Nick jabbed him in the arm with his fork. “What’s up with you? Usually you don’t shut up about my crap cooking.”

“Maybe I don’t want to hurt your feelings.”

Chris snorted, finally looking up from his plate. “That’ll be the day.”

Gabriel kicked him under the table. “What’s up with you?”

“Nothing’s up with me.”

“Becca’s with Hunter,” said Nick.

Chris rolled his eyes and stabbed a piece of chicken.

Gabriel smiled. “Want to come out with me and Nicky and blow stuff up on the beach?”

Michael’s hands went still and he looked up over the laptop. “You’d better be kidding.”

He wasn’t, but Michael didn’t need to know that. “Don’t worry. Go back to your ‘work.’ ” Gabriel made little air quotes with his hands.

“You’re supposed to be lying low,” said Michael. “Do you have any understanding of what that means?”

Gabriel ignored him.

“I’m talking to you,” said Michael.

Gabriel’s fork clinked against his plate and he leaned in against the table. “Don’t start this shit with me, Michael.”

Nick put a hand on his arm. “Stop. It’s fine.”

Gabriel didn’t say anything, just glared across the table at his older brother.

But Chris was staring across the table at Nick, his eyes telegraphing something Gabriel couldn’t figure out.

He drew back. “What? What’s with the look?”

Nick pulled his hand back. “Chris is going out with Becca later.”

“I’ll alert the media. So what?”

“So . . .” Nick pushed the macaroni around on his plate. “Quinn was giving her a hard time about leaving her sitting at home, and I made some comment that we should make it a double date, and she said yes.”

“You like her?”

“Maybe.” Nick shrugged and looked at his plate, pushing the macaroni noodles with his fork. “It’s something to do.”

The only time Nick hedged like this was when he really liked a girl. Gabriel smiled. “Don’t you mean someone?”

Now Nick snapped his eyes up. “It’s not like that.”

Oh, this was fantastic. “You know she had her tongue down Rafe Gutierrez’s throat, like, three days ago.”

“I said it’s not like that.” The temperature in the room dropped ten degrees.

Michael was looking over the top of the laptop again. “Easy.”

Nick’s eyes were like ice. “Maybe we should talk about what happened in third period today. I didn’t even ask if you were okay.”

What a bastard. “Shut up.”

“What happened?” said Michael.

“Nothing,” said Chris. He glared at Nick across the table.

Good little brother. “Yeah,” said Gabriel. “Nothing.”

“It was all over school,” said Nick. “Lights exploded for no reason at all. They’re getting experts in to check all the wiring.”

Michael slapped the laptop shut. “What?”

Gabriel wanted to knock his twin upside the head—his hand was already tight at his side. But he kept hearing Layne’s parting comment, and he kept his hands to himself.

He sighed and looked back at his plate. “It was an accident.”

“An accident.” Michael looked like he was going to have an aneurysm, right here at the table. “Are. You. Crazy.”