Page 12 of Zach
the South side of Chicago.
Shoving my feet into a pair of Converse, I pull open the door and cross the small entryway to my
brother’s door, knocking briefly before entering. We’re all coded to each other’s places, and it’s not
unusual to have someone popping in multiple times a day. Declan set up a privacy option for us, so if
we need it, we use it. I never have. I don’t think any of us did until this year, when my brothers started
coupling up. Now, enabling privacy mode is the equivalent of putting a sock on the doorknob.
I expect to find him at the table, working on a puzzle. It’s where he is most Sunday mornings.
Jonas is a creature of habit. He wears the same type of clothing every day, eats the same food, listens
to the same music, and does the same activities. That routine is comforting to him. Hell, it’s
comforting to me.
So when he’s not at the table where he should be, my heart races. I don’t go into a full panic like I
used to, but the echoes of all the times that panic was warranted flash through my mind. “Jonas?”
No answer. Each heartbeat comes faster.
The condo is one massive open room, and he’s clearly not here, so I head to his bedroom and
push open the door.
“Shouldn’t you knock first?” he says dryly. Just like that, all is right with my world again. I
mentally will my heartbeat to slow. He’s ok.
He’s laying on his back on the bed, feet bare, dressed in sweats and a black t-shirt. His shoulders
and head are dangling off the bed. I cross the room and drop onto my ass on the floor next to him,
looking out the same window he’s gazing out of.
“Why the hell would I need to knock?”
“I could be entertaining a woman,” he says dryly.
I shoot him a glance, but I can’t tell if he’s making a joke or if he’s serious. And I usually can.
“Is that a possibility? As far as I know, you’ve never…entertained a woman here before.”
“I could start.”
“Never said you couldn’t. But I thought you were…” I don’t know how to finish that sentence.
“A virgin?” he asks, voice relaxed.
“Yeah.”
“I am. But I think I’m going to change that. Soon.”
A wheezing gasp escapes. The man doesn’t even like shaking hands and how he’s talking about
