Chapter 21

Since the night Rhys had found them, Rhyn had been pretty quiet. He had kept his head down and stayed home at night. He didn't want to stress Rhys out any more than he already was.

He knew he shouldn't be thinking about his brother when it was his relationship, but he didn't like being on the outs with his brother. He could count on one hand how many times they'd fought. They'd been petty and very stupid, but in the end, it had showed them the value of working things out.

This felt different. Rhys had never blatantly told one of Rhyn's partners that he would run them off. He usually told Rhyn the sugar-coated version of why they'd broken up with him. Sometime after the relationship ended, Rhys always was the voice of reason. He had a reasonable explanation for everything. Rhyn never had a reason to doubt him.

Now he wondered why he put so much stock in Rhys's opinion. He had always said Rhyn shouldn't care what others thought, but he was the one who pushed his thoughts on Rhyn. Because he had decided to pursue a relationship with Myles, he was upset and trying to tell his younger brother what to do.

Rhyn rubbed his hair as he stepped back in his room. He was freshly showered after having helped his dad re-pot some flowers. Rhyd had accidentally knocked them over when they'd been changing out the lawn furniture. Rhyd had cleaned up the mess as Rhyn had saved the plants.

He picked his phone up and looked at the screen. Myles had been MIA for the last couple of days. Thyn would text him, and there would be either a one word answer or none at all. A part of him wondered if this was pay back from a few weeks ago, but Myles wasn't fickle like that. He wouldn't ghost someone without a reason.

Unlocking his phone, Rhyn looked at the last message he'd sent to Myles. It was four hours ago. He knew Myles had class at three then practice at six, but it was almost nine-thirty. Rhys had gotten home half an hour ago. Myles should have answered him.

Hitting the phone icon by Myles's name, he tried to call him. His call wne straight to voicemail. Either Myles's phone was tured off, or he'd silenced the call. He had never done that before and it hurt Rhyn's feelings. No one had actually refused to talk to him before.

He changed into his comfortable clothes. After hanging up his damp towel, he left his room. Rhyd's door was closed. It had been since the night he'd come clean about his own sexual endeavers. Rhyn wasn't sure why he ws hiding, but that bothered him more than his yammering.

He knocked on Rhys's door and waited for the welcome. His older brother's room was a lot messier than Rhyn's. There were clothes strewn everywhere; books he read for pleasure were stacked haphazardly; and there were plenty of other random items everywhere.

Rhys was working on something at his desl. No one knew Rhys wore glasses, but he was far-sighted so he needed reading glasses to do his work. He didn't always wear them. Sometimes he forgot them, and then he suffered headaches. It was a battle no one was going to win with him, so they left him alone for the most part.

Rhyn sat on the bed and watched him work. They hadn't talked since that night, and it was btoehring Rhyn. He didn't like the long hours of silence. He wanted to talk to his brother like he used to and not have this huge chasm between them.

Rhys stretched and set his stylus down. He looked at Rhyn after rubbing his eyes. He looked tired. Rhyn gifured he must have been working since he'd come home from practice.

"What is it?" Rhys asked. Rhyn flicked his eyes up to meet his brother's gaze. "You look distressed."

"You've been ignoring me," Rhyn said.

"No, I haven't. I've been busy with my final project. I have to write the paper then prepare the presentation. I don't have time to work on it during the day so I'm left with the night to do it."

Rhyn understood. They were traveling three times a week for games and had tests almost every week. They were busy so it was forgivable if he was just doing homework.

"Myles hasn't talked to me," Rhyn said. "I text him before practice, and he hasn't responded."

Rhys looked torn. "You told me not to get involved anymore."

Rhyn heard the tightness in his voice. He looked Rhys in the face. It was set with a stubborn look he knew all too well. It was the same one he used when he didn't want to talk.

"What do you know?" he demanded. Rhys tilted his head slightly. "You have to kow something. He wouldn't just ghost me if we're still together." He saw his brother's eyes soften. "He wouldn't, would he?"

