Double Heat [Twin Ties: 3] (20 page)

“Sit down, Evan. He needs to sleep. He’s exhausted,” Jimmy said, sternly.

Luka pulled Evan down to the couch, still holding, still soothing. Alek stood there, dazed. Jimmy sat on the overstuffed chair, looking older than he should have.

While Jimmy explained, none of them spoke. “He showed up at my house a few hours ago. He’d driven there from Monroe without stopping to rest. Without a coat. He was... bloody. They stitched his eyebrow. His left wrist is sprained, not broken, thank God. They did a rape kit. They said there was some tearing, but no trace of semen. I couldn’t get a straight answer from him, but he said the person who did this to him was Tommy Koch.”

“His ex-boyfriend?!” Luka yelled.

“Shh!” Alek scolded.

Jimmy continued, “It sounded like Brennan fought his way free before Tommy managed to finish with him. Really, it’s a miracle he made it here alive. The odds of him driving off the road, as beaten and exhausted as he was.... He shouldn’t have made it. The adrenaline must have kept him going.”

Evan was shaking. He couldn’t speak. He shook his head, grunting in denial.

Brennan had been worried about Tommy. He’d told Evan. Maybe he’d
only
told Evan, and now it was Evan’s fault that he hadn’t pressed the issue harder, or told someone else about Brennan’s bad feeling.

“It’s okay. He’s here,” Luka whispered to Evan, gripping his hand. “We have him back.”

Jimmy got up and reached inside the inside pocket of his jacket. “Keep an eye on him. Here’s the paperwork from the ER. It contains instructions for his care. He’ll need to see his own physician for a follow up. They recommended counseling.”

“Thanks,” Alek murmured hollowly, taking the folded papers.

“I’m gonna go. Get some sleep. Call me when he wakes up?” Jimmy asked.

“Yeah. Of course. Thank you.”

“No problem.” Jimmy clapped a hand on Alek’s shoulder as he walked past. Making a detour to the couch, he gave Evan’s shoulder a squeeze, too.

“Thank you,” Luka said to Jimmy. “For taking care of him.”

Jimmy nodded and left, leaving them with the horror of the truth.

Chapter 16
Two Halves, Made Whole

They finally conceded and let Evan lie down beside Brennan for a while. Being near him helped Evan to finally calm down. In fact, he calmed so much, he dozed off. When Evan woke, it was to the buzzing sound of the hair clippers, and the bed was empty.

Sitting up in bed, fast, Evan frantically looked around. Brennan wasn’t in the room.

Finding the adjoining bathroom empty as well, he dashed across the hall into his own bedroom. Alek and Luka were at the door to the bathroom, which was closed. Light seeped around the edges from inside.

“Bren, open up!” Alek called, knocking. “Please!”

“It’s just us. Please unlock the door!” Luka added, resting his head against the frame.

The buzzing continued, though. Evan hung back, understanding that the door wouldn’t be unlocked until Brennan was finished, if not the reason why he was doing it.

A few minutes later, the door’s lock disengaged with a pop. Alek and Luka stepped back as it opened.

“Whoa.”

Brennan didn’t look like himself at all. He looked like Evan.

Brennan’s trademark blond hair was gone, buzzed off. His hair was exactly like Evan’s, shorn short. But, more than that, he wasn’t wearing his traditional pair of yoga pants, either. He was wearing a pair of Evan’s sweatpants and one of Evan’s long-sleeved shirts. The arm sling was off and the brace was hidden by the long sleeves.

Almost throwing himself forward, Brennan moved past Alek and Luka and hooked his arms around Evan’s neck, hugging him with a heavy exhale. It felt so good to have Brennan in his arms. He was solid and warm, the familiar scent of him filling Evan’s head. It was an instant, heady comfort. A tingle of pleasure moved under Evan’s skin to have what he’d been longing for. He never wanted to let go.

Evan clasped Brennan’s back, keeping him close, breathing him in, and shutting his eyes with relief.

“I love you so much. Don’t ever leave again, okay?” Evan whispered.

