Chapter 27

Rhyn stared at his mother as she put ice on the back of his head. He watched the look on her face to see if it would change, but she held the same gentle look for as long as she held his head.

"Mom?" Rhys said. He'd moved to sit on the couch with Rhyd. The youngest triplet had a leg draped over his thigh to keep him from getting up. "You knew about Rhyn and Myles?"

Leyana nodded and cast a look over her shoulder. "Yes, Rhys. I've known for quite a while. I was just waiting for someone to say something." She tilted Rhyn's head from side to side. "I don't think you have a concussion. Hold the ice for another twenty minutes."

Rhyn placed his hand over the ice, and hers slipped away. Myles helped RHyn stand and moved towards the love seat. He waited until he was situated before he sat down beside him. He took his hand and held it loosely in his lap. Rhyn sat still, his head leaned against the back of the love seat.

"If you knew," Rhys continued, "why aren't you mad? Any time we keep secrets from you, you scold us."

"Rhys Benjamin, any time you have a secret, you act stupid," Leyana said. Rhyd snorted, covering his nose with his hand to keep from laughing. Rhys slapped his knee. "As for this secret, it never bodes well to push something when one is not ready to tell or isn't ready. I knew about Rhyd when you were in high school."

Rhyd outright laughed. "Only because you found the condoms in the grocery bag. Then you walked outside at the right moment."

"At least you were safe."

"I'm still safe."

Rhyn set the ice pack on the floor. He rubbed his eyes. He couldn't believe his mother already knew. When had she found out, and why hadn't she said anything? He knew she had taught them to value their privacy, but he never thought she'd adhere to those values herself. She usually saw right through them so there was no need for secrets.

Myles squeezed his hand. Rhyn looked over at him. He smiled tightly at him. The middle triplet knew he was trying to apologize without actually saying anything. Rhyn wasn't sure what he was apologizing for though.

"Does anyone want to tell me why you two were fighting?" Leyana continued. She looked steadily between the four boys. "Myles, Rhys only punches people if they hurt his brothers."

"My dad knows about us," Myles said. "It doesn't go along with his plan for me so he's tried and is probably still trying to break us up."

Rhys made a disgruntled noise. "If you call Braylin Connor trying to kiss you as part of the plan, then he's right on track."

Myles flashed his gaze to his friend. "I have already explained it to you. I didn't invite her to the tournament. In fact, I can't stand her. She just wants my family's money. Well, my dad's really. My mom's is sealed away until after I graduate then it becomes mine. No one can touch it."

Leyana held up her hand to keep another fight from brewing. Rhys was gearing up again. "Boys, that's enough."

"Didn't you go to school with Myles's dad?" Rhyd asked.

"I did so I'm well-acquainted with Martin's ways."

She launched into her tale. She'd grown up with Martin and Melvin Dane. Martin was the first born son and thus set to inherit their father's millions. Melvin wasn't expected to do much so his life wasn't as chaotic as Martin's.

When they got into high school, Maurice Dane cracked down on his son's personal life. If Martin wasn't at school, he was studying business and attending social events. He had to network before he went to college so when he did he had the "correct" friends.

When they graduated and went to college, Martin became all high and mighty. He looked down his nose at everyone, especially those he had grown up with. Leyana's family had been well-off so she'd been able to afford the private school tuition as well as Yale. Martin even looked down on her despite her being in the same social class.

"When he married your mother right after college graduation," Leyana said, "he calmed down quite a bit. She didn't tolerate his rudeness to those he was supposed to call friends. He was especially more docile after you were born."

Myles remembered it very well. There had been several times when he'd been in middle school that his dad had nearly gone overboard because he'd brought home one bad grade. It had been a C in math, and Martin had yelled for an hour. Delaynee had come into the kitchen just as Martin had called him stupid.

That had been the only time he'd seen his parents yell at each other. His mother had made sure his father knew that berating his son for one bad grade was not tolerated. She'd looked over his work and had realzied why he'd gotten the C. He hadn't shown his work on his test and the teacher had counted off points for it. He'd had the answers correct, but because he hadn't shown how he'd gotten them, he'd lost enough points to give him that C.

"Your mother was the only one who could control his outbursts," Leyana muttered. Myles nodded his agreement. "When she died, everything changed. He stopped coming to things he deemed beneath him. Arthur said he grieved hard."

"I've never seen it," Myles said. It hurt that his dad couldn't be bothered to show him the hardest emotions of his life.

