Page 167

His hissed warning brought Oscar out of a dead sleep with a speed that scared the hell out of Troy. Oscar’s eyes were wide, and he leaped out of bed as the bedroom door swung wide open.A man stepped into the room, his arms raised and his mouth opening as though he were getting ready to shout. The man’s eyes widened as he took in the sight of a very naked and very pissed Oscar standing beside the bed, his body taut and ready for a fight.

“Oh, shit,” the man said, turning to look at Troy, who was also sliding out of bed.

“What the fuck?” Troy asked.

“Wow, okay, um,” the man began before turning and walking out of the room slowly, lost and confused.

“Um,” Troy began, turning to Oscar in bewilderment.

Whatever he was getting ready to say died in his throat as he saw Oscar’s expression. All the fight had drained out of Oscar and with startling swiftness. Oscar’s shoulders had fallen, his hand limp at his side as he stared with huge eyes at the door.

“Oscar?” Troy asked with a sense of foreboding.

“That...that was…” Oscar began, words tripping over themselves and the sentence falling flat before it could begin.

Troy frowned, looking at the doorway and wracking his brain for an explanation of what had just happened. A stranger in the house was bewildering enough, but he had a strong feeling the man was not a stranger since Oscar wasn’t chasing him. In fact, there had been something eerily familiar about the man who’d stood dumbfounded in Oscar’s doorway. Something familiar about the shape and strength of his jaw, the dark pitch of his eyes, and the shape of his nose.

Troy’s mouth fell open as he realized what Oscar was trying to say.

“That was your brother.”

OSCAR

Oh fuck.

Oh shit.

Goddammit.

It was his worst nightmare, walking straight through his bedroom door. Oscar felt numb as he pulled on his clothes and tried desperately to think what he was supposed to say or do. Gabriel wasn’t supposed to be flying in until the next week, and Oscar had no way of knowing his brother would arrive early. Never before had he regretted giving someone access to his house as he had by shipping his brother a spare key, just in case.

Behind him, Troy sat on the bed, uncharacteristically quiet as he stared at his lap. Oscar stared at him, wondering what the hell he could say that would ease the look of numb horror on his face. Considering he was no better off, Oscar shook his head, buttoned his pants, and faced the door.

He hadn’t heard the front door open or close, so Gabriel must be waiting in the living room. Knowing he couldn’t hide in the bedroom all morning, Oscar took a deep breath and forced himself to open the door. Oscar had always appreciated silence in his home, a nice contrast to the noise and chaos of working in the field. Yet as he walked the length of the hall, stopping atthe entrance to the living room, he found the silence oppressive, weighing down on him until he felt he couldn’t breathe.

Sure enough, his brother was waiting on the couch. In a position that was eerily like the one Troy had been in, Gabriel sat at the edge of the couch, hands clasped in his lap, staring intently at them. Oscar’s throat tightened when his brother didn’t look up as he entered, and he had to force his hand to clench his shirt so he wouldn’t feel his fingers shaking as he walked in.

“Hey,” was all Oscar could manage.

Gabriel finally looked up, a strange, distant look in his eyes as he gazed at Oscar. Chest squeezing, Oscar slowly stepped around his armchair and sat down, trying to make his movements measured and easy. The more he kept everything about his body under control, the more he could exert control over his emotions, he reminded himself.

“So,” Gabriel began, his mouth flapping uselessly before closing helplessly.

Oscar continued to stare back at his brother, unsure what to say. From the first time Oscar realized he had zero interest in women, he’d done everything he could to keep it a secret. His brother and he had grown up in the same neighborhood and known many of the same people, which meant they’d both learned some of the same habits and that if one person in that network knew something, there was a good chance everyone knew. It had only grown worse after their parents died, and all Oscar had left was his brother. His greatest fear had been losing his brother, both to death and by any other means.

And now he’d walked in on him naked in bed with Troy.

Gabriel looked up again, letting out a deep sigh. “How long?”

“How long what?” Oscar asked.

“Oscar.”

“I mean it.”

Gabriel frowned, his brother’s cheeks darkening. “How long have you known you were into guys? Because the last I checked, you were dating women.”

Oscar winced. “Well, Iwasdating women the last time you checked. I just?—”