Chapter 3: Attracted To Them

"You are Leonardo," Hazel confirmed, pointing to the one in the black and gold suit, before turning to face her professor, who wore a blue dress shirt and black pants.

"And you are Professor Dylan," she concluded carefully.

"I'm hurt, Princess," Dylan complained with mock offense, feigning hurt as he placed his hand dramatically over his heart. "You call him by his first name and then go Professor on me."

Ignoring his playful complaint, Hazel's eyes flitted from one to the other, trying to find any physical difference between them.

They both had the same eye colour, identical build, same hair length, and same dangerously heart-stopping smile. Every feature was just a perfect replica, and the worst part was—both stirred the same deep feelings within her.

She found herself wanting them both.

It was no secret to her that she was attracted to older men; she had always known boys her age were simply too immature for her tastes.

This, however, was the first time she'd been attracted to two people at the same time.

‘How could I be attracted to both of them at the same time?’

‘I blame it all on that annoying handsome face and that stupid sexy accent!’ she thought bitterly.

"If you're looking for a physical difference between us," Dylan said with a sly glint in his eye and a suggestive smile tugging at his lips just as the waitress approached their table, "you won't find any—at least not where you're currently looking."

"What can I get you today?" the waitress asked, her eyes lingering flirtatiously on both men as she ignored Hazel, who sat opposite them.

Hazel frowned at the obvious provocation from the waitress but said nothing, picking up the menu to look it over.

"What would you like to have, Miss Halton? They have nice pasta choices here," Leonardo asked without giving the waitress a second glance, his eyes buried in the menu as he scanned through dessert and wine choices.

"I’ll have what you guys have," she replied, closing the menu and leaning back into the chair, somehow feeling relieved that the two hadn’t noticed the waitress' flirty eyes.

"Then we’ll have three plates of spaghetti bolognese and two plates of carbonara," Leonardo ordered smoothly.

They had invited her to dinner immediately after dropping the bombshell on her.

She felt totally stupid for mistaking her dad's business partner for his twin, who also happened to be her professor—and almost throwing a tantrum about being ignored.

How childish. They weren’t even friends. If anything, they were total strangers, possibly ones she should never get close to.

As the waitress left, Leonardo raised his head and asked,

"What’s going through your pretty little head, darling? You look distracted."

"You. Both of you," she blurted out without thinking, covering her mouth as she realized what she had said.

"I don’t mean it like that, I’m just curious," she quickly corrected, waving her hands in front of them.

"About us?"

"Yes, about you two, especially you, Leonardo. Who are you? And why was my father so nervous around you last time? I couldn’t find any information online, which unnerved me. Maybe I read too many mystery books and I’m reading too much into nothing, but still, why can’t I..." She shut her mouth before finishing the sentence that would leave her embarrassed for the rest of the night and probably the rest of the school year.

‘Why can’t I fucking get you out of my head!’

They raised their eyebrows at her unfinished sentence simultaneously, making her groan in frustration.

This is not going to help.

Is it too late to pick another major in my third year?

"Whatever is between me and your father stays between us. I won’t get you involved," Leonardo’s playfulness disappeared as he spoke, his jaw twitching and his eyes flashing gold briefly before returning to their usual shade.

"As for you checking the internet about us, more specifically him," he pointed to his twin. "You won’t find anything. If you had checked for me, you might have found something—not relevant, but something to feed your curiosity, right?"

"Are you sure you’re not trying to get me involved in my father’s business with you? Why else would I be sitting here having dinner? You’re trying to blackmail him with me?" she asked, causing Dylan to chuckle lightly.

"Oh, Princess, Eric did a good job raising an innocent one this time," he muttered.

"This time?"

"I don’t need to blackmail your father for anything. He owes half his success to me, but that’s a story for another day. Now let’s eat. You have to be home to finish a project, right?" Leonardo asked as the waitress returned with their orders.

"Ah, yes. Just so you know, if you plan on using me as some blackmailing pawn for my father’s business, it won’t work."

"I'm hurt. You think so lowly of me, Hazel," was the last thing Leonardo said until dinner was over.

Hazel could feel and see that her words truly hurt him, but she couldn’t understand why.

They were just strangers and she was only trying to protect herself.

Dylan filled the night with funny and adventurous stories about Italy as they ate, telling her about fun places, food, the arts and culture of the Italian people, and times when people would mistake him for his twin and vice versa.

By the end of the night, Hazel realized that although they had the same face, their personalities and voices were different.

Dylan’s voice was a little lighter than his brother’s.

Outside the classroom, Dylan was playful and easier to get along with. Although they could mirror each other’s personalities when needed, their true personalities contradicted.

While Dylan was the playful one, Leonardo was cold and distant. His aura of dominance was more intense than his twin brother’s.

It was clear Leonardo was the decision-maker of the two.

Even with that knowledge, Hazel found herself even more drawn to both of them than she thought possible.