Twin Ties 1: My Brother's Lover Read Online Free PDF Page A

good news except most of the food was fruit and vegetables.
    “Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me,” he groaned, scanning Brennan’s purchases.
    The door to Brennan’s room was firmly closed. Evan stared at it for a second, wondering what could possibly be going on behind it, until he forced the thought away. Ignoring the tiny voice at the back of his mind that told him to go over there and maybe put his ear to the door, Evan headed out the back of the house.
    The walk to work was a quick one, but on the way he called his neighbor, good friend and beer supplier, Jimmy Bennett.
    “Hey, I know it’s early. Can I swing by later? After work?”
    “Sure. Everything okay with the new arrival?”
    “Yeah,” Evan said shortly. “So you’ll be home? Around four?”
    “I’ll be here.”
    “Cool. Thanks, Jimmy.”
    “Sure thing. Later, Ev.”
    They hung up and Evan set his sights on the garage just ahead, thinking of coffee and the attractive distractions of manual labor.

    In a mobile home only a half-mile away, Jimmy Bennett gazed out of the small, curtained window over his sink and tried not to overanalyze Evan’s brief call. He couldn’t help but feel responsible for the kid—who was more than a few years younger than him—especially with Charlie gone again. A deeply pious man at heart, Jimmy sent up a little prayer.
    “Please God, watch over him. He needs You. Help open Brennan’s eyes to who Evan really is and help open Evan’s heart to receiving such a gift as a brother in his life. I believe they can be a blessing for each other, Lord. As long as they don’t keep their heads buried in the sand,” Jimmy sighed. “In Your Name I pray. Amen.”
    His thoughts went there again, to that field of tall grass, four years in the past. It seemed like it was just yesterday. There was sunshine, with a light breeze making the supple blades wave and dance. It was such a beautiful day. All he wanted was a walk to ease his mind and to listen for God’s voice in his heart. Jimmy listened, all right, and the warm, bright day was turned black and cold in a matter of moments, finding what he did cradled on God’s living canvas, nestled in the green-gold grass.
    “Oh, Evan.” Jimmy rubbed his eyes and went to fill the coffee pot.

    As usual, Alek’s late night was followed by a late morning. He rolled out of bed around eleven, got dressed and headed downstairs with the work shirt discarded by the sexy, beautiful teenager from the bar’s bathroom crumpled in his hand. His first stop was the kitchen. The house was quiet. Carter Raed, one of Alek’s three housemates, no doubt was at work. Presley Owens, another housemate, was probably working too, being one to favor the early shift over the late one. Alek could hear the television in the front room, and that was probably Luka, Alek’s twin brother, either passed out or watching ESPN.
    After being in the same large circle of friends in high school as Presley and Carter, they’d migrated toward one another the older they got, growing closer after graduation, and agreeing to chip in on rent in order to gain their independence. It was all done without any of them coming out and saying it was because of their sexual orientations, even though that was the case. Even in such a crowded school as theirs, it was still rare to find guys who didn’t self-identify as being straight, and who were open-minded enough to know when to look the other way, or live and let live. They never talked about it when they agreed to live together, and years later it was a conversation that had never quite happened. Alek and Luka never tried to hide who they were when at home, though. Presley and Carter’s tolerance for the twins’ lifestyle had, in turn, earned them respect and willingness to overlook some of the other strange things happening behind closed doors.
    Noting the recently emptied coffee pot with only a few drops scorching the bottom of the glass, Alek sighed, “Thanks, Luka,” and