Gavin eyed his plate.“Oh, man, BLT?”
“Yeah.You want one?”
“I wouldn’t say no.”
“So you do want one?”
“That’s what I said.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“What, you seriously want me to say it out loud?”
“Kind of, yeah.”
Gavin heaved a sigh.“Fine.Pretty please, Tris, can I have a BLT?”
“Sure.Help yourself.”He pushed the loaf of freshly baked country grain loaf from Whale’s Tale across the island toward him.
Gavin threw him a dirty look but came around the island to rummage in the cupboard for another plate.They’d shared this condo until he’d moved in with Autumn a few months ago, so he still knew where everything was.“Can I at least borrow your knife?”
“By all means.”He handed it over.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”Using a regular knife, he spread a thin layer of mayo on the second piece of toasted bread and placed it on the lettuce topping the bottom half, pressing it down with a satisfying crackle before slicing through the whole thing on the diagonal.
“Ooh, yeah, it’s thick cut bacon, too.Score,” Gavin murmured, coming up beside him to grab some off the baking sheet.
Tristan had lined it with foil before cooking the bacon in the oven to make cleanup easy.Having no one else to help with the cooking was enough work without having to clean greasy pans on top of everything else.
“Got any beer?”
“A few.”He took a big bite of the sandwich, relishing the satisfying, salty chew of the thick bacon and the crisp texture of the bread against the tang of the mayo and sweetness of the fresh tomato.
It was a nostalgic meal for him.Growing up in their house, bacon, let alone thick cut bacon, had been a luxury reserved for special occasions like birthdays.After their mom died, in the summers Marley used to make him and Gavin toasted sandwiches with tomatoes from the vines she’d grown in a big barrel in the backyard.
She’d had such a steep learning and responsibility curve to navigate after being parentified at such a young age.He still had no idea how she’d juggled everything and still managed to pass high school.
Gavin finished making his sandwich in companiable silence, grabbed a beer from the fridge, and took a seat opposite him on one of the stools at the island, eyeing him with uncharacteristic concern.“So.You good?”
Tristan had called to tell him what had happened on the drive home from dropping Cassie off.“Yeah.”He’d been better.
“Sure about that?”Gavin looked as unconvinced as he sounded.
He lifted a shoulder, kept eating.
Gavin picked up half his sandwich.Also cut on the diagonal, the way Marley had taught them as kids.Sandwiches cut any other way just didn’t taste right.“You wanna talk about it?”
None of them had ever been great at talking about stuff.They’d all become experts at bottling things up at a young age.But he appreciated that his twin had asked, because he needed to get some things off his chest.The situation between him and Cassie had him tied in knots.
“I’m worried about her.She says she’s fine, but she’s not.”
“No?”
He shook his head.Took another bite, thinking about her and what had happened today.
Those heart stopping moments of hearing the gunfire in the background and knowing he was too far away to protect her.The endless few minutes it had taken to reach her, praying she wouldn’t get shot.Seeing the bullet holes in the SUV, and her kneeling on the ground, hands and arms covered in blood while she fought so hard to save Penny.
