I Dated Twin Guys As Their Online Experiment, But I Had My Own Plan Chapter 10

I Dated Twin Guys As Their Online Experiment, But I Had My Own Plan Chapter 10

The day of Fall Fest dawned with absurdly perfect weather. Crisp autumn air. Cloudless blue stretching forever. The main stage rose up on the athletic field, the sound system dialed in, the audience area steadily filling. I was in my volunteer staff shirt, sprinting around backstage running cues, hurrying performers, passing off mics-sweat pouring down my back.

Mid-afternoon, a small crisis hit. The next vocalist couldn’t find her in-ear monitors. I crouched beside a prop bin, digging through it for the third time, panic prickling my forehead.

“Here.” The voice came from above me. I looked up. Owen stood there, the black monitors in his hand.

“Where did you find those?”

“The last singer left them on the soundboard during his soundcheck. I asked around.” He handed them over, his gaze landing on my forehead. He pulled a tissue from his pocket. “Wipe your face.”

I tock the tissue, mopped at the sweat, and passed the monitors to a staffer.

“Thank you.”

“The number of times you’ve thanked me is about to surpass the number of times you’ve relayed messages.” Owen leaned against the prop bin and tilted his head at me. “Nora, are you this formal with

everyone?”

I considered it. “Probably.”

“Then can you not be so formal with me?”

I blinked. He smiled and didn’t push the topic, just turned and walked off to handle something else.

I stared at his back and a realization settled over me–this person always seemed to appear exactly when I

needed him. I didn’t call. He just showed up. Lost monitors. Forgotten lunch. Scheduling chaos. He’d solve it

all without me having to ask.

It was a strange feeling. Like being held up by warm hands that wouldn’t let you fall.

The comments trailed behind me.

[Owen! Go get her!]

[This guy is legit. When something goes wrong, he actually handles it.]

[I’m calling it now. He’s the new male lead.]

[Side character, what are you waiting for? GO.J

I didn’t go. I closed my fist around the tissue, turned, and dove back into work.

Fall Fest ran all day, from ten in the morning until nine at night. The closing act was the band whose time Owen had fixed. The lead singer grabbed the mic and said, “Shout out to the volunteer who helped us sort

the schedule. You’re a lifesaver.”

The crowd roared. stood at the backstage entrance, watching the lights blaze across the stage, and suddenly felt a sting behind my eyes. Not from being moved. Just from being exhausted. Or maybe something else. Something I didn’t want to label.

After the last set, everyone shifted into teardown mode. Volunteers, staff, band members-all a mess of

motion. I was reaching for a string of decorative lights hanging off the side of the stage. I stretched onto my

toes three times and couldn’t reach.

“Let me.” Owen’s voice came from behind me. He reached up and unhooked the lights with zero effort. He

was a full head taller than me. I tipped my head back to look at him, catching his gaze in the darkness. His

eyes were bright.

“Nora.”

“Yeah?”

“Fall Fest is over.”

“Yeah. It’s over.”

“So we’re done with Fall Fest. Does that mean I have to stop finding excuses to talk to you?”

My hands went still.

He didn’t look away. “Can I take you out sometime?”

The comments exploded.

[АHHHHHHH HE JUST SAID IT DIRECTLY.]

(This is what a real man looks like. No games. No gray areas. He just asked.]

[Side character, SAY SOMETHING.]

(SAY YES. SAY IT.]

The wind carried the clean, faint scent of laundry detergent from him. Clean. Warm. Nothing like the smell of a lie. I looked down and smiled a little, then lifted my head. “Owen, do you even know me?”

“Not really,” he said, honest. “But I want to.”

“Do you know what happened in my last relationship?”

“No,” he said. “But if you want to talk about it, I’ll listen. If you don’t, that’s fine too.’

“Then what are you after?”

He thought about it for a second, then said, completely serious, “The way you forget to eat. The way you run yourself into the ground. The way your eyes do that little crinkle thing every time you say ‘thank you.’”

“Is that enough?”

It wasn’t. But maybe it was enough to try.

I looked into his eyes and saw my own reflection No anxiety in that image. No waiting. No cold-hot whiplash of uncertainty. Just a girl being truly seen.

“You can take me out,” I said.

He smiled, eyes crinkling at the corners. “Starting now.”