But when Mrs. Chandler pushed at the door to the office, Quinn said, “Wait. If Becca didn’t tell you, then how did you know?”

“Your friend called me this morning. He said he got my number from Michael Merrick. He wanted to help you, but he wasn’t sure how. He sounded pretty upset about what was going on, but he didn’t want something bad to happen to you.”

Quinn’s heart was pounding. “My friend? Who?”

“Nice young man. Said he knows Becca, too. Tyler Morgan.”

By Wednesday night, Nick and Gabriel had settled into an uneasy truce.

Well, Nick had settled into one. He lived in the house and went through the motions of living with four other guys, but where his twin was concerned, he went out of his way to avoid him. He caught a ride to school from Michael or Hunter. He went to the studio at night to watch Adam and Quinn dance. He studied in his room with the door closed.

At first, Gabriel had dogged him, begging for a chance to apologize. Nick had ignored that.

Then, true to form, Gabriel had turned antagonistic, mocking his silence. That was even easier to ignore.

But tonight, Adam had class and Quinn had texted that she was busy, so Nick was home. He’d been ready for more hassling from his twin, but Gabriel was the one staying out late.

Nick wondered if his twin was avoiding him, now, if he’d made it so uncomfortable that Gabriel didn’t even want to be in the same house with him.

Good.

Actually, tonight, Nick was glad for his twin’s absence. He found Michael sitting in a dim kitchen, hunched over his laptop.

A stack of invoices sat next to him.

Nick stopped short. “I can do that.”

“I know you can,” said Michael. “So can I.” He looked at Nick, then nodded at the pile of papers in his hands. “What do you have? Something for school?”

“Sort of.” Nick hesitated. “I need to tell you something. Ask you something. Whatever.”

Michael uncapped a bottle of water and took a sip. “Shoot.”

Nick pulled a chair free and eased into it. “My physics teacher said he needs a decision about that semester of math and science at Maryland this spring.” The words were rushing out, and he couldn’t figure out Michael’s expression, so he kept talking. “It’s college credit, and they only accept a few students from each high school, but it’s also a lot of work. I don’t want to take time away from the business, because I know spring is our busiest season.”

His brother frowned. “Are you asking me if you can do it, or trying to get me to tell you not to?”

Nick took a breath. “I have no idea.”