Reservations

“I don’t want you to give it up. You have a chance,” Logan said, spouting his father’s words as he inserted himself in their conversation.

“Then we can all go to Maryland together. Maybe that should be our goal. It’s a million times better than here,” Levi said, adding an affirmative nod to that fact because no one in Maryland had any idea they came from the slums of San Diego. “What’d you guys say? Let’s start working in that direction. I haven’t let myself think about it too much, but maybe before the start of next school year, let’s go there.”

“I’d be okay with that,” Luke said and looked at Logan. Levi kept his gaze on his littlest brother. It was the way Luke’s face morphed into years younger as he sucked his lip between his teeth that had Levi’s determination setting in.

“Me too,” Logan said. “I have to be careful of my classes, but I’m graduating early anyway, and I can email University of Virginia to make sure it doesn’t mess with anything, but I’ll go.”

The hinges squeaked as the door opened. Linda came through, taking a seat behind them on the top step. “Guys, I probably shouldn’t have had Mrs. Underwood here. I just thought she could handle any crisis that came up,” Linda said, apologetically. “I envisioned that turning out differently in my head.”

“We’ve been talking,” Levi said, not looking back at her. He wrapped his arm tighter around Luke and again lifted his hand to Logan’s shoulder. Here lately, happy moments were rare, and he wasn’t ready to let go of the one they had just shared.

“That’s good,” Linda said. “I only want to help.”

“We know, but we want to try and make this work.” Levi didn’t finish with the rest of their plan, not sure if anyone should know before Logan had a chance to talk to his college and the high school. It could seriously be a pipe dream that they might not be able to pull off.

“We’re going to Maryland together,” Luke, his usually quiet brother, blurted out. “We have that bonus Levi got, and we’re gonna start working together to make our lives better.”

Levi rolled his eyes. Not only was silence about the plan no longer an option, but Luke had managed to remind him of Thane. His entire body tightened, betraying the sense of fury he should feel toward the man. Instead, his emotions ran the full gamut. Ricocheting passion, desire, and need mixed with unbelievable frustration and anger. That had been his problem for the last twenty-four hours. His emotions were so all over the place where Thane was concerned that he had to use a herculean effort to shut all those thoughts down. Levi refused to let himself think about Thane. Yes, technically, he’d barely stopped, but Linda’s announcement this morning had helped change that course. Levi was determined to only focus on his brothers and their future from this point forward.

“And when are you going to try to make this move?” Linda asked.

“We’re gonna have to figure that out,” Levi answered, tightening his grip on his brothers, hoping to quiet them until they found out all the details. “Definitely finish out the school year.”

“Luke, is that a smile?” Linda asked.

“Yes, ma’am. We talked.” Luke moved his thumb between him and Levi. It wasn’t much of a talk, absolutely minimal words spoken in his brother’s apparent coming out, but he guessed it was enough. Linda brought a hand to her heart, tears filling her voice.

“This is all I wanted in the world.” She dropped down a step, drawing all of them into a tight, if awkward, hug. “Okay, I’m in for your new goal too. You’re all three always welcome wherever I am. You’re my boys, but if we can get you outta here, that’s far better.”

“Thank you. It helps to have a backup plan,” Luke said, pulling from the hold. “I’m starving.” Luke was up, climbing over Levi then Linda to go back inside. In a sudden shift of moods, it seemed his brother was suddenly on the right track. Levi looked back to see the door swing shut as Linda began to chuckle.

“I’m going too,” Logan said and started to stand. He looked back at Linda, grinning. Levi swore he needed to learn how to roll with all these changing moods a little better.

Chapter 15

That night, Thane sat burrowed beneath a throw on his sofa in front of a roaring fire with a glass of Passeggiata, his current favorite wine from a local vineyard, in his hand and his laptop in his lap. A winter storm had blanketed the area and the snow continued to fall. Thank goodness this hadn’t happened twenty-four hours ago, or he’d have gotten stuck trying to travel home.

Thane had left his blinds open so he could watch the pristine white flakes dance in the wind right outside his window. The extreme differences in weather were hard to digest. Two nights ago, he could have worn shorts out on the beach. Tonight, the temperatures barely hit twenty-five degrees. He wasn’t sure which he preferred, except Coronado had Levi and that pretty much said it all.