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“So . . .” Nick pushed the macaroni around on his plate.
“Quinn was giving her a hard time about leaving her sitting at home, and I made some comment that we should make it a double date, and she said yes.”
“You like her?”
“Maybe.” Nick shrugged and looked at his plate, pushing the macaroni noodles with his fork. “It’s something to do.”
The only time Nick hedged like this was when he really liked a girl. Gabriel smiled. “Don’t you mean some one? ”
Now Nick snapped his eyes up. “It’s not like that.”
Oh, this was fantastic. “You know she had her tongue down Rafe Gutierrez’s throat, like, three days ago.”
“I said it’s not like that.” The temperature in the room dropped ten degrees.
Michael was looking over the top of the laptop again. “Easy.”
Nick’s eyes were like ice. “Maybe we should talk about what happened in third period today. I didn’t even ask if you were okay.”
What a bastard. “Shut up.”
“What happened?” said Michael.
“Nothing,” said Chris. He glared at Nick across the table.
Good little brother. “Yeah,” said Gabriel. “Nothing.”
“It was all over school,” said Nick. “Lights exploded for no reason at all. They’re getting experts in to check all the wiring.”
Michael slapped the laptop shut. “What?”
Gabriel wanted to knock his twin upside the head his hand was already tight at his side. But he kept hearing Layne’s parting comment, and he kept his hands to himself.
He sighed and looked back at his plate. “It was an accident.”
“An accident.” Michael looked like he was going to have an aneurysm, right here at the table. “Are. You. Crazy.”
“Yeah, Michael, I’m crazy.” Gabriel shoved away from the table. He couldn’t help it: He smacked Nick on the back of the head. “And you’re an ass**le.”
Gabriel flung his plate into the sink and stormed through the back door.
Michael caught up to him before he made it off the porch.
“Wait a minute. Tell me what happened.”
“Forget it. Go back to work. I’m going for a walk.”
“Please tell me you’re not really having a tantrum because Nick decided to do something without you.”
Oh, for god’s sake.
Wait. Was he?
“Jesus, Michael, we’re almost eighteen years old. Nick does stuff without me all day.”
Like asking out girls without even mentioning that he liked them.
Michael didn’t say anything, so Gabriel stepped off the porch into the twilit darkness of the yard.
