Gage walked to the living room area and turned to the right. He saw Luis sitting on the narrow twin bed inside the jail cell. Luis wasn’t wearing pants, just one of the oversized plaid shirts Gage had left for him. Leave it to his twin brother to make an ugly shirt like that look good. He had to admit, even though they were identical twins, Luis had a lot more style than Gage had. If anyone tried to tell them apart, all they had to do was see which one had more flair. “Did you miss me?” Gage asked. He maintained a deadpan expression, waiting for Luis’s response.
Luis sent him a smile. “Did you miss me?”
Gage returned the smile. “Actually, I did. But I missed myself more. I guess I thought it would be different being you. But I like being me more, if that makes sense.” He walked over to the table he’d set up beside the cage. He turned off the music first, then looked inside the refrigerator to see what Luis had eaten.
“I wasn’t very hungry,” Luis said, crossing his legs at the knee.
Gage looked into the cage and said, “You haven’t eaten anything at all.” Luis must have been starving by then. He’d always been stubborn this way, ever since they’d been children. If he didn’t want to eat something as a child, he’d sooner starve to death than give in.
“I said I wasn’t hungry.”
Gage noticed Luis had a little dark stubble on his face and his legs. “I forgot to bring a razor again. There was so much going on, it slipped my mind.”
Luis tiled his head and lifted one eyebrow. “What did you do this weekend? And how are my husband and my son?”
Gage walked back to a club chair, turned it so it would face Luis, and sat down. “It was a very eventful weekend,” he said. “Jase and Hunter are both fine. We left Cider Mill Farm early yesterday because it was raining. Jase had an important meeting and Hunter’s little friend, some kid from New York named Justin, wasn’t home, so he was bored.”
Luis lifted his chin as if in defiance, and asked, “Did you sleep with Jase?”
Gage smiled. He hesitated for a moment. He wanted Luis to sweat for a while, just like his landlord and boss.
“I want to know. Did you sleep with Jase?”
“No,” Gage said, “I didn’t sleep with Jase. Oddly enough, I didn’t even want to sleep with him. Actually, I’ve grown very fond of Jase and Hunter in ways I didn’t expect. The thought of sleeping with Jase made me sick to my stomach.”
“Jase is a hot guy and there’s nothing wrong with him,” Luis said. He stood up and placed his hands on his hips. “And he’s a very good lover.”
“Oh calm down, you silly little queen,” Gage said. “The reason I didn’t sleep with him had nothing to do with his looks. It was because he’s your husband, not because I didn’t want to sleep with him. It didn’t feel right. And, to be honest, I felt creepy sleeping in the same bed with him.”
“You said you didn’t sleep with him,” Luis said. He sat down and his tone softened.
“I said I didn’t have sex with him. I had to sleep with him in the same bed, otherwise he would have known there was something wrong and he would have figured out I wasn’t you. As it was, he was so fucking horny I was afraid to bend over all weekend.”
“Jase has strong needs,” Luis said. “He’s always been that way.” He smiled, sending Gage a bragging look.
“I also saw how much he loves you,” Gage said. “I didn’t expect it. When I saw the way he feels about you, I told him I had a head cold and pretended to be sick all weekend.” Gage laughed. “The poor guy was ready to fuck a tree stump by Sunday night.”
Luis smiled. “Well, I suppose I should thank you for not sleeping with him. At least I’m glad to know you have some feelings left for your own twin brother.”
Gage hadn’t thought about it this way. For most of the weekend, he’d been thinking about Jase’s and Hunter’s feelings, not Luis’s. But Luis was right: the main reason Gage hadn’t slept with Jase was because of Luis’s feelings. “I discovered something interesting this weekend,” Gage said.
“What’s that?”
“I don’t hate you, Luis,” Gage said. “I don’t really even envy you anymore. I know I shouldn’t have locked you up the way I did. But if I hadn’t locked you up, I never would have figured these things out. For so long I wanted to be you and to have your life. But when I finally did have it, I realized I missed my own life far more than I ever thought I would.” He ran his fingers through his hair and smiled. “And I miss being blond. You have no idea what a different world it is when you’re blond.”
Luis said, “I had time to think this weekend, too. I’m sorry about what I did with Snake back in Tennessee. It was wrong. I shouldn’t have slept with him, especially knowing how much you loved him. I hope you can forgive me for that.”
Gage thought about Daksha and he smiled. “I’d like to put what happened with Snake, and everything from the past, behind us now. I met someone this weekend and I’ve fallen in love. I know it sounds like it’s too soon to call it love. But I know how I feel.”
Luis leaned forward. “Who? Is it someone I know? Is it someone from my life?”
“Not quite,” Gage said. “Do you remember the taxi driver who drove you over here on Thursday night?”
Luis thought for a moment. “The guy with dark hair, the nice lips, and sexy brown eyes?”
Gage nodded. He had a feeling Luis would remember him. Daksha wasn’t the type of guy who was easily forgotten. “One thing led to another, and we wound up falling in love with each other.” He didn’t go into details about how they’d fucked in the back seat of the taxi. But he did tell Luis about Daksha’s accident and that he was now in Downtown Hospital waiting for Gage to return to him. “I know it sounds crazy because it happened so fast. But I know it’s love. I can feel it.”
Luis smiled. “It doesn’t sound crazy at all. I knew I was in love with Jase the moment I met him. It took a little longer for us to admit it to each other. But when I look back now, it was love at first sight.”
“I’d like to go back to Daksha this afternoon,” Gage said. He wasn’t sure what Luis was going to do to him. He had every right to call the police and have him locked up. “I’d like to let you out now so you can get back to your own life and I can get back to mine.”