The Alcrest familyhome looked different now than it had a few weeks prior. The change had nothing to do with its lawn, which was as lush, green, and even as always, or its sloped gray roof and stately stone siding. The longer Caleb looked, the more he realized that it was his perception that had shifted, not the house itself.
The last time he’d visited, a certain sense of dread had stuck to his bones and refused to let go, much like a shower curtain that had found wet skin. It wasn’t like him to feel that way. Caleb had never shied away from physical confrontation, and he’d let his fists do the talking on more than one occasion—Everett had been a saint for putting up with his immature bullshit for as long as he had. But fists were easy. Their message was straightforward.
I am stronger than you.
You will listen to me.
Conversation wasn’t so easy.
Sitting in his fathers’ driveway, knowing that a difficult conversation was on the way, had terrified him. Given time to reflect, Caleb wondered if that was why he’d favored a quick and dirty fight or bitter, brooding silence over solving his problems through words—until recently, he’d clung to the comforts of his early twenties, finding them preferable to what waited in the foreboding future he glimpsed in fits and starts as he approached his thirties.
As he parked the Jag behind his dad’s old Mazda, he glanced at Jayne, who sat beside him in the passenger seat, and then into the rearview mirror at Everett, who sat in the back.
The future didn’t scare him so much anymore.
“This is your house?” Jayne asked, awestruck. He undid his seatbelt and leaned over the front dash, peering at the building. Everett, who’d practically lived at the Alcrest house while on summer vacation when he and Caleb were younger, looked unaffected. “I mean, notyourhouse, but your parents’ house. Is this where you grew up, or is this how rich people downsize after their kids have left the nest?”
Caleb snorted. He punched Jayne’s shoulder playfully. “Prick.”
“What?” Jayne snorted and punched him back. Tonight, he’d put on a full face of neutral makeup.Neutral,Caleb had learned while sitting at the foot of the bed with Everett while Jayne preened in the en suite bathroom, meant that Jayne was wearing foundation.Natural,which he often confused it for, was reserved for days when Jayne went foundation free. Over the last several weeks, he and Everett had been lectured on the difference multiple times, but finally it was starting to stick.
Natural or neutral, Jayne was gorgeous. Caleb loved him when his skin was dewy and radiant, barely touched by a brush, and when Jayne painted himself into the picture of perfection. He loved Jayne when Jayne’s face was bare, his brows sparse, and his lips their natural pretty pink color, too, although Jayne didn’t like to hear it. He was much too embarrassed by the ghosts of the freckles on his nose and the alleged blotches on his skin to accept that compliment just yet.
But Caleb was learning to be patient. One day, he’d make Jayne see himself the same way Caleb did. With Everett’s corroboration, they’d break down the last of Jayne’s walls and help him love himself.
“You think this is downsizing?” Caleb gestured at the house. “Do you think I grew up in a castle? We’ve got money, but it’s not like we’re having tea with the Queen of England or meeting for brunch with the House of Saud.”
“They meet for dinner instead.” Everett leaned forward and rested his arms on either front seat. “It’s really quite a lavish affair. Did you know that if you have enough money, you can put gold foil on your caviar?”
“Seriously?” Caleb turned at the hip to glare at Everett, who was smirking. “You think the Alcrests would settle for something as pedestrian asgold foil?Get the hell out of my car.”
Everett busted up laughing and sank onto his seat. Jayne’s lips twitched. “Please tell me your dads are as fun as you are.”
Caleb shrugged. “I think so? I mean, they’re my parents, so it kind of goes without saying that I think they’re lame.”
Struggling to contain his laughter, Everett leaned forward again and hooked his arm over Jayne’s seat. “Caleb’s dad Marshall is a little more serious on the surface, but once he warms up to you, he’s a hoot. Caleb’s dad Oli probably went in for medical testing and had a clone made of himself, and that clone turned into Caleb.”
“I am not a clone,” Caleb retorted, rolling his eyes.
“That’s debatable.” Everett launched himself backward, likely to avoid being elbowed in the face by whatever trouble he was about to create. “YouareThing Two, after all. That leads me to believe that Aaron was the original, and you’re the clone.”
“That’s not how twins work,” Caleb grumbled.
“That’s exactly how twins work.” Everett chuckled. “Identical ones, at least,which you are.But, anyway, it doesn’t matter. We’re wasting time. I’m pretty sure that your dad is going to lose his mind if we stay in the car any longer.”
“What?” Caleb glanced out the window and spotted his dad, Oli, standing on the stoop outside the front door. When he saw Caleb look his way, he lifted a hand in greeting. “How long has he been standing there?”
“Long enough that it’s going to be awkward if we don’t bail out of the car soon,” Jayne said, a sly lilt to his voice, like he was every bit as complicit as Everett. “So is that your dad Marshall, or your dad Oli? I’m guessing by the way he’s got three of his five fingers wrapped up in bandages, that’s probably Oli, right?”
Caleb buried his head in his palm. “Fuck.”
“You called it. I’ll buy you guys some time if you need a little more prep. See you soon.” Everett opened the door and left the car. “Hey, Uncle Oli. ’Sup?”
“Not much. You know, near amputation, but I feel like that should surprise no one.” Oli held up his second hand, on which two more fingers were bandaged. “I managed to cut five of my fingers while trying to cook dinner tonight. That’s literally a whole hand sacrificed to the culinary gods. You kids better enjoy what I made, because if you don’t, I forged several blood pacts this afternoon, and I’m not above smiting you.”
Everett closed the door, blocking out the rest of the conversation, but Caleb saw his shoulders shake with laughter.
The fool.
