AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Nick swallowed and tried to keep it together. “If you mess with him—if you screw this up—I swear to god—”
“I’m not messing with him. And I know it’s important.”
Gabriel turned away from the stage and met Nick’s eyes. “I came here to support my brother’s boyfriend. That okay with you?”
Silence hung between them for the longest moment.
It poked the tiniest hole in Nick’s anger. He quickly plugged it up. “I’m not falling for this.”
Gabriel sighed. “All right. Don’t, then.” He got up, shifted into the aisle, and started walking toward the exit.
No, he moved down a few rows, easing into a new seat.
Nick sat there and watched him. He could feel his twin’s disappointment, his anguish. He felt it himself.
Damn you, Gabriel.
He finally sighed and moved down a few rows to sit beside his twin brother.
Gabriel offered a wicked smile. “I knew this would get you.”
“I hate you.”
The smile vanished. “No. You don’t.”
“I do. A little.” Nick faced forward and rubbed at the back of his neck. A girl in pointe shoes was twirling across the stage.
“You really hurt me. A lot—a lot more than I thought was possible.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
Nick didn’t say anything. He didn’t know if he wanted this apology.
“I wish I could take it back,” Gabriel said. “You have no idea—”
“Don’t. Don’t do this here.”
Gabriel shut up as if Nick had smacked him. They watched the next routine in tense silence.
Then Gabriel leaned in. “I read your text messages.”
“You what?”
Half a dozen people turned around and hushed him.
Nick clenched his fists and glared at Gabriel. “What are you talking about? When?”
“When you left the phone in the car. At first I just plugged it in to make sure it wasn’t busted. But when it powered up, I saw it was on the text chat with Adam, so—”
“So you read them? ”
Gabriel met his eyes and didn’t recoil from his anger. “Those things I said—I didn’t mean them. I didn’t know, Nicky.” He winced. “Nick. I didn’t know. I never meant to hurt you.”
Nick didn’t say anything to that. Was this enough? It didn’t feel like enough.
He turned his head and asked the question that had reverberated through his head since the instant he’d felt his twin’s fist slam into his face. “How could you, Gabriel?” His whispered voice almost broke. “How could you do what you did?”
“I didn’t know what was wrong,” Gabriel said, his words rushed, as if he worried Nick would cut him off again. “I didn’t know your secret. And then—then this complete stranger was apologizing to me, and I knew you were so upset. It was—that night, it was all wrong. I was keyed up from the fight with Tyler.
