Chapter 2

“Yeah, yeah.” Matt stuffed his face full of pancakes. “But you’re not…that.”

That? I rolled my eyes. Matt could be such an idiot sometimes. “No, but I ambi.”

“But I thought…” He shoved a piece of bacon into his mouth, luckily stopping himself from saying anything even more stupid.

“You thought that since my last partner was a girl, I’m straight. Is that about it?” I was so fucking tired of this topic. If it wasn’t Matt, it was someone else. Like my parents.

“Yeah,” Matt muttered with his gaze downcast. His reply earned him a sharp elbow in the side from Levi. “Hey, don’t you start, too,” he said to his brother.

“Get off your brother’s case, Matt. Don’t be an ass.”

He looked at me as if to say ‘what’?

“We’ve had this conversation a million times. Don’t be a bigot. Your own brother is gay, for fuck’s sake. What did your mom do when she found out?”

“Switched churches.” Matt’s reply was barely audible.

“That’s right. Your very religious parents accepted Levi’s identity and moved heaven and earth to make him comfortable. But you…” I threw my hands up in the air. “Stop. Just stop, okay?”

Matt rubbed his ears again. “Yes, okay. Sorry.” He nudged his shoulder against his brother’s. Levi nudged back and then gave me a wide, grateful smile, making the tip of his nose turn down slightly. Swoon

“The question stands though.” Matt had clearly moved on from the uncomfortable discussion. “Why do youread horoscopes? You don’t believe in them.”

“I don’t. But didn’t you hear what I just read? It was hilarious!” My hot chocolate had cooled down enough to drink and I took several gulps. “Someone is apparently sending these horoscopes anonymously to the site, but everyone loves them. I log on every day just to read them.” I took another sip and when I put down my cup, Levi smirked at me and tapped his nose with a finger and flitted his eyes between my face and my paper napkin.

I grabbed it and pressed it against my nose. “Thanks,” I mumbled.

He shrugged his shoulders and went back to eating.

Matt shoveled in his food as if he hadn’t eaten since last time we met for brunch and talked in detail of what had happened since we’d last seen each other. He could spend hours complaining about his job if I let him. Normally I would cut him off and beg him to change the subject after fifteen minutes or so, but not this time. Instead, I took advantage of his non-stop chatter and snuck glances at Levi.

His short hair was a deep chocolate brown and messy looking as though he constantly ran his fingers through it. Dark stubble covered his face and surrounded his lips that were the same color as his skin. I couldn’t take my gaze off him as he ate at a slow pace as if he was savoring every bite. And maybe he was. He still lived at home with his parents and helped with his eight younger siblings a lot. Between running a successful business and taking care of five-year-old twins, maybe he didn’t get to eat in peace all that often.

He’d always intrigued me, from the first time Matt invited me to visit his family our freshman year in college. Levi had been fifteen at the time and so smart he put all his family—and me—to shame. As he grew older, I started to notice other things. How he never ever complained when one of his younger siblings climbed him like a tree. How he always was polite and helped his parents out. And like how he grew into his long, puppy-like limbs and turned sleek and attractive and moved with unexpected grace.

I forced myself to look away. No use perving on him. First, he would probably never look at me that way. And second…well, he was Matt’s brother. It was highly likely Matt would have strong opinions about me hooking up with his little brother.

Matt’s never-ending monologue was interrupted by his phone. He reached into his back pocket and fished it out and his entire demeanor changed when he saw who was calling.

Ah. Liza. The current girlfriend.

“Hi, honey.” He stood and stepped away from the table. The waitress came back and asked if we wanted anything else, and Levi asked for more coffee. Matt returned just a couple minutes later.

“Levi. Drink up. We have to go.”

“Why? Levi looked up at Matt, who dug in his front pocket, pulled out a couple crumpled up bills, and handed them to me.

“Liza needs my help. She said it’s urgent.”

“But she knows Saturday is the day you hang out with Beckett. Or has she forgotten you have a best friend?” Levi’s voice was defiant, and he leaned back in the chair as if settling down instead of getting ready to go.