Tasting My Ex's Twin Brother

Chapter 5: The Line in the Dirt

Elena's POV

The silence that stretched between us on the empty lacrosse turf was deafening. The wind whipped across the open field, carrying the scent of cut grass and Evan’s heavy, post practice heat. He stared at me, his stormy gray eyes wide with an expression I couldn't quite read, shock, anger, and something deeply suppressed.

Then, he took a slow step backward. He shook his head.

"No," Evan said, his voice flat and unyielding.

I blinked, the cold determination in my chest faltering. "What do you mean, no? Evan, did you not hear what I just said? They already think it happened. Ethan is using this to play the victim and drag my name through the mud. If we...."

"I said no, Elena," he interrupted, his jaw tightening until the bone looked sharp enough to cut. He bent down, hoisted his heavy black gear bag onto his broad shoulder, and looked at me with a chilling, guarded distance.

A surge of disbelief washed over me. "Are you serious? So you're going to support him by just letting him be? Evan, he treats you like dirt! He stands by while his friends call you a freak. He has absolutely zero loyalty to you, so why on earth are you showing any to him? He doesn’t care about you!"

"He’s still my brother," Evan countered, his voice dropping to a lower note. "We share the same blood, Elena. I'm not going to play some sick, twisted game with his life just because he’s an arrogant i***t who doesn't know what he has."

I took a sharp breath, stung by the word game. "This isn't a game to me. My life is ruined! My reputation is...."

"And what about your heart?"

Evan stepped back into my space so suddenly I had to tilt my head up to keep his gaze. He dropped his gear bag to the grass with a heavy thud, looming over me, his gray eyes piercing right through my defensive walls.

"Why are you really doing this, Elena?" he demanded, his voice dropping to a fierce, quiet rasp that made my breath catch. "Look me in the eye and tell me the truth. Is this actually about getting even with Ethan? Or is this just you, desperately drowning in your own heartbreak, trying to find a shield to hide behind because he broke you?"

I flinched as if he’d slapped me.

"I'm not going to be a weapon you use to cauterize your wounds," Evan whispered, his gaze dropping to my lips for a fraction of a second before snapping back to my eyes. "I'm not going to be a placeholder for my brother. Find another way to get your revenge."

Before I could open my mouth to defend myself, he snatched his bag off the ground, turned on his heel, and walked away. I stood entirely alone by the empty bleachers, the cold wind biting through my hoodie, feeling rejected by the twin who had broken my heart, and utterly dismissed by the one who had saved me from the rain.

----

The next afternoon, the university cafeteria was a bustling beehive of noise, clattering trays, and booming laughter. I had tried to skip lunch entirely, but Maya had practically forced me out of our room, insisting I needed to eat.

I sat at a small, isolated two top table in the far corner, staring down at a plate of untouched salad. I kept my hood pulled up, trying to blend into the brick wall behind me, but it was useless. Every time someone walked past my table, they’d slow down, nudge their friend, and whisper.

There was a sudden sound of a heavy plastic tray slamming down on my table, making me jump.

"Mind if we sit down, hoper?"

Marcus stood there, holding a slice of pizza, a cruel, mocking grin spread across his face. Before I could tell him to leave, Ethan slid into the chair directly across from me. Tiffany was right behind him, wrapping her arms around his neck from behind, her chin resting on his shoulder as she smiled at me like a cat that had caught a mouse.

Half the cafeteria went dead silent, sensing the impending explosion.

"Ethan, please leave me alone," I said, my voice shaking despite my best efforts to keep it steady. I reached for my bag, preparing to stand up.

"Sit down, Elena," Ethan said, his voice loud enough to carry across the neighboring tables. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table, his amber eyes flashing with a toxic, defensive pride. "I just wanted to see how the campus sweetheart was holding up. You look a little stressed. Did my brother not want you anymore after you've already sold yourself cheaply to him?"

A few football players at a nearby table burst into loud, obnoxious laughter.

"I told you, Ethan," Tiffany chimed in, her voice dripping with fake pity. "Once a guy realizes a girl is completely desperate, the thrill goes away. Even a freak like Evan has standards. He probably realized he was just getting your leftovers."

Tears pricked the corners of my eyes, burning hot and humiliating. The entire room was watching me. Hundreds of eyes, all waiting to see me break, waiting to see the pathetic, needy girl cry over the campus hockey star. I gripped the edge of the table, my knuckles turning white, trapped in the center of the arena.

The pool if tears welling up in my eyes was interrupted by a sudden loud clang.

The sound of a metal tray hitting the table next to Ethan’s head was so violent it rattled the silverware right off the edge, clattering loudly against the tile floor.

The cafeteria dropped into an absolute, suffocating silence.

Ethan choked on his breath, flinched, and spun around.

Evan stood there. He was wearing his dark blue lacrosse jacket, his chest rising and falling in slow, controlled breaths. His posture wasn't the quiet, submissive stance of the shadow brother anymore. It was pure, lethal dominance. His gray eyes were entirely black with rage, fixed dead on Marcus, who instantly stepped back, his hands raised in surrender.

"Get up, Ethan," Evan said. His voice wasn't loud, but it possessed a terrifying, dangerous calm that made the hairs on my arms stand up.

Ethan sneered, trying to maintain his alpha male status in front of the crowd, though his eyes betrayed his panic. "Evan, back off. This doesn't involve you...."

Before Ethan could finish, Evan reached down, gripped the collar of Ethan’s varsity jacket, and violently yanked him out of the chair. Ethan stumbled backward, his sneakers scraping against the floor as Marcus caught him.

"Hey! What the hell, man?!" Ethan shouted, his face flushing bright red.

Evan didn't even look at him. He turned around, stepping into the small space between our chairs. Before I could process what was happening, his large, calloused hand reached out, wrapping firmly around my waist. He pulled me up from my chair, lifting me effortlessly until my chest crashed flush against his broad torso.

My breath caught in my throat. "Evan...."

He didn't let me finish.

Evan leaned down, his fingers tangling deeply into the hair at the nape of my neck, and crushed his mouth against mine.

A collective, massive gasp echoed through the entire cafeteria.

It wasn't the confused, accidental kiss from the hallway. This was an explosive, possessive, and devastatingly public claim. His lips were hot, demanding, and fiercely intense, moving against mine with a raw hunger that completely wiped my mind blank. My hands instinctively flew to his chest, gripping the fabric of his jacket for dear life as the entire world dissolved around us. He held me tightly against him, shielding me from the eyes of the entire room, marking me as his in front of everyone who had dared to mock me.

When he finally pulled back, my knees were trembling so badly I would have collapsed if his strong arm wasn't still anchored firmly around my waist. My heart was hammering a frantic deafening rhythm against my ribs, my lips tingling and breathless.

Evan kept me tucked firmly against his side, his large frame acting as an unbreakable shield. He slowly turned his head, his dark, stormy gray eyes locking onto his twin brother.

The silence in the cafeteria was absolute. You could hear a pin drop.

"Keep my girlfriend's name out of your mouth," Evan said, his voice a low, lethal rumble that echoed off the high ceilings, "before I permanently take your spot on the ice."