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CHAPTER 7

RYAN

I heard voices, but decided it might be in my best interest to remain silent. I hid behind the bar in the dark corner in case someone besides Flint came down the stairs. There was a chance he’d leave the door open if he thought I’d gotten away.

Someone was calling to be let out. I’d peek, but I needed to be cautious. There was a possibility that someone else was kidnapped like me. Would Flint be dumb enough to toss us both in here unrestrained and able to talk? This guy sounded like he was talking to himself.

“If I had kicked Lex out when we had our first fight, then I wouldn’t be in this predicament now,” I muttered under my breath.

It was Rene.

“Rene, what are you doing here? How did you find me?” I had never been so happy to see my twin in our lives. We hugged tight, then sat on the sofa.

“Ryan? What are you doing here? I thought you were ignoring my calls.”

“Dude, I have no idea where my phone is, and it’s probably dead by now. I’ve been down here for days with no food and a little water. But, I was unconscious part of the time.”

“What? Wow! Are you okay now? He just tossed me in here. I broke up with Lex, who dumped me like yesterday’s garbage near the Fish-n-Dip. That’s where I ran into this guy. I was thumbing a ride to the marina to look for you.”

“The day I met him, my boat broke down, and I needed a ride to the marina.”

“OMG! Do you think he has a thing for guys with boats?”

“I doubt it, since he said he’d been watching me. He said he went to our clubs, but mostly mine. Flint was creepy at first, then he saved me after I passed out from the heat. We had a long talk and he didn’t tie me up before he left, so I thought things were going to be okay.” What I didn’t say was I thought I could be getting into the guy.

“Who’s Flint? The one who gave me a ride and shoved me down here was Bear. Are there two of these guys?”

“No. Flint is his name, but everyone besides me calls him Bear. Did he act weird when he picked you up?”

“What’s weird for a guy kidnapping a hitchhiker? He did act a little confused, especially when he introduced himself.”

I thought about this for a minute. Flint didn’t know I had a brother and definitely not an identical twin, outside of our having dimples on the opposite sides. Rather, I had dimples on both sides while Rene only had a dimple on his right cheek.

“I think I know what happened. He thought I got away, that’s why he brought you here and just tossed you in without checking to see where I was. He doesn’t know there are two of us.”

“Oh man, this is going to be epic. One of us can escape while the other one stays here. Better yet, let’s kidnap him and give him a taste of his own medicine. Does he come down here and talk with you?”

“As far as I know it was only the one time, but I had been unconscious. He did take care of me.”

He knew his brother well enough to know there was something he wasn’t telling him.

“Ryan, what aren’t you telling me?” Rene tried to sound a little miffed with attitude, because we didn’t keep things from each other. Not the important stuff anyway.

I wasn’t making eye contact and I was fidgeting. There was definitely something up. When I finally looked at him, I had that pout thing going on.

“Ryan?!” Rene used his warning voice of, you’d better tell me or else. Of course, there was no one to enforce the or else. Rene could see the decision weighing down on me.

“Rene, there’s a few things we need to talk about. One, I’m demisexual.” I looked at my twin and he didn’t look surprised. “So you know it means no instant connection like you get with guys.”

Now Rene was the one fidgeting. “Yeah, well, I’m bi actually.” It was my turn to not be surprised.

“Two, I’m feeling this thing for Flint.” Rene jumped up with his mouth open to protest while he ran his fingers through his hair.

“Quiet. Before you say a word, I don’t know how I feel about this, because I have never felt this.” I was close to yelling, my voice raised at the least. Rene sat back down when I continued.

“While his kidnapping me sucked, I didn’t exactly make myself open to meet even a character in a book. Let alone a living, breathing man. If you want to kidnap him, I’m fine with that but we cannot hurt him. That’s how it’s going to be. “

I had never spoken so openly or passionately about anything besides my pet squirrel. It pissed Rene off that he was kidnapped too, but I saw this unfold in my favor.

“Alright Ryan, we will grab the guy and keep him down here. I’ll leave to get help and that will give you a little time to talk with your Bear.”

I liked the sound of ‘my Bear.’

“Get him to bring some food and bottles of water or something and get this done. Ryan?”

While I was daydreaming, Rene went behind the door so when Bear came through, he could slide out behind him.

“Ryan, pull your head out…”

I called out to Flint. “Flint. Could you please bring something to eat? Maybe some bottled water would be nice too? Coffee, if it’s not too much trouble?”

“Why not ask for tea and cakes while you’re at it?” Rene whispered loudly. I stuck my tongue out at him and stood at the bottom of the stairs.

“Flint? Please. It’s been days since I’ve eaten anything. You can even tie me up and feed me if it would make you feel more comfortable.” Just where the hell had that come from? I’d never had that thought before, let alone suggested it.

“Tie you up? OMG what have you been reading or fantasizing about? Scratch that, no information needed.” But I was trying hard not to laugh, to the point tears were streaming from one eye.

“Just get ready to either leave or jump him. You swing both ways and I do not want details on positions.” Or maybe I did, for a man anyway.