CHAPTER 26

CHAPTER 26

Gabriel made it home just before two. Plenty of time to grab a shower and clean clothes and to get out the door to pick up Layne.

Or it would have been, if his brothers had still been out.

He didn’t see Michael—thank god—but Nick stopped him in the hallway, blocking the path to the bathroom.

“Where were you all morning?”

“Sorry, Mom, I’ll leave a note next time.” Gabriel went to push past him.

But Nick stood firm. “You smell like fire.”

Not surprising, considering he and Hunter had burned a dozen hay bales at the back of Hunter’s grandparents’ property. Their practice experiment ended with mixed results: Gabriel had practically set the entire field on fire.

But he was close. His control was getting better. He could feel it.

And they’d been ready this time. A hose hookup was in the old barn. Luckily.

At least he didn’t have to lie about where he’d been. “I went over to Hunter’s. We went for a run and then set hay bales on fire.”

Gabriel watched the surprise flicker on Nick’s face and enjoyed it. The almost-betrayal. The almost-guilt, as Gabriel’s words registered. We did something you never want to do. Then we did something you and I used to do.

And while Nick was standing there trying to think of a retort, Gabriel shoved past him into the bathroom and locked the door.

When he came out, the house was quiet.

Finally. Maybe his brothers had gone on another job. Maybe he’d lucked out and Michael wasn’t going to hassle him all day.

Gabriel pulled on a clean shirt in his bedroom. He’d spent the last twenty minutes telling himself that studying math at the kitchen table meant this wasn’t a date, that he had a greater chance of looking like a moron at this activity than at just about anything else.

Gabriel jogged down the steps and stuck his hand into his backpack for his car keys.

Nothing.

Then he looked out the window beside the front door. No car, either.

“Fuck!” He hit the door frame. It hurt. He did it again.

“Problems?”

Gabriel glanced down the hallway. He’d assumed Michael was out, but he found his older brother sitting in the kitchen. The laptop sat open in front of him, work papers spread across the table.

“Yeah,” said Gabriel. “Nick took the car.”

Michael didn’t even look up from the screen. “Huh. Didn’t you do the same thing this morning?”

“Don’t talk to me like I’m a little kid.”

Now his brother’s eyes flicked up. “I’m sorry, was that a mature adult punching the front door?”

Gabriel took a step forward, ready to let loose with something biting and acerbic, something that would start a fight to take the edge off this anger.