Chapter 3

After that, I dug up Alex's schedule.

On Friday night, I followed him to a bar.

I sat in a private room, pulled out a wad of cash and a listening device, and handed them to a waiter.

With his rowdy crew drinking next door, there was always something useful to overhear.

I'd make sure Alex was all over the headlines tomorrow—both business and gossip.

Suddenly, I heard a familiar voice in my earpiece.

It was Alex's childhood friend, Chris Ashford.

Chris said, "Buddy, how long are you gonna keep playing this whole twin brother game?"

The pistachio cracked in my grip, the sound sharp as my nerves shot up.

Wait. Could Evan actually be Alex, that bastard?

My mind flashed back to the first time I met "Evan."

It was six months ago. We were tangled up in the sheets of a hotel bed.

I woke up and realized I'd hooked up with my arch-nemesis. I scrambled to get dressed, ready to bolt.

But he stopped me and insisted he was Alex's twin brother, Evan.

He told me that when he was a kid, some fortune-teller called him cursed, so his family packed him off overseas.

He only recently made his way back to the country on his own.

"Babe, I've got nowhere else to go. Will you keep me? I'll do anything for you," he pleaded, looking all pitiful and sweet.

Seeing my nemesis' face suddenly go soft and him trying to win me over, I felt a thrill.

I said yes right away, feeling like I'd just scored big.

Turns out, I got so caught up in the heat of the moment, I ended up getting played by that jerk.

Just then, another voice came through in my earpiece.

"Man, Alex, you totally deserve this. You've been secretly in love with Jasmine since high school, but you just had to go and make yourself her enemy," the voice snarked.

Wait, Alex'd been secretly in love with me? Since high school?

The twist hit me so hard that I was left blinking, completely stunned.

No way, that couldn't be right. We spent three years in the same class, and Alex always acted like he couldn't stand the sight of me.

When we had to move our books, not only would he refuse to help, but he'd shove his own books at me.

Then, with that punchable smirk, he'd ask, "Is it heavy?"

I'd just call him crazy and drop his stuff right on his feet.

He even used to hide my homework, just to get me in trouble with the teacher and dragged into her office.

Every single thing he did—just remembering it all made my blood boil and my jaw clench.

Alex's voice came through the earpiece, snapping me right back to reality.

"What can I say? Back then, I was clueless. Just a dumb kid with a big mouth that always got me in trouble," he admitted.

"Jasmine treats Alex like her mortal enemy, but Evan? She calls him her sweet boy. Took me ages just to get her to open up to me," he confessed.

"Or maybe... I should just let Evan wipe Alex off the map? Then I could change my name and finally be with Jasmine out in the open. I could be her plus-one at every event, showing everyone she's mine." He mused, sounding half-serious, half-wishful.

Just as he was getting lost in his fantasy, Chris burst his bubble.

"Buddy, take it from me—sooner or later, the truth always comes out. You'd better be careful, or you'll end up in the doghouse for good," Chris teased.

After a brief silence, Alex shot back, half-joking, "Well, gotta have a wife to get in the doghouse first."

After listening for more than ten minutes, I slipped off my headphones, a barely-there, knowing smile playing at my lips.

This bar was run by Chris.

His ex-girlfriend—my bestie—brought me there once before she left to study overseas.

That time, Chris showed up with his best friend Alex, trying to catch her in the act.

"Last time I booked ten, but since I'm flying solo tonight, guess I'll settle for... eight escorts," I joked, flashing a cheeky grin.