"Of course you wouldn't. Arthur is his corporate attorney so he's seen more than all of us." She leaned forward and took his free hand. "Everyone grieves differently. Your dad has fallen back on the only thing he has ever known."

"That doesn't mean he can control my life. I don't want the same life he has. I can't be that cold."

"You don't have to be that cold to be successful." She looked at Rhyn then back at Myles. "Now, are you two going to forgive him?"

Rhys made a noise in the back of his throat. "Why should we forgive Martin Dane?"

"He wronged your brother which forced you to lash out at his son. Now Myles may have needed it at the time, but you wouldn't have had any beef with your friend had he not done what he did."

Rhys looked at Myles. His friend looked right back at him. Not once did he let Rhyn's hand go while they sat and talked. He probably shold have let them work this out alone, but he knew Rhyn better than Myles. His brother wouldn't deal with his emotions immediately which would have made everything worse.

"I apologize for outing your sex life," Rhys said. "It was in bad taste. As for fighting Myles, I only said something because I didn't want any more allegations to go around about him."

Rhyd hummed in agreement. "There have been quite a few rumors going around since before the tournament. We think it's because of Braylin."

Rhyn shifted on the couch, leaning more into Myles as he did. He did it unconsciously, but no one said anything. "What have they been saying?" he asked.

"That you're only with Myles for the money, and that you'll let anyone rail you." Rhyd looked at his phone. "Dixon has been tracing the IP Addresses. I should know more soon so don't put any stock in them."

"Rhys, you should know how strong your brothers are," Leyana said. Rhys looked back at his mom. "Rhyd can trace anything so he can debunk anything. But Rhyn is the strongest out of all three of you."

"Can you explain that?" Rhyd punched his brother in the thigh. "Ouch! What was that for?!" Rhyd made a face at him that brought a chuckle from their mother.

"Rhyn is living his truth. It has taken him a while to get here, but look at him." All eyes looked at the middle triplet. He tensed, shoulders stiffening and head tilting into Myles's shoulder. "He isn't jaded in the least. In fact, he looks lighter, the lightest I've ever seen him. And that's thanks to Myles."

"But, Mom, he's hurt him as much as he's loved him."

"And so have you. You've let your protective nature get the better of you. You've kept secrets from him as well. No one is innocent in this matter."

"So you've known all along?" Rhyn asked. "About everything?"

Leyana smiled cheekily. Myles knew where they got those smiles from. "I'm your mother. There's not much you can hide from me. Also, my room is next to yours. You are too loud."

Rhyn's face flared. He looked at his brothers, at their shit-eating grins. His mother had basically said she had heard Myles and him having sex the other night. That was worse than Martin Dane walking in on them. At least he'd shown his disdain. His mother had just walked around like nothing had happened. Now he couldn't not hear the laughter in her voice.

Leyana ruffled each of her sons' hair then asked Myles to stay since it was late. Her last order before going to bed was making Rhys clean up the case he broke sometime dring the fight.

To ease his nerves, Rhyn made sandwiches. He took some medicine to ease his headache before going upstairs. He passed Rhyd who saluted him with a half-eaten sandwich. Myles nodded at him as he helped Rhys clean up.

Once in his room, he let out a shaky breath. So much had happened that he was amazed he was still standing. But he was very tired. He changed clothes, opting to sleep in the basketball shorts he'd worn from Myles's long ago. They were his favorites, and he slept in them often.

The door creaked up. Myles slid through then closed it quickly. He went to the bathroom to wash his face before getting into bed with Rhyn. He didn't ask permission; just slid up behind him until he was flush against his back. He wrapped his arms around his waist to hold him close.

"Are you embarrassed?" he asked. His breath fluttered over the back of Rhyn's neck, sending goose flesh skittering across it.

Rhyn tightened his hand on his wrist. "A little. I should have known though."

"What do you think?"

"I should have told her from the start."

Myles kissed the back of his neck. "We can't change it. All we can do is live with it now."

Rhyn flipped over until he'd buried his face in Myles's chest. He tucked one leg between his and held his waist tightly.

"Just like this," he whispered.

Myles felt the clamminess on his skin from Rhyn's breath, but he didn't move. He felt Rhyn's breathing even out and sighed when he went to sleep. Leyana was right. Rhyn was stronger than any of them. He just hoped he could borrow that strength when he needed it. Martin wasn't going to let this go without a fight. Myles wondered who would fight harder, Rhyn or his father?