“Nice to meet you.” Counselor Kendrick’s tone was warm, but not patronizing. He spoke to Gabriel like the individual he was, rather than the stereotype Baylor had turned him into. “We have your room set up, and a guided tour of the facility ready. Are you settogo?”
The moment was tense, the emotions on the air palpable. Fear, Sterling knew. It radiated off Gabriel like heat from blacktop beneath the summer sun. But paired with the fear was excitement and positivity, both from Adrian and Counselor Kendrick, who’d both come to support Gabriel in different ways. There was nothing to fear here. By their attitudes alone, everyone let Gabriel know that he would besafehere.
Adrian rubbed a hand against Gabriel’s back. Gabriel turned toward him, ran the back of his hand beneath his eyes, then latched his arms around Adrian’s neck and held himself close. For a moment, Adrian looked too surprised to do anything, but then he closed his arms around Gabriel’s waist and held him inreturn.
Even though the Lowe family was broken, Adrian and Gabriel had done their best to string it back together. They turned to each other for support in the same way that Sterling had stepped up to make sure that Clarissa never felt like she was alone. In Adrian’s touch, and in the kindness of his eyes, Sterling knew that he would always be there for hisbrother.
“Let’s get you inside, Gabriel,” Adrian said softly. He drew back from the embrace and laid a hand on Gabriel’s shoulder. “It’s going to be great. You’re going to be given all the tools you need to make the futureyours.”
“Many of our graduates have gone on to do great things with their lives,” Counselor Kendrick agreed. “They’ve become doctors, lawyers, teachers… but no matter your path in life—whether your ambition is to achieve greatness or not—the most important thing is thatyouchoose it. That’s what we’re here to give you the chancetodo.”
Gabriel nodded. He took his first step forward and looked timidly over his shoulder at Adrian, then took his next step with equal hesitance. When he stepped off the sidewalk and onto Stonecrest grounds, Sterling couldn’t have been more pleased. Gabriel wasn’t his brother, but the baby on the way meant he would always be connected to the Lowe family, and seeing Gabriel off on his new start was avictory.
“You’re going to call, right?” Gabriel asked. He stood by Counselor Kendrick, looking small. “You’re going to come visit onvisitingdays?”
“Of course I will.” Adrian smiled. “And if you want, Sterling cancome,too.”
Gabriel didn’t look too sure about that. He glanced at Sterling, but immediately dropped his gaze when Sterling met his eyes. “Maybe. But… but can you bring the baby? Please? I’d like tomeether.”
“You think it’s a her?” Adrian looked at Sterling, the light in his eyes problematic, but only because it made Sterling want to sweep him into his arms and kiss him hard. “What say you, oh master spermdonor?”
Sterling choked back a laugh. “The factory’s not equipped to sort its products, so all shipments are mixed. I’m afraid Ican’tsay.”
Adrian winked, then looked at Gabriel again. “Well, whether the baby is a boy or a girl, we’ll bring them to meetyou,okay?”
“Okay.” A tiny smile curved Gabriel’s lips. “I’m happy for you,Adrian.”
“I’m happy for me, too,”Adriansaid.
Sterling didn’t doubt it. Adrian could refuse to answer his question, and he could snark all he wanted, but he couldn’t change the look on his face. The injured man Sterling had met all those months agowasgone.
Adrian was whole, and whether or not Sterling remained in his life, Sterling liked to think that would neverchange.
* * *
Sterling renteda private parking space at an all-hours parking garage not half a block from The Shepherd. After Gabriel’s emotional send-off, Adrian was quiet and a little melancholy, so they’d walked the half-block together in relative silence. Sterling kept an arm loosely draped around Adrian’s waist, offering support while Adrian worked through his feelings. When they got back to the penthouse, Sterling intended to spoil him. Until then, touch would havetodo.
The exterior staircase leading to the third-floor back entrance wasn’t all that much farther now. Sterling turned the corner into the alleyway behind The Shepherd, ready to relax at home, when Adrian held out an arm to block Sterling’s chest and forced him to stop. Sterling was about to ask what he was doing when he saw theissue.
Clarissa sat on their stairway, nose buried in herphone.
Dressed in tight jeans and a white, breezy blouse, an ankle crossed over her opposite knee, she bounced her foot casually. Unhurriedly, she looked up from her phone to meet Sterling’s gaze. Her lips twitched to the side. “Busted.”
Sterling rubbed at his eyes, hand stretched across the bridge of his nose in mild irritation. He’d been keeping news of Adrian and the pregnancy secret in case something terrible were to happen. If Adrian decided to leave him, or if he decided to get rid of the baby, or if his health took a turn for the worse, Sterling didn’t want anyone to bedisappointed.
Especially his chatter-mouth littlesister.
“So.” Clarissa stood and tucked her phone back into her pocket. She brushed off the back of her jeans, then crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m going to guess you’re not walking with your arm around Adrian because you both happened to be involved in a freak Krazy Glueincident.”
Sterling said nothing for a long moment, then he dropped his hand to look at her with his most deadpan expression. “You’re right. It wasGorillaGlue.”
Clarissa snickered. “Darn. I thought they’d upped their game since the last incident. Guess it’s back to the drawingboard.”
The fact that Clarissa was joking was a good sign. It meant she wasn’tangry.
When she was angry, she letSterlingknow.
“So.” She pushed her lips to the side and looked between them. “I’ve been wondering what’s been going on lately that’s been keeping you from the club, so I decided to come check up on you, only to find you weren’t home. Youarepulling a Marcus.” She held a hand to her forehead dramatically. “How could you lie to melikethat?”
