Page 63 of Private Exhibit
“I'm surprised you guys aren't still on your honeymoon,” Levi said to his twin, the two of them sitting across from one another. They looked like near mirror images, though one was all blond and pastels while the other was dark and monochrome.
“Daddy doesn't understand the concept of a honeymoon,” Hayden replied with a laugh. “They don't do things like that on Falsin. But I'll work on him. At least it gave me a chance to start decorating in here. I've been shopping all week, trying to give this place some color. It was just soboring. All black and white and cold. Ugh. Not that there's anything wrong with black and white,” he rushed to add, holding out a hand towards his twin.
Levi smirked at him and reached out to give his hand a squeeze.
“I still have a lot of work to do,” Hayden went on, “but at least it's looking better than it did. I mean, the master suite wascompletelywhite. Walls. Sheets. Furniture. It was awful. But Thomas likes white because it reminds him of the snow on Falsin, so I'm gonna play with a sort of snowy forest motif in there. Give him a taste of home while still making it more cozy.Some warm, dark woods and green accents. That sort of thing. And we are definitely gonna need some plants in here. Like all over the place.”
Devon squirmed.Damn. That sounded amazing.
“Dev?” Andy whispered.
“I've always wanted houseplants,” Devon quietly admitted.
“Yeah?” Andy got a thoughtful look on his face.
Before either Devon or Andy could say anything more, Hayden looked at Levi and said, “But I'm sorry we didn't hang out at all this week. I'll make it up to you, I swear.”
Levi flashed him a smile. “You're a newlywed. I get it, trust me.” Beside him, his husband, Nash, gave him a fond grin.
“I missed you lots, though,” Hayden went on. “Gods. We still have so much time to make up for.”
Devon winced.
Andy turned to him, drawing everyone's attention. “Dev? What's wrong?”
Devon blushed, feeling trapped under a sudden spotlight. “Nothing,” he mumbled.
“Baby,” Andy whispered.
“I'm fine,” Devon insisted.
“Shit,” Hayden gasped. “Did you want something different to eat? We can get you anything–”
“It's not that,” Devon said, then huffed out a breath, looking down at his plate. “I just…if it weren't for me, you two wouldn't have been separated–”
“Whoa, hey, no,” Hayden snapped. “That wasnotyour fault. It was my folks' fault for switching us. I do not want you blaming yourself, alright? And you're our brother now, and that's all there is to it.”
Devon couldn't help smiling a little at that. “Yeah?”
“Of course,” the twins said in sync.
Devon looked down and shyly grinned.
“Speaking of my folks,” Hayden went on. “They said they were gonna try to meet up with you before they left town. Did you guys get a chance to really talk? Please tell me they apologized again.”
Devon winced.Shit.
Hayden's face fell. “What'd they do now?” he bit off.
“Nothing–”
“That doesn't look like nothing.”
“I think it's time to change the subject–” Andy cut in.
“No, I wanna know what they did,” Hayden insisted. “If I need to have another talk with them–”
“Settle down,” Thomas quietly ordered.
