Twin brothers Brian and Matt Walker went to live with their mother’s brother after the death of their parents at an early age. Brian is still wracked with the guilt he carries around from a young age and sees the world through a distorted lens of self-loathing. When he meets a sexy and interested college-aged guy at the beginning of his senior year of high school, he may have finally found someone who can help him escape his mundane existence.<br><br>Matt has his life all planned out -- he longs for a solid career in journalism after graduating college. But his tenuous hold on family life threatens his dreams of independence, as does the attentions of a closeted new transfer to their school.<br><br>Can Matt pull away enough from his family to come into his own? And will Brian finally get to grips with his past and allow his twin to chase his own happiness?

Twice the Hands to Hold

Practice for the afternoon was over, as all the players were filing into the showers. Brian had hung around and stayed near the bathroom’s entrance.


Jacob walked up to him, shaking his head sadly. “That’s some bullshit right there, man. Some new kid walking in here acting like he owns the field.”


“It’s not right, man,” Noah agreed. He slapped Brian on the back and flung a sweaty arm around his shoulders.


Other teammates echoed his friends’ outrage in an attempt to make him feel better.


“Don’t sweat it,” Brian told his friends as though nothing in the world could faze him. He shucked off the arm around him and walked to the doors of the showers, casually leaning against it. “Don’t hang around, okay?” He eyed his friends to gauge if they got what he was really saying.


His friends nodded with understanding and headed into the showers. Brian hovered at the entrance and bided his time. Soon the only ones left in the showers were Brian and the new guy—alone and vulnerable.


Chapter 5