A good kiss. A slow kiss. A long one, because they were in the shadows—but really, he didn’t care who caught a glimpse.
But then someone did see them, because a wolf whistle split the night. Then another, and Nick broke away, blushing fiercely.
“Okay, okay,” he said.
“Not just okay,” Adam whispered, his lips close to Nick’s ear.
“Great, good, fine.”
Nick turned his head to pick up where they’d left off. But then something brushed his senses, and the candles suddenly blazed hotter.
He straightened, moving to the middle of the porch with his brothers, their eyes searching the darkness for the threat.
They didn’t have to look far. Calla Dean came walking out of the woods, pink and blond hair glinting in the firelight.
“Hello, Merricks,” she called, smiling broadly. “I hear you’re starting a war.”
No one moved.
She stopped in the grass, looking up at the porch.
“Guess what,” she said, losing the smile. “I want in.”
s a misunderstanding. And then you were fighting me, and I figured out that you had been keeping this huge monumental secret, and I just—I snapped.”
“That’s not good enough.” Nick gritted his teeth. “You shouldn’t have been fighting him. You shouldn’t have put your hands on him.”
“I know. And I apologized to him.”
Nick’s head was reeling. “What? When?”
“This morning, when I called him and asked what time his audition was.”
Nick stared at him.
“I told him not to tell you,” Gabriel added. He hesitated. “I didn’t think you’d let me come.”
Nick wouldn’t have. He had to clear his throat. “What else did you talk about?”
“I asked him why you thought you had to keep this a secret from me.”
Nick glared at him. “You know why. You showed why.”
“No.” And on this, Gabriel’s voice was firm. “I acted like a total shit that night. I apologized for it, and I’ll do it a hundred more times if I have to. But you went to a lot of trouble to keep this secret, way before we went to that coffee shop. Jesus, Nick, two weeks ago you and Quinn were making out on the floor of your bedroom.”
Nick looked away.
Gabriel leaned close, and his voice was very quiet. “Please.
Please, talk to me.”
Nick had to swallow. He felt his brother’s pain in those words, how much this imposed distance had hurt him. If Nick was being strictly honest with himself, it had hurt him, too. He missed his brother.
He kept his voice very low. “What did Adam say?”
Gabriel grimaced. “He said I needed to ask you.”
“I knew you already thought of me as . . . as something lesser. I didn’t—”