Brennan just held on tighter and pressed his lips against Evan’s neck.

Glancing over Brennan’s shoulder at Alek and Luka, Evan gave them a helpless sort of look. Alek drew Luka in for a hug when Luka started to get choked up.

Having Brennan in his arms was completion. For Evan, everything tight and afraid inside was loosened and sated more than he would have thought possible. And he could feel Brennan, in every way. More than that, he understood.

The things Brennan had held on to as part of his identity, the things that distinguished him from Evan, were what he was letting go of. He trimmed off his hair, changed his clothes, and shed the skin of his distinctiveness. Evan felt how it was safer for Brennan to be a twin instead of only himself, given what he must have gone through. It put much needed space between where he was now, and where he’d been on his trip, and the hell he’d endured there, alone.

Evan knew how it felt to want to be removed from things that had happened. If Brennan could see ways to leave Tommy behind by sacrificing parts of himself, then he would do it. Evan would do the same thing to separate himself from everything tied to his own past, and Drew. He’d kept Drew behind walls, not telling anyone about him, or the things they’d done together. Now that Drew was back, everything that connected him to Drew was trouble. It made what they’d done together that much closer to being exposed. It was part of why Evan had cut his hair. He remembered, too, how even the clothes he’d worn during his ‘dates’ with Drew had been avoided afterward, as if they’d been tainted with guilt over things he felt guilty for enjoying. Brennan was just doing the same thing.

At the same time, Evan didn’t want to lose the things that made Brennan special. Tommy shouldn’t have that much power over him. It wasn’t Evan’s call to make, though.

“Let’s go to your chair in the living room,” Evan suggested. “I’ll have the twins grab you some food and something to drink. We’ll put on a bad movie and hide under a blanket, okay?”

Brennan nodded without letting go.

He let Evan take his hand and guide him out into the hall. That skin-to-skin contact continued to intoxicate. It felt direly needed after all that had happened while they’d been apart.

They went to the overstuffed chair. Evan sat down first, watching Luka go to the fridge while Alek went to the coffee pot. Brennan followed him down, cuddling up close. All of Evan’s fear lifted from him, leaving him lighter and calmer than he’d been in days. The worries about his past didn’t matter. Brennan needed him. He was relying on Evan to help him feel better.

Evan was exactly where he wanted to be, and had absolutely everything he needed. A vital part of him had been missing, but now he was complete. The same was true for Brennan, and Evan knew that just holding each other was helping more than any medicine or explanation could.

Evan pulled a blanket from the back of the chair and draped it over them. Brennan burrowed down, resting his head against Evan’s chest. His eyes shut. A moment later, he was breathing deep with sleep, his body relaxed.

It was another strange day. Brennan wouldn’t let go of Evan, who called out of work, as did Alek and Luka. The Popović twins mainly stayed on the couch. For hours at a stretch, Brennan would sleep, holding on to Evan like he was Brennan’s teddy bear. Alek and Luka kept them both surrounded with food or drink in arm’s reach. The weirdest part, though, was how Evan kept catching Alek and Luka staring at them.

No one knew what to say. It was likely the twins were afraid of waking Brennan, since they wouldn’t say anything, they’d just stare.

Evan knew why, and it wasn’t just because Alek and Luka were imagining the horror of what Brennan had endured with Tommy. They were all doing that. No, it was because Brennan and Evan were completely identical now. Evan remembered looking at Alek and Luka that way, sometimes. Now, the tables were turned. The only difference between them was the bruising and stitches around Brennan’s eye, but if Brennan was lying with that side of his face pressed against Evan’s chest, he knew they had to be looking the same. Exactly.

Something under the surface that perhaps was sensed, not seen, was how both Brennan and Evan were being tormented by other men. Fear linked them. There was a lot Brennan wasn’t saying, and maybe they were starting to realize Evan had his own secrets to tell. Alek certainly sensed it, because of the things he’d heard said between Evan and Jimmy. Past had collided with present, and it was affecting their future. Nothing, after this, would ever be the same.

