Read Twin Ties 1: My Brother's Lover for Free Online Page B

man—tough, strong and fearless. Brennan felt like none of those things. He felt only left behind, shattered and terrified.
    Maybe he should have called Tommy back. Maybe he should have listened to Charlie’s message.
    He didn’t do either.
    Restless energy and cabin fever were the only things he could identify in the churning of his thoughts. So, he grabbed his laptop and looked up the nearest yoga studio. The closest one was a few towns away. He didn’t have a car, so he decided to borrow Evan’s and fill up the gas tank in the old Chevy as payment for the loan. Yoga clothes in hand, not bothering to check a mirror before he went, knowing he’d see only his sunken, baggy eyes and bitterness, Brennan headed out into the sunshine all too aware of the storm cloud following along over him.

    Presley and Luka leaned casually against the end machine in a long line of ellipticals on the ground floor of Sweat gym. It was mid-day. Presley’s shift was winding down while Luka’s was just getting started. It was a slow time of day—right between the lunch rush and the after-work surge.
    “What the
hell
were you doing to that poor woman last night, man?” Presley asked. “I had half a mind to come up there and save her or something with all the hollering goin’ on. I mean,
damn
.”
    Luka rolled his eyes and he couldn’t help but grin.
    Presley
tsk
ed at him.
    “It was just Jackie. She was in the neighborhood. You know.”
    “‘The neighborhood’ my ass. You two might as well be dating again with how much time she spends in your bed.” Presley folded his muscular arms over his broad chest, watching a man a few feet away struggle with a loaded leg-press.
    “Oh,” Luka chuckled. “I see.
You’re
gonna start lecturing
me
on spending too much time in bed with people I’m not dating? That’s just not ironic at
all
.”
    Luka’s expression lost its amusement as he pondered Jackie. His levity drained steadily away until all that remained was an unhappy pout. “No. Last night was it. I’m done. Shit with her is getting
way
too complicated. She’s starting to think there’s a chance for us. Hell, I apologized to her this morning, you know. Told her I was a jackass for using her like I did, when there was no way it could ever work between us.”
    “Yeah. Then you kicked her ass out. Didn’cha?”
    “Whatever.”
    Presley
tsk
ed again.
    “Stop that,” Luka scowled.
    “
Boundaries
, Luka. Say it with me.
Boundaries
. You gotta set rules and then not break them, no matter how horny you are.”
    “Easier said than done,” Luka muttered quietly.
    “No shit. You, of all people, have crossed some
major
fucking boundaries. Haven’t you learned your lesson yet? There are some people you cannot fuck. Can-
not
.”
    “Prude. Just because our particular society currently frowns upon certain predilections doesn’t change how people feel. And it doesn’t make them bad people for feeling that way.”
    “Okay. Then how about, to start with, you pick a gender and stick to it. Women, men. I’m tellin’ you, though, women are
not
worth the effort sometimes. No matter how good the pussy is. They start talking about commitment and
babies
.”
    Luka stared at him. Presley looked like he just sucked on a lemon. “You have something against propagation of the species?”
    Presley turned to face Luka, lowered his brow and widened his stance. “I do when propagation is spelled D-E-N-I-A-L. Look, I’m not judging you. You know I love you like family. I just think you’re a very confused person and, as your friend, I’m gonna just say one more thing. One.”
    He held up one long digit. Presley, with his flawlessly perfected, lean and toned body, captivating hazel eyes and skin like coffee without the cream, was not someone you ignored when he demanded your attention.
    “What?” Luka blinked, leaning toward him a little.
    Presley promptly smacked him upside the head. “Use your head.”
    “Ow!” Luka complained, rubbing