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

Brian pulled the entire thing up and held the bottom on his tongue, letting the mayonnaise pool on his tongue before slurping it up in a disgusting display. He could see his brother’s mood start to lift already.


“Do you remember when Jakey got that paralegal job?” Matt asked.


“God. Yes. We must’ve been in what? Fifth grade?”


“Yeah. We were so excited. I remember you asking Jakey if we could start affording mayonnaise then.”


Brian smiled and looked into the yard. “We got our first real pocket money then also. Fifty bucks a month to share. We thought we were rich”


“And we’d pool it together most of the time to buy something big every month.


But then you’d hog it all the time and I’d regret it.”


It was precious memories like that that reminded Matt how rich they’d been their entire lives, even if at times it wasn’t in material wealth. He’d known plenty of middle class and even rich kids who had been poorer than they’d ever been.


Chapter 44