent's patio. When I got to the top, I set everything down and then knocked on the screen door. Not more than three seconds later, my mom came running up.

  “Katie, dear,” she said. “You don't need to knock. This is your house, too. You know that.”

  “Sorry, Mom,” I said. “Just didn't want to be rude.”

  She stepped out onto the patio, her eyes shrink-wrapped in tears as she gazed at me. "Oh, Katie. God, it's been too long." She wrapped her arms around me and pulled me close. I pressed my face into her shoulder and tried to hide back the tears of my own. A powerful emotion had filled me, one that I hadn't been expecting. I wasn't sure if it was guilt for having been gone so long or simply joy for seeing my mother again. Regardless, it was hard not to cry.

  “It's so good to see you,” Mom said. She pulled away but kept her hands firmly on my shoulders. “You look so grown up.”

  “Mom, I've been sending you pictures,” I said. “It's not like you haven't seen what I looked like.”

  “It's different in person, though,” she replied, keeping her eyes locked with mine. “I wish I could tell you how happy I am that you're here. Come on. Your dad is inside. Do you need help bringing anything in from your car.”

  I shook my head. “Nope. All I've got is this suitcase.”

  “Okay, come in,” she said, holding open the screen door for me.

  When I stepped inside, I glanced around and soaked it all in. I wasn't sure exactly how I was going to feel when I got there. Now, though, there was an undeniable feeling that I was home. As much as I had wanted to make San Francisco my home, it had never given me the feeling that I had right then as I stood there in my parent's entryway.

  Everything was pretty much the same as when I'd left. Besides some new couches in the living room, it looked almost untouched. The blue coo-coo clock was still on the wall in the kitchen, and my mom still had some of my drawings from my childhood, stuck to the refrigerator with magnets.

  She's probably going to keep those up forever, I thought.

  “Where's Dad?” I asked as I put the milk into the fridge.

  “He's in the family room,” she said. “His back is killing him. He wanted to greet you when you pulled in but didn't feel up to it.”

  I set my suitcase down at the bottom of the stairs and then went straight to the family room. My dad was seated in the recliner. He was wearing his favorite red flannel shirt and dark jeans. His hair had gotten a little more gray since I had seen him last, but besides that, he pretty much looked the same.

  “Daddy!” I said, causing him to look away from the television.

  His eyes lit up, and he began to stand up, then writhed back in pain.

  “Don't get up,” I said, strolling toward him.

  "Hey, Darlin'," he said. "Sorry, it's my back."

  “Don't be sorry.” I walked over and wrapped my arms around his neck, giving him a big hug.

  “You look great,” he said, squeezing me tight. “Our little girl is all grown up, isn't she, hun?”

  My mom was now standing in the doorway of the family room.

  “Hard to believe,” Mom agreed.
“Seems like just yesterday we were trying to get you to come home for dinner on time. It was almost impossible to round you up during the summer time when you were younger. You were always spending time with those twin boys.”

  I released my dad from the hug and stood back up. “Funny you should mention that. I actually ran into one of them at the Mini Mart.”

  “Really?” Mom asked. “I see Rosa down there all the time, but I haven't seen the boys in years. Which one did you see?”

  “Castro,” I said.

  “How's he doing?” Mom asked.

  I shrugged. “Seems fine to me. Better than fine, really. I guess he's a doctor now.”

  “Doesn't surprise me,” she said. “Those kids were always so smart and well-behaved. What about Paolo? What's he up to?”

  “Not too sure,” I replied. “I asked, but it didn't seem like Castro knew what his brother did. It sounded like odd jobs, though. He was pretty vague.”

  “Hmm,” Mom said, placing her hands on the top of her hips. “Well, I hope they're all doing well. I'll have to catch up with Rosa next time at the Mini Mart and ask her about Paolo. That's good to hear Castro is doing well.”

  I sat down on the love seat that was next to my dad's recliner. “So how are you doing, Dad? Besides your back?”

  “Better now that you're here,” he said, with his deep and booming voice. He reached over and placed a hand on my shoulder, squeezing it tight. “My back should be feeling better in the next couple of hours. Just took some medicine for it. I hope you're ready for a good dinner tonight. Your mom is making your favorite. Barbecue ribs, candied yams and of course, fried collard greens.”

  “Oh my gosh,” I said, licking my lips. “That sounds amazing. It's been way too long since I had a home-cooked meal. I've been surviving on fast food and microwave dinners for the past few years.”

  Mom laughed. “Well, you won't be eating any of that junk while you're here in town. Dinner will be ready around six.” She turned to leave and then stopped in the doorway, looking back over her shoulder. “By the way, your friend Lauren came by this morning to deliver some fresh eggs. I told her you were going to be in town. I hope you don't mind, but I said that she should swing by this afternoon to say hello to you. She'll probably be by any minute.”