"As far as I know he wouldn't."

"But you know what's going on? You know why he's not answering?"

"Rhyn, you wanted me to butt out. That's what I'm doing. I'm minding my business."

"You know, you're a real ass when you get all high and mighty. You're mad because I won't let you get involved, won't let you boss me around."

Rhys rolled to the bed and got in his brother's face. He tried to school his expression and not let his anger overwhelm him. His weakness was his brothers, specifically Rhyn. to have him second guessing him meant he didn't trust him to his brother's best interest at heart.

"You think I boss you around?" he asked. Rhys watched Rhyn nod, the identical look of stubbornness on his face. "With what? What do I boss you around about?"

"Everyone I have ever tried to date you have run off," Rhyn said.

"Do you know why? Do you know why I have been adamant about you not dating anyone else?" Rhyn stared at him, mouth set in a thin line. "All those people you talked to or thought about dating? All of them were not interested in you."

Rhys got up and went to his closet. He pulled out a box and handed it to Rhyn. confused, his brother looked at him. He nodded at the shoe box, urging him to open it. He sat back down as Rhyn went through the notes dating back years.

Whenever Rhyn told him he was interested in someone, Rhys investigated them all. He wanted to know who they were and what they were really like. He had talked to them to see what their personalities were like, to see if they were interested in Rhyn.

Most of them were not interested in Rhys at first, but by the time Rhyn got around to asking them out, they liked Rhys. Whether it was because he was around his brother a lot so they got to know him or if they actually put forth the effort to get to know him, he didn't know for sure. He couldn't date them because of his respect for his brother so he ran them off. He could handle Rhyn's tears if they disappeared better than if they broke his heart.

He watched the hurt flood his brother as he read the letters. He was beginning to understand what Rhys - and sometimes Rhyd - had done. They had filtered out those who would hurt him by trying to get with his brothers instead of him.

"You love hard, Rhyn," Rhys muttered. "When you like someone, you give your all to them. These people didn't like you like you liked them. They were using you because they thought they could get to us. We did what we could to make sure you weren't hurt."

"You know what hurts the worst?" Rhyn's voice was thick. He looked up into Rhys's face, the tears pooling in his eyes. "The fact that you didn't trust me enough to tell me."

"We didn't want to hurt you."

"That wasn't your decision to make!" Rhyn set the box on the bed. "You decided I wasn't strong enough to handle rejection because they were more interested in you. So you did the only thing you know how to do; you used me as an excuse. Did you like any of them?"

Rhys shook his head. "No, I didn't. I never made a pass at any of them."

Rhyn nodded. "That's fine. But what do you know about Myles?"

His brother shook his head. "I told him I wouldn't."

The middle triplet nodded, pulling his bottom lip into his mouth. He put the notes back into the box and shoved it into Rhys's hands.

"Keep your secrets. I don't care anymore."

He stalked from his brother's room and went back to his. Rhyd was standing in his doorway. He cast Rhyn a sad expression. Rhyn felt betrayed by both his brothers so he couldn't look Rhyd in the face. It made him feel even more pathetic.

He went to his room and grabbed his keys and phone. He pulled a hoodie over his shirt and walked out, passing Rhyd once again.

"Where are you going?" Rhyd asked.

"Where do you think?" Rhyn snapped. His younger brother frowned at him. "I won't be back tonight."

He didn't bother looking back. He walked downstairs and out the front door. He didn't even care that it was raining, getting in his car and cranking it. He saw his brothers standing in the doorway. The light silhouetted them so he couldn't see their expressions.

A part of him was really hurt by their secret, and another part was pissed at them. He understood the meaning behind their actions, but they could have been honest. He would have been mad, but at least he wouldn't have felt like an idiot as he did now.

Not wanting to think about it anymore, Rhyn put the car in reverse. Once on the road, he had one destination in mind.