“That’s not Nick,” I manage.
I know Nick’s eyes. Nick’s eyes are soft, filled with fervor, angst, and assertion, as if everything is just out of reach, but he’d have it no other way.
This man’s eyes… they’re the opposite. Mischievous and relaxed. Entirely unbothered and self-assured.
The world is in debt to him.
“Do you have any siblings?”I’d asked Nick.
“I have a brother,”he replied.“He’ll drop in at some point, I’m sure.”
“He did not say his brother was his twin,” I mutter.
The man standing outside the bar’s resemblance to Nick is uncanny. Despite the long, dirty blond hair, the black rectangular glasses, and his broad build, everything else is thesame. The shape and color of his eyes, his jaw structure, the way he holds his head high. They even have the same scowl.
He has a hoodie on beneath his leather jacket, wearing dark green pants and tall chunky boots. The curved end of a peppermint stick hangs out of his mouth, his jawline even more prominent as he sucks on it. He’s staring at the sign above the door, hands in his pockets as if he’s deciding if this is the right establishment for his lunchtime drink.
“Twin?” Jasmine laughs under her breath, shaking her head. “This just got evenmoreinteresting.”
Even when he tosses the candy in the trash and makes his way inside, I can’t stop staring. There’s no instinct in my body to stop ogling, to even make myself look remotely as if I can move.
If Nick is the cataclysmic snow coming down against an illuminated city backdrop, his twin is the ice crystalizing across a creek in the middle of a haunted forest.
They’re both so devastating that I’m not sure how I’ll react to eventually seeing them in the same room.
“I think I need to print out a receipt or something,” Jasmine says. “Or go check on Chester in the back. I’ll do that.”
“Okay,” I reply without blinking.
The twin’s gaze finds mine, and a smile stretches across his lips that makes my knees weak.
Oh my god.
He practically stalks his way through the tables, eventually coming to stand directly in front of me. If I was pouring a drink, it’d be all over the floor by now.
There are two of them.
“Hello, darling,” he says, taking off his coat.
I blink.
He has an English accent.
Oh,shit. He looks like Nick, wears glasses,andhas an accent.
I…
“Are you related to Nick?” I blurt.
His brows lift as he settles his forearm onto the edge of the bar, long fingers entwining together at his side. “Nick? Nick… Hm… That depends. What does he look like?”
“I feel like you already know,” I say.
He smiles wider. “Does he look like me?”
“Yes. But he has dark hair. And he doesn’t wear glasses. Or have an accent.”
“Ah.” He takes off his glasses and squeezes the bridge of his nose. “Nick. Right. No, he wears contacts, but I never really liked the things.” He puts the spectacles back on and peers at me once again, stalling every thought that might have previously tried to enter my head.
