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Ryland Grace assumed the delivery waiting for him in the school office was some silly birthday gift from his twin, Colt. Unfortunately, the moment he entered the office, he knew this was not something his brother had sent him. For one, Colt would never waste his money on sending flowers to Ryland. He knew that his twin would be wishing for death once his allergies kicked in, and even as a prank it wasn’t worth it. Secondly, the size of the bouquet was another indicator it wasn't from Colt. A bouquet that size, with dozens of yellow roses and sunflowers was easily a few hundred dollars and there was not a chance in heck that Colt would do that, especially if he wasn’t there to see Ryland’s reaction. Just to be sure, Ryland glanced around in hopes that he was wrong and his twin actually was hiding in the office to pop out and laugh at him. He wasn’t.
Cautiously, trying not to breathe too deeply of the scent of what would surely be his doom (or at least an evening of allergy medicines and sneezing himself half to death), Ryland peered around the massive bouquet and saw the school receptionist, Mrs. Jackson looking as excited as he’d ever seen her. Any teacher getting such a floral monstrosity was sure to be fodder for the school gossip mill, and he could already hear the whispers getting around. He was still hopeful that the flowers weren’t for him, but there was that banner across them that said “Happy Birthday!” and he wasn’t aware of any other faculty members having a birthday in the next week or two.
“Hi, Mrs. Jackson. I was told there’s some sort of delivery for me here?” Oh great, that sounded guilty as heck, this isn’t going to slow down the rumor mill at all!
The cheery receptionist gestured at the flowers and beamed “Here it is! What a lovely arrangement of flowers! I don’t think my husband has ever even dreamed of getting me such a grand display. I didn’t even know you were off the market, Mr. Grace, but clearly you are a lucky man!”
Oh, yeah, lucky, that’s the word. Maybe I’ll get really lucky and there won’t be a card…
“Wow, that’s for me? I don’t know what to say. Is there any indication who it’s from?” Ryland asked.
Mrs. Jackson looked surprised at the question, but then pointed to the small envelope sticking out from above the birthday banner. “Oh, do you have a secret admirer, Mr. Grace? How exciting!”
Trying not to let the apprehension show on his face, Ryland reached gingerly for the card and opened it up, careful to hold it so that only he could read it. The words were blurry until he remembered to pull his glasses up from where they dangled haphazardly beneath his chin. “Happy Birthday, Sunshine! I hope you come light up my world soon. XOXO Tom Ryder”. Well, that was that. How had the infuriatingly persistent actor his brother stunt doubled for gotten his school’s address to begin with? How did he know it was his birthday? Why wouldn’t he leave him alone? Ryland wished he could go back to the last time Colt had asked him to visit him on set and just decline. Seeing his brother wasn’t worth letting the most annoying man in the world develop a crush on him.
Ryland tucked the card into his pocket and turned to leave the office. “Wait, aren’t you going to take your flowers, Mr. Grace?”
Without turning around, he called back, "You can keep them, I’m allergic!”