Chapter 1.
The Wrong Kiss.
I had spent three months trying to get Lucas Hart to notice me.
Three months.
Ninety-one days of strategically choosing seats near him in lectures. Ninety-one days of pretending I needed help with assignments I could have finished in my sleep. Ninety-one days of laughing at jokes that weren’t even funny because Lucas had told them.
And after all that humiliation, I had finally decided to kiss him.
Unfortunately, I kissed the wrong twin.
It happened at exactly 11:47 p.m.
The party was loud enough to make the windows shake, the living room packed with people dancing beneath flashing lights while someone screamed the lyrics to a song nobody actually knew.
I escaped through the nearest doorway.
I needed air.
Or maybe I needed courage.
Two glasses of champagne had already convinced me that tonight was the night I would stop being a coward.
I wasn’t drunk.
Not exactly.
I was just… dangerously confident.
I leaned against the wall outside and closed my eyes.
One kiss.
That was all.
I wasn’t asking Lucas to fall madly in love with me. I wasn’t asking him to propose. I just wanted to know what it felt like to finally stop wondering.
Y’all know how it feels when you’re crushing on someone massively, and start imagining doing many things with them?… Yes, that!
The door behind me opened.
“Running away already?”
My eyes snapped open.
That voice.
My heart immediately betrayed me.
I turned.
There he was.
Dark hair slightly messy. Sleeves rolled up to his elbows. One hand tucked casually into his pocket.
Lucas.
My Lucas.
He leaned against the doorway, watching me with an amused smile.
“I’m not running away,” I said.
“Really?”
“Really.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“Then why are you hiding out here?”
“I’m not hiding.”
“You’ve been staring at the door for the last thirty seconds.”
“I was thinking.”
“About?”
“You.”
The words slipped out before I could stop them.
His smile widened.
My stomach flipped.
“That’s dangerous,” he said.
“What is?”
“Thinking about me.”
I rolled my eyes, mostly because looking at him was becoming unbearable.
“You think you’re funny.”
“I know I’m funny.”
“You aren’t.”
“Then why are you smiling?”
I immediately stopped smiling.
He laughed.
That laugh.
I’d spent three months listening to it from across lecture halls.
Three months watching other girls find excuses to talk to him.
Three months wondering what it would feel like if he ever looked at me the way I looked at him.
Tonight, I wasn’t waiting anymore.
I pushed away from the wall.
He didn’t move.
I took one step toward him.
Then another.
His smile slowly disappeared.
Maybe he finally understood what I was about to do.
Maybe he was waiting for me to chicken out.
I almost did.
Then I remembered every embarrassing moment I’d had because of him.
Every time I’d dressed up just a little nicer because I knew he’d be in class.
Every time I’d typed a message to him and deleted it.
Every time another girl touched his arm and I pretended not to care.
Enough.
I reached for the front of his shirt.
His eyes widened.
And before either of us could say anything, I kissed him.
For three seconds, the entire world disappeared.
The music faded.
The voices disappeared.
Even my embarrassment vanished.
There was only the warmth of his lips against mine and the terrifying realization that I had actually done it.
I kissed Lucas Hart.
I had finally…
He pulled away.
I opened my eyes.
He was staring at me.
Not smiling.
Not kissing me back.
Just staring.
My confidence evaporated.
“What?” I whispered.
He blinked slowly.
Then frowned.
“You kissed me.”
I swallowed.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
I stared at him.
“Because… you’re Lucas.”
Silence.
Then he laughed.
Not a chuckle.
Not a polite laugh.
A full, disbelieving laugh.
My face burned.
“What’s so funny?”
He shook his head.
“Oh, this is priceless.”
“What’s priceless?”
“You really don’t know.”
“Know what?”
He stepped closer.
I instinctively stepped back.
His expression was still amused, but there was something else in his eyes now.
Something that made my stomach twist.
“I’m not Lucas.”
I froze.
“What?”
He pointed toward the party.
“Lucas is inside.”
My mouth fell open.
“No.”
He nodded.
“Yes.”
“No.”
“I’m afraid so.”
I stared at his face.
Same dark hair.
Same jawline.
Same eyes.
Same stupidly attractive smile.
My brain scrambled through every interaction I’d had with him.
Wait.
There had been something different.
The way he smiled.
The tiny scar near his eyebrow.
The fact that Lucas always wore a silver watch.
This guy wasn’t wearing one.
Oh God.
I had kissed the wrong man.
“Who are you?”
His smile returned.
“Liam.”
My soul left my body.
“Liam Hart?”
“Unfortunately.”
I covered my face with both hands.
“Oh my God.”
“That’s one reaction.”
“I kissed you.”
“Technically, yes.”
“I thought you were Lucas.”
“I gathered that.”
“Please stop talking.”
He laughed again.
I wanted to disappear.
Preferably forever.
I turned toward the door.
“I’m leaving.”
“Wait.”
“No.”
“You’re really going to run away?”
“Yes.”
“After kissing the wrong twin?”
I stopped.
Slowly, I looked over my shoulder.
“Don’t call it that.”
“What should I call it?”
“A terrible mistake.”
His eyebrows lifted.
“That sounds personal.”
“It is.”
I started walking again.
Then he said something that made me stop cold.
“You’ve been trying to get Lucas to notice you for three months.”
I turned around.
“How do you know that?”
Liam shrugged.
“I’m his twin.”
“That doesn’t explain anything.”
“It explains everything.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
He pushed away from the doorway.
“I’ve seen you.”
My stomach tightened.
“Seen me?”
“At the library. In the cafeteria. In Professor Miller’s lecture.”
I stared at him.
“You noticed?”
“Lucas didn’t.”
That hurt more than it should have.
I looked away.
Liam’s teasing expression disappeared.
For the first time that night, he looked serious.
“You really like him?”
I hesitated.
“I thought I did.”
“And now?”
“I don’t know.”
He studied me for a moment.
Then he smiled.
“Give me seven days.”
I frowned.
“For what?”
“To find out.”
“Find out what?”
“Whether you actually want Lucas.”
I laughed nervously.
“You can’t be serious.”
“I am.”
“Seven days with you?”
“Exactly.”
“And what happens after seven days?”
“If you still want my brother, I’ll stay out of your way.”
I stared at him.
“And if I don’t?”
His eyes held mine.
“Then we’ll have a different problem.”
My heart skipped.
I hated that it did.
“This is ridiculous.”
“Probably.”
“Why would I agree to this?”
His smile slowly returned.
“Because you kissed the wrong twin.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“That’s your argument?”
“It’s a pretty good one.”
“It’s terrible.”
“Yet you’re still standing here.”
I opened my mouth.
Closed it.
He was right.
I should have walked away.
I should have gone back inside, found Lucas, and pretended the most humiliating moment of my life had never happened.
Instead, I looked at Liam.
The wrong twin.
The twin I had barely spoken to.
The twin I had never noticed.
The twin who had somehow noticed me all along.
Seven days couldn’t possibly change anything.
At least, that’s what I told myself.
“Fine,” I said.
Liam’s smile widened.
“Fine?”
“Seven days.”
He held out his hand.
“Deal.”
I stared at it before reluctantly shaking it.
His fingers closed around mine.
And the strangest thing happened.
My heart raced.
Not because I had finally gotten close to Lucas.
But because I was holding the hand of the wrong twin.
And suddenly, I wasn’t so sure I’d kissed the wrong one after all.
