Above and Beyond (Twist of Fate 4)

Beautiful.

“Healthy,” I blurted.

“Healthy?” Jake asked in confusion.

I wanted to pound my head against the dashboard. “Yeah, um, he looks like he’s getting enough to eat,” I added lamely.

Stop talking, Zach. Just. Stop. Talking.

“That’s good,” Jake responded awkwardly. “But I think his fathers are a bit more concerned about other things.”

“What things?” I asked. I closed my eyes and tried to quietly take in a few deep breaths because my headache was getting worse. Why the hell hadn’t I just gone back to the hotel like I’d told Tag I was going to? My friend hadn’t pushed me into going out for drinks like we’d originally planned, which I’d been grateful for. But instead of calling it a day and crashing in bed until my headache passed, I was exactly where I shouldn’t have been.

In front of Lucky’s goddamn apartment.

“He’s just been… distant,” Jake said carefully.

“He’s a junior in college. I think part of the job description is to be distant.”

I waited for my brother to shoot me a smart-ass comeback, but he remained silent. “What?” I asked. “What aren’t you telling me?”

When he didn’t respond, I said, “Jake.”

“You weren’t around to see it, Zach, but Lucky’s got these fears…”

“What fears?” I asked. Pain momentarily forgotten, I leaned forward in my seat and wrapped my free hand around the truck’s steering wheel.

“After his fathers first got him, he was always afraid of being sent back to his mother. At first, he thought Xander and Bennett would be the ones to change their mind about adopting him. Then after he got settled with them, he’d have nightmares about being given back to his mom and whatever piece of shit boyfriend or pimp she had at the time. He did better for a while but then something happened after he turned eighteen—maybe he thought being a legal adult meant his fathers would kick him out or something, I don’t know—anyway, he went through a rough patch. He came home a lot the first year of school but then spent the past two summers working in Yellowstone, only coming home on the big holidays. He’s not coming home this summer either. Xander and Bennett are worried that the twins’ arrival is bringing back Lucky’s fears of being abandoned.”

My fingers had tightened considerably on the steering wheel of my truck, but when my brother mentioned something happening to Lucky after he’d turned eighteen, it felt like little daggers were being plunged into my temple.

What if I’d been what had happened to Lucky? Since my brother hadn’t confronted me about what had happened between me and Lucky on Christmas Eve, I’d assumed the teen hadn’t told anyone. But what if my rejection had brought back painful emotions from his past?

The pain in my head began to build to the point that my stomach began to roll.

“Look, Jake, he seemed okay. Really. If I thought you had anything to worry about, I’d tell you.” My words were the truth. While the incident with his ex had clearly upset him, Lucky had seemed more angry and annoyed than anything else. And he sure as shit hadn’t seemed upset when he’d stood his ground with me.

“Yeah, honey, it’s Zach,” I heard my brother say. There was a pause and then Jake said, “Zach, hang on, Oz wants to say hi.”

Before I could protest, the call switched to a video chat which I had no choice but to answer. I pulled in a breath and tried to steady my expression. The last thing I needed was for my doctor brother to figure out I wasn’t feeling my best at the moment.

I reluctantly hit the button to accept the call. My brother-in-law’s features filled the camera frame. I usually didn’t go for “pretty” men, but there was no denying that Jake had found himself a gorgeous specimen of a man in the model-turned-fashion-designer. But as stunning as Oz was on the outside, his physical looks had nothing on how beautiful he was on the inside. My brother had struck pure gold the moment he’d met the fiery young man on the side of a snow-covered mountain road.

“Zachary, sweetie, I love you like I love Dolce’s spring line, but Boo and I have a bone to pick with you.” Before I could respond, a face with bug eyes and a head covered in tufts of snow-white fur entered the frame. The ugly little dog’s mug had me forgetting my pain for a moment.

“Hey, Oz,” I said. “I’m sorry for whatever I did, but can we lay off the close-ups of your girl? Her unique beauty is better appreciated from afar.”

The camera shifted back to Oz. He shook his head at me. “Boo’s going to make you pay for that next time you visit,” he said. “And I’m going to make you pay for the sleepless nights you’re putting my husband through… and I’m not talking about the good kind of sleepless nights, either.”