Chapter 6

"Rhys!" The man in question looked up. Myles strode toward him.

Rhys continued picking up the volleyball gear with another student. He'd come early to set up for the basketball team. Myles usually did on days he didn't have a late class. Until the volleyball court was finished with renovations, they were practicing on the basketball court so their practices sometimes overlapped.

Myles had already changed into his practice clothes. He began winding the net's cords up until he could tie them to the net. He disassembled the net, careful to keep it from getting tangled. He met Rhys at the other side, handing the bundle to him. Then he gathered the poles and tucked them into the bag.

Usually they just rolled the net into the away/visiting team's locker room. This weekend the university was hosting a high school tournament so the locker rooms had to be cleared. The volleyball team was playing out of town this weekend so the net didn't need to be assembled.

Rhys handed the bag to the player. They talked cordially for a few moments before they said their farewells. Myles was amazed at his friends. Usually he was the one who knew everybody, but Rhys knew all the athletes. He went out with them almost as much as he did with Myles. He was the social butterfly.

"Did you not have class today?" Rhys asked. "You're usually right on time."

"We were let out earlier than usual. I went to the library after," Myles replied.

Rhys motioned for him to follow him to the equipment room. They grabbed two baskets of basketballs as well as cones and a few pads. They had a tendency to slam into the floor during layups. They were violent with each other, but if the other team tried anything, they went after them. Sometimes they ended up fouling out and sometimes the coach and referee let them play. But they were ready for anything.

"I actually went to see Rhyn," Myles blurted.

The older brother stopped what he was doing and looked at his friend. Myles stared at him, hoping he wouldn't hit him. Rhys was well within his rights to do so. If anyone had gone against his friend's wishes, Myles wouldn't take it lightly.

"Didn't I ask you not to bother him?" Rhys asked.

"Yes, but I needed to apologize. It was eating me alive." Rhys stared at him for a long time so he continued. "I wish you would have told me it was Rhyn and not you. I could have walked you through the aftercare. He wouldn't have gotten a fever."

"Myles, what makes you think he would have told me? He was embarrassed. There was no way inhell he would have told me he slept with my best friend. I didn't see him all weekend because he hid himself in his room. I didn't even know he was sick until Monday after you told me what had happened."

Myles hadn't realzied Rhyn had told anyone. He thought Rhys had just kept it from him. He should have known when Rhys allowed him to meet his brothers that Rhyn was the suffer in silence type. He thougth if he showed he cared, he could get the younger brother to open up to him.

He hadn't thought Rhyn would deny him that. No one had done that before, and it shocked him. He wanted to befriend the younger Easley boys, but his attempts were being thwarted. Rhyd probably wouldn't be an issue. He wouldn't care about his past, but he wanted to really know Rhyn. Would Rhys be supportive though?

"I honestly just want to apologize," he muttered.

Rhys whistled then tossed a ball at Myles's chest. The other man caught it easily. "Rhyn isn't like me at all. He won't care what you do, but he may fixate on you. It's how his brain works. I don't want you to hit it and quit it with him. He's not like that."

"Are you saying he likes me?"

Rhyn shook his head, exasperation written on his face. "No, I'm not saying that at all. Rhyn is an overthinker. If you continue to pester him, he won't be able to think, to wonder if you like Rhyn for himself or if it's because he's my brother."

Myles hadn't thought about it that way. Most people didn't care that he was popular. They thought their popularity would rise if they were connected to him. If their relationship progressed, he didn't mind. But once that ended, he never looked back. Once his sexual attraction was gone, he never slept with the person again.

This was the first time he'd slept with someone and the other person wanted nothing more to do with him. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't fascinated by it. Rhyn knew his entire story and yet wouldn't tell anyone. He also didn't want to be associated with him. Myles didn't know why, but he wanted to know more about the man who looked identical to his best friend.

Rhys watched all the thoughts run across his friend's face in rapid succession. He wasn't dumb enough not to know what Myles was thinking. His fascination was piquing, and he was starting to think deeper than usual. He finally just sighed and rubbed his head.

"You're not going to listen to me, are you?" he asked. Myles flashed him a shit eating grin. "Just promise me you won't do anything to him without his permission. I will kill you."

Myles knew it wasn't a threat. It was a promise Rhys would keep. He had told him plenty of times of how he'd beaten people up because he'd heard or seen them do something to his brothers. He didn't take kindly to anyone messing with his family and wasn't afraid to take action.

