Tasting My Ex's Twin Brother

Chapter 6: Not That Deep

Elena’s POV

The ride back to my dorm was suffocating.

The silence inside Evan’s car was so heavy it made my ears ring, broken only by the rhythmic click of the turn signal as he navigated the quiet, tree lined streets of the campus perimeter. I kept my face pressed against the cold passenger window, staring blindly at the passing streetlights.

My heart was still hammering a frantic rhythm against my ribs, my lips still tingling from the searing, possessive kiss that had just paralyzed the entire cafeteria.

He had kissed me. In front of Marcus. In front of Tiffany. In front of Ethan.

And then he had dragged me out of the room before I could even gather my breath, tossing me into his passenger seat like a package he was delivering.

When the car finally rolled to a smooth stop outside my dorm building, the engine humming silently in the dark driveway, Evan didn't move. He didn't turn off the ignition. He just rested his hands on the top of the steering wheel, his broad shoulders tense, staring straight ahead into the night.

A minute passed. Then two.

I waited for him to say something. An explanation. An apology. A rule. Anything. But his jaw remained locked tight

The anger that had been simmering under my shock finally boiled over.

"So that's it?" I asked, my voice slicing through the quiet interior of the car. "You're just not going to say anything?"

Evan’s hands tightened on the leather steering wheel, his knuckles turning white, but he didn't turn his head. "I dropped you off, Elena. Go inside."

"Go inside?" A bitter, incredulous laugh escaped my throat. "Evan, you literally yanked your brother out of his chair and kissed me in front of hundreds of people. You announced to the entire university that I’m your girlfriend, and now you're sitting there acting like you just gave me a lift from the grocery store?!"

Evan let out a long, ragged exhale, finally turning his head to look at me. His gray eyes were stormy, guarded, and frustratingly distant. "I did what I had to do to stop them from tearing you apart," he said, his voice flat and brutally practical. "They were backing you into a corner. Ethan was using you for a crowd, and Marcus was enjoying it. I shut it down. It’s not that deep."

It’s not that deep.

The words felt like a slap straight across the face.

"Not that deep?" I echoed, my chest heaving as the humiliation flared all over again. "You made a massive public scene! The whole campus already thought I slept with you, and now you just confirmed it for them! You blew the whole thing wide open, and now you’re backing away like it was just some charitable deed?!"

"Elena...."

"No!" I snapped, pulling my hands into fists in my lap to stop them from shaking. "You reject me on the lacrosse field, telling me you won't play games, and then the next day, you perform a romantic takeover in the cafeteria? You are unbelievable. You and your brother are exactly alike, you just do whatever you want without giving a damn about how it ruins my life!"

The moment the words left my mouth, I saw the subtle, devastating impact they had.

Evan flinched. It was barely visible, just a slight tightening around his eyes and a sharp intake of breath, but a sudden, chilling darkness settled over his features. The guarded indifference vanished, replaced by a raw, quiet hurt that cut straight through his stoic mask.

"I am nothing like Ethan," he whispered, his voice dangerously low, vibrating with a quiet, lethal tension.

"Then stop acting like him!" I yelled, tears of frustration stinging the corners of my eyes.

I didn't wait for his reply. I grabbed the door handle, yanked it open, and threw myself out of the car. I slammed the passenger door with enough force to rock the frame, not looking back as I sprinted up the concrete steps and pushed through the heavy glass doors of my dorm building.

Behind me, the sound of his engine revved sharply before he tore down the driveway, leaving me alone in the sterile, fluorescent light of the lobby.

-----

"He said what?!"

Maya slammed her notebook onto the desk, her jaw practically dropping to the floor. "He kissed you in the middle of the dining hall, claimed you as his, threatened to take Ethan's spot on the hockey team, and then told you 'it's not that deep'?!"

"Yes!" I groaned, burying my face in a plush pillow on my bed. "I feel like I'm losing my mind, Maya. Ethan treats me like trash, and Evan treats me like some high stakes puzzle he can't decide if he wants to solve or throw away. I can't keep doing this. I feel completely out of control."

Maya sat down on the edge of my mattress, her face softening into genuine concern. "El... the video of the cafeteria kiss is already all over the campus group chats. People aren't calling you a 'twin hopper' anymore. They're saying Evan completely stole you from Ethan. If this is a fake relationship, it's already the most dramatic thing Westview University has seen in five years."

"It's not a relationship at all," I mumbled into the pillow, my voice muffled. "He made that very clear."

A heavy, sudden knock echoed against our dorm door.

I froze. Maya’s head snapped toward the entryway, her eyes widening.

"Are you expecting someone?" she whispered.

I shook my head slowly, sliding off the bed. It was nearly eleven o'clock at night. Visiting hours for the dorms were technically over, and the hallway was usually dead silent by this time.

The knock came again. Three slow, deliberate, heavy thuds against the wood.

I walked over to the door, my heart pounding a frantic, nervous rhythm in my throat. I reached out, unlocked the deadbolt, and pulled the door open a few inches.

Evan stood in the dim, amber lighting of the hallway.

He had changed out of his lacrosse gear into a dark gray hoodie, his hands shoved deep into the front pocket. His dark hair was messy, as if he’d spent the last three hours driving around with the windows down, and his tall, broad frame practically blocked out the hallway behind him.

He looked tired. But more than that, his gray eyes were dark, intense, and completely stripped of the guarded distance he’d worn in the car.

I gripped the edge of the door, holding my breath. "Evan? What are you doing here?"

Evan looked at me, his gaze dropping to my lips for a fleeting, dangerous second before rising back to meet my eyes. He didn't apologize for the car. He didn't make an excuse.

"I'm not like him, Elena," Evan said, his voice a low, gravelly rumble that vibrated straight down my spine. "And I'm not going to sit back and watch you drown because you think you have to fight everyone on this campus alone."

My breath hitched in my chest. "Evan..."

He took a half step forward, closing the small distance between us until his shadow completely swallowed me. The faint, intoxicating scent of rain, cool air, and cedar rolled off him, suffocatingly close.

"You want a fake relationship?" Evan whispered, his dark eyes locking onto mine with a fierce, unwavering gravity that made my knees go weak.

"Fine. We'll give them the show of their lives. But if we do this Hart.... you're mine in front of everyone."