His brothers were seated around the table, plus Hunter, Becca, and Quinn. Michael didn’t have a laptop in front of him for once. They were all laughing about something; he’d walked in too late to pick up the story. A mostly eaten lasagna was in a pan in the center of the table, plus a platter of garlic bread, the remnants of a tossed salad in a bowl, and assorted side dishes.

His stomach was making a pretty clear case that he hadn’t eaten dinner yet.

But he stopped in the doorway, feeling very far removed from the good times.

“Hey,” said Nick. “Where’ve you been?”

“Out.” Gabriel still didn’t move. “What’s all this?”

“Becca and Quinn made dinner,” said Chris. He gave Gabriel a funny look. “That all right?”

“Out where?” said Michael.

Gabriel ignored him. He looked at his twin. “I thought you were going home with Quinn.”

Nick frowned. “Yeah, and?”

“Home meaning here, dumbass,” said Quinn. “I’ve got my mom’s car.”

Gabriel really couldn’t stand her.

“And I drove Becca over,” said Hunter.

“No one asked you to stay,” said Chris. But even his remark lacked the usual acidity.

Becca smacked him in the shoulder. “I did.”

Gabriel didn’t move from the doorway. Everyone seemed to be getting along just fine.

Without him.

“You hungry?” said Michael. His voice was careful but then maybe he was picking up on Gabriel’s mood. “There’s plenty left.”

“Not for long,” said Quinn, and she reached out to pick up a piece of garlic bread.

“I thought you were trying out for the cheer squad,” said Gabriel.

Quinn took a bite. “That’s tomorrow. I didn’t know you cared.”

“I don’t.” He gave her a significant look. “But maybe you want to lay off the carbs.”

She stopped chewing. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

God, what was wrong with him?

Nick’s expression lost any shred of good humor, but he wasn’t angry yet. “Come on. Back off.”

Gabriel shrugged. “Hey, I guess they could put you at the bottom of the pyramid with the sturdy girls ”

“Knock it off,” said Becca.

“Leave her alone,” said Nick. Now they were getting closer to anger.

“You’re an ass**le,” said Quinn. She flung the bread onto the plate. Her eyes looked red.

Great. He could make two girls cry in the span of fifteen minutes.

“So I’ve heard,” said Gabriel. Then he turned and headed back down the hallway, hoping to god there was a protein bar in his backpack.

A chair scraped the floor in the kitchen, the sound full of fury.

Gabriel didn’t wait to see who was coming after him.

But he felt the air change even before his twin caught him by the arm and jerked him around.

Nick looked pissed but puzzled, too. “What is with you?”

“Nothing.” Gabriel shrugged out of his grip and reached to open the front door. “Jesus, Nicky, it’s not my fault she can’t take a ”

Nick grabbed him again and shoved him against the door-jamb. The air temperature dropped another five degrees.

Then he leaned in. “Stop.”

Gabriel glared back at him. “Don’t start this, Nick.”

“I didn’t start anything.” His brother’s voice was low. “What is it? Do you like her or something?”

Gabriel snorted. “Please.” Then he jerked free and shoved Nick away.

Nick shoved him back.

Gabriel went still. He could count on one hand the number of times he and Nick had gotten into it seriously gotten into it.

They were more likely to gang up on Chris than fight each other.

“Don’t start this,” he said again.

“Leave Quinn alone,” said Nick.

“Yeah, whatever.” Gabriel made to move away.

“I’m serious.” His twin shoved him again, a little harder, a little rougher. “Or are you too stupid to realize that?”

Stupid.

Gabriel shoved him back, putting some real strength behind it. His brother half stumbled into the banister of the staircase.

But Nick hesitated before retaliating. Gabriel could feel it, that moment of indecision before a fight turned into a fight.

That moment when you could back down and lose nothing.

“You know,” said Gabriel, hearing his voice turn cruel, “you can tell me to leave her alone, but I don’t know what you’re going to do about the guys at school. It’s not like she was the type to say no before, if you catch my drift ”

Nick punched him in the face.

And then they were fighting for real.

This wasn’t like when he’d fought with Hunter. Nick wasn’t a fighter, not really. He got some solid hits in, but he wouldn’t fight dirty. Gabriel drove him back until he hit the wall, and he knew it wasn’t going to last long.

But then they were being dragged apart. Someone was yelling; someone else had him by the arms, pulling him back.

Nick had blood on his lip, and he jerked his arm free from Chris to wipe at his mouth. “Jesus, Gabriel, what? You can’t let someone else be happy for five minutes?”

Gabriel tried to pull free from whoever had him had to be Michael. “Sorry, Nicky. Guess everyone can’t be as perfect as you.”