Life hadn’t started when their little foursome met each other. They had all been with people before, had made bad choices, and been intimate with lovers they wish they hadn’t, in retrospect. When they’d decided to reemerge into the world together, to leave behind the protective seclusion they’d enjoyed for so long, they had been tempting fate, and inviting those who knew them to shake up the careful balance they’d achieved.

The first time any of them exchanged words was after Brennan ate some oatmeal.

“If you don’t wanna talk about it yet, it’s okay. No rush,” Evan told him.

“Thanks,” Brennan replied, avoiding eye contact. Evan leaned in to brush Brennan’s cheek with a gentle kiss. Brennan turned toward the touch, accepting it and laying a hand against Evan’s chest.

Being raised without a mother, Evan had always been fascinated by the mother-son bond, something he’d never gotten to experience. He’d read articles about the effects a mother’s love could have. His favorite theory had discussed how just being hugged or kissed by your mother had the same healing effects as painkillers on the child’s body. It literally made you feel better, to receive that unconditional love.

Evan couldn’t help but wonder if the same held true between identical twins. Evan felt his stress over the chance meeting with Drew dissipate. It was so good just to have Brennan back, safe, in his arms, Evan didn’t care about anything else. Everything he’d been consumed by suddenly didn’t matter as much. All he cared about was being with those he loved. He hoped the same was true for Brennan, and Evan’s nearness was helping him heal in other ways, letting him feel how he wasn’t alone anymore and could count on them for support.

Before Brennan fell back asleep, tucked under the blanket, cocooned in warmth in the padded, comfortable chair, their feet propped up, Brennan whispered, “Love you, Ev. I’m sorry.”

“Hey, don’t apologize. There’s nothing to be sorry about.” Evan kissed Brennan’s forehead. Brennan lifted his chin farther and caught Evan’s lips with his own. Evan could feel Alek and Luka watching, and listening. Pouring his love for his brother into the kiss, Evan let Brennan control it. It lasted longer than he thought it would. When Brennan kissed his way from Evan’s lips, over to Evan’s cheek, Evan felt Brennan’s fingers caress over the buzzed-short hair on Evan’s scalp. Brennan breathed against Evan’s cheek for a while, and it was nice, that closeness.

After Brennan was asleep again, and the huge distraction he was, lessened, Evan became more aware of how upset Alek and Luka were. They were cuddled up on the couch together, just like Evan and Brennan were entangled with each other. Both sets of twins had drawn together.
Maybe
, Evan thought,
it was the stress of it all
.

Evan felt a pull in the core of his body telling him to go to the twins and give himself over to them. Instinct told him to submit to their needs and whatever they wanted to take of him, to lose his cares in their devotion and pleasure. He wanted to help, to comfort them too.

Speaking quietly, Evan said, “He’s okay. He’s just shaken up.”

They were staring again, glancing between his face and Brennan’s. Strangely, it made Evan feel even more protective of Brennan.

“Why’d he do it, do you think?” Alek asked.

“Tommy liked the blond hair,” Evan answered.

Luka frowned and asked, “How do you know?”

“I have no idea. I just do.”

“He didn’t say anything?”

“No. You can’t tell us apart now, can you?”

Luka shook his head. Evan held his gaze for a long time.

Then Luka said, his voice thick and rough, “I’m gonna take that bastard the fuck
apart
for touching him.”

Evan could see Luka shaking with frustrated rage. Tears spilled over, slipping down his cheek. Alek gathered Luka up in his arms and kissed him, caressing his hair.

They ordered in Brennan’s favorite pasta for dinner and watched two of his favorite comedic movies.

After the sun had set, there was a brief knock on the door, below. The four of them looked at each other, warily. For a moment, no one moved or breathed.

“I’ll get it,” Alek said when there was nothing else, no additional knock.

He grabbed the bat again and descended to the door. They heard it open and, a second later, Alek’s grunt of strain just before the door closed again.

“Who is it?!” Luka yelled.

“It’s a box!” Alek replied. “FedEx just dropped it off.”