Layne wanted to put a hand on his shoulder, but she wasn’t sure how he’d take it. What had he said? I had to get out of the house.

She kept her voice careful. “So your parents are pissed?”

“No.” His hands dropped, falling into his pockets again. He had to have a cell phone or something there; she could see him fiddling with something. He started walking again, saying nothing, so she hustled to catch up.

“My parents died when I was twelve,” he said.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“My older brother is twenty-three, so he has custody.”

She had no idea what to say.

He glanced her way. “It’s been five years,” he said flatly. “I’m over it.”

She didn’t believe that for a minute. “So . . . your older brother . . . is he pissed?”

“He would be, if he knew. We had a big fight last night about . . . other stuff.”

She had arguments with Simon, but she imagined Gabriel wasn’t one to fight with words and tears and threats to tell a parent. “No sense adding fuel to the fire, huh?”

“Something like that.”

“Are you going to get Nick to help you?”

Gabriel hesitated. “I don’t think that’s going to happen.” Another pause. “Nick and I aren’t speaking.”

Wow, pain hid behind those words. She only had bits and pieces of this story, like reading the first sentence of every chapter in a book. Something powerful had happened—she just couldn’t piece it together.

He’d been banned from the team, from a sport she knew he loved—God, even Simon practically worshipped Gabriel’s athletic ability. He was fighting with his twin brother, and they had to be close, the way they seamlessly switched places in front of teachers and other students.

And then he’d searched for her in the library. He’d wanted to talk to her in private. He’d apologized, and she’d known how much it cost him to do it. He’d seen right through her defenses, leaving that perfectly charming sentence in her notebook.

No, not charming. Honest.

Desperate?

It hadn’t been a game. He’d wanted her to call.

Gabriel ran a hand through his hair again. “Sorry,” he said, his blue eyes dark and full of emotion. “I’ll shut up. It’s been a shitty week.”

Layne took a deep breath.

Then she stepped forward to throw her arms around his neck and hug him.

CHAPTER 19

CHAPTER 19

Gabriel stiffened when Layne’s arms went around his neck. With the way his life was going, he wouldn’t have been surprised to find her goal was to choke him.

But then she was just holding him, her slender arms full of strength, their height difference putting her head against his shoulder.

He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been held like this.