He only had time to nod his agreement before they were called to warmup.

~~~~~~~~

Rhyn struggled to open the door. Luckily, a girl saw his plight and tok pity on him. She held the door open so he could carry the five pizza boxes.

Rhys had called during their water break. He had ordered pizza for the team and couldn't go pick them up. He'd asked Rhyn to do so, bribing him with free food. Rhyn would never pass over pizza so he'd agreed.

Thanking the girl, he went to the gym. He heard the whistle and sneakers squeaking before he got to the doors. This week was their bye week before the season started. The Pre-season could have gone better so they were practicing two times a day. Some even practiced between classes.

He nodded at Coach Beyers as he set the pizzas down on the timekeeper's table. There was about thirty minutes or so left so he sat down and cracked open his notes. He had a quiz in the morning and needed to study. Since he barely remembered taking the notes, he needed to rewrite them so they made sense.

He was able to ignore the noise around him. Growing up in an all-boys home, he could easily slip into a different world. Rhys's friends growing up had been loud and obnoxious so it had become second nature to ignore all the noise. He could sit in any noisy place and focus on what he was doing.

The four shrill bleats of the whistle told him practice was over. Rhyn closed his notes and unstacked the boxes. He set napkins at the end of the row and sat back so he wasn't in the way. Normally, he would leave but Rhys owed him money. He was going to get that before he left or there was no telling when he would.

Slowly the team ventured out. They looked tired despite doing their best to clean up. Most would head to their dorms to shower and change before going to some party. Rhys would tell him about it later even though he wasn't interested.

His brother ruffled his hair as he sat down. He grabbed a napkin and stacked four slices on it. He had one slice from each box except the supreme since he didn't eat vegetables. Rhyn pulled a soda from his bag and slid it to him.

"Thanks," Rhys said. He popped the top and took a sip. "I'd much prefer beer but this works."

"I know, but it's campus," Rhyn reminded. Rhys hummed and took another swig. "Are you going out tonight?"

His brother shook his head as he bit into his food. He stuffed it into his cheeks to answer. "No, I have two tests tomorrow. Can you help me with my advanced chemistry? I'm stuck on one part. It'll only take twenty minutes."

Rhyn nodded after he rattled off which part. "I have my notes. You can look at them first. If you still don't get it, I'll walk you through it."

One of Rhys's teammates laughed. They to him simultaneously. "Does it feel like you're talking to your mirror image?" he asked.

Another chimed in, "Nah, man. Rhys has a deeper voice. Rhyn is softer than him."

"Are you talking about his voice or something else?" a third laughed.

"That's enough," Rhys scolded. He could see Rhyn's ears turning red in his peripheral."My voice is a deeper octave. Rhyn and Rhyd sound the same but we're all the same on the phone."

They tested the theory. They called Rhys's phone. He answered as they were running across the gym, giggling like maniacs. He then passed the phone to Rhyn who repeated the phrase. The two idiots laughed giddily as they ran back over. They confirmed it with the rest of the team.

"But what does voice have to do with looks?" a fourth asked. Rhyn recognized him as Ryan, Rhyn's former classmate in high school history. He was also Rhys's high school friend. Rhyn had almost forgotten he went to school here. "It's easy to tell them apart. Just look at their faces."

Fifteen pairs of eyes looked between them. Rhyn felt exposed so he shrank back as far as he could in his seat. He didn't like being the center of attention.

The guys started murmuring about how they could see the difference. It was soon dropped as someone found the newest video of some rapper. Music replaced the chatter as they immersed themselves in it.

Rhys turned to Rhyn and handed him the money. "You don't have to stay. I'll help them clean up then I'll be home. Have you eaten?"

Rhyn shook his head. "I'm not hungry anymore."

His brother's eyes softened. "Rhyn, they're just joking. No one knows but the three of us. I haven't even told Rhyd."

"Are you sure?" Rhyn's voice cracked a little.

"I'm positive. Take some pizza home for you and Rhyd. I'll be back shortly."

Rhyn took the half eaten pepperoni and some of the sausage. He waved goodbye to the team and was soon gone.

Rhys shook his ehad. For someone with a sharo tongue, Rhyn was very shaken by the whole ordeal. Now his team was making jokes about him being soft. He really didn't like being the center of attention.

Myles grabbed several slices as he watched the middle Easley boy retreat. He looked overwhelmed and nervous.

"What'd I miss?" he asked.

"They were picking on us," Rhyn simply said.

Myles didn't question him further. The concerned look on his face told him to let it go. For once, he went with it.

"What are you doing after this?" he asked. He took a huge bite of pizza.

"I'm going home to study for my two midterms," Rhys replied.

"Want to study together?" His friend's face clouded over as he looked up. "What?"

"Rhyn's going to help me."

Myles shrugged. "So?" Rhys gave him a droll stare. "It's a test, not a dating quiz. I won't bother him."

Against his gut feeling, Rhys nodded. They soon cleaned up and parted ways with their teammates. Myles drove them to Rhys's house. Along the way, Rhys felt like something bad was going to happen.