“I never kissed a guy before you,” Nick said, flat out, no preamble. “My brothers have no idea.” He winced, remembering Quinn’s comments during the landscaping job. “They probably think I’m a total player. Even my twin brother—”

“Gabriel, right?”

“Yeah.” Nick glanced up, surprised that Adam had remembered. “He says I’m the good twin, and that’s why I get more girls.”

“That would make him the evil twin?”

Nick frowned. “If you ask Quinn, she’d say yes. But he’s not. He has a good heart. He’s very loyal. We got picked on when we were younger, and he always took a beating so I could get away. He’s the kind of guy to punch first and ask questions later. Quinn hates him, and I wish I could fix it. But he can be sharp—cruel. He speaks without thinking, and it gets him into trouble.”

“You’re close?”

“Yeah.” Nick hesitated. “I think we’re growing apart this year. A little.”

“And he has no clue you’re into guys?”

Despite the fact that he was sitting here holding hands with Adam, the instinct to reject the notion was so strong that Nick almost denied it. He had to clear his throat. “No. No idea.”

“Do you think he’d hurt you if he knew?”

Nick blinked in surprise. “What, you mean physically?”

“Yeah, I mean physically.”

Nick had never worried about his brothers beating the shit out of him over something like this. Anger, isolation—those he expected. Not violence.

His eyes zoomed in on the scar pulling at the edge of Adam’s lip. Years ago, someone had slammed Adam’s face into a locker at school, causing enough damage that he’d needed plastic surgery to put his face back together.

But Nick couldn’t imagine Gabriel hurting him. Not with his fists, anyway. Disappointment and rejection were another story.

Nick shook his head. “I don’t think he would. But he might not take it well. Gabriel is very . . .”

Adam waited.

Nick ran a hand through his hair, feeling it stand up in tufts. How could he explain Gabriel? “He plays on four varsity teams at school. I think he knows most of the cheerleaders intimately, if you catch my drift. He’s got a girlfriend now, but if anyone’s a player, it’s him. He’s brave—I mean, he’s trying to get into firefighter school. Just very . . . I don’t know.”

“Alpha?”

“Yes. Perfect word.”

“You admire him.”

Nick shrugged.

Adam smiled. “You do. I can hear it in your voice.” He paused. “How old are you?”

“Seventeen. How old are you?”

“Nineteen.”