Page 13 of Uncharted

“What is it?” I wondered and then eyed the plastic package she held out and grinned. “Oh! I forgot about that!”

“Do I want to know?” she wondered.

“Maybe,” I said, snatching it from her and gleefully going back into the hallway.

Now I could see it was Reno in the purple shirt, and Mika in the red. Even if their hair was different lengths, I didn’t need that to recognize who was who. I had figured it out pretty quickly when they’d both come to work at the outpost, and now it was easy to tell the difference at a glance. They could have the same haircut and be butt naked, and I would still know them apart.

“I win,” Reno proclaimed to me, like a kid eager for praise as he perched atop his heavily breathing brother.

“The hell you have,” Mika muttered, delivering a punch I knew all too well from my own siblings. The sort that took Reno in the gut and knocked the breath out of him, but pulled at the last second because you wanted to hurt your stupid ass brother to make a point, but you weren’t trying to kill him for fuck’s sake.

Reno wheezed and keeled over, a soft thump as he hit the wall. Mika was smug as he picked himself up from the floor, giving his brother a push to add insult to injury.

“Gotta make sure your opponent is out of the fight or it’s not over,” I reminded Reno as I reached toward him.

He took my hand with a soft wheeze, and I chuckled, yanking him up. I either underestimated my own strength or overestimated how much strength he had left, because he got to his feet and promptly stumbled into me. His face slammed into my chest, and one of his arms came around my back to hold himself steady, even as I clamped my hand onto his back to keep him from falling again.

“Sorry,” he muttered, peering up so his chin dug into my chest, green eyes I knew were the same shape and color as his brother’s, but I’d swear up and down were different staring up at me.

“Hi,” I replied, holding him still and feeling my stomach lurch in a way that made no sense and yet somehow made complete sense.

“My bad,” he chuckled, turning to swat at his brother. “Cheap bitch.”

“There’s no cheap or wrong in a fight,” Mika told him smugly.

“We’re not in a proper fight, you⁠—”

I interrupted. “I have a present for you.”

Both brothers stopped and turned to me, Reno looking intrigued, Mika looking wary.

“I don’t like that sentence,” Mika said warily, and I laughed.

“Good,” I said, holding the plastic-wrapped package out. “Here.”

I wasn’t surprised that it was Reno who snatched it from my hands with an eager giggle as he opened it. Inside were two shirts; one was royal blue, and I knew it had silver writing on it; the other was lilac, also with silver lettering. Both were the same size and had the same thing printed on the front.

And both brothers had exactly the reaction I expected.

“Jesus Christ,” Mika groaned as he read the words. “Really, Jake?”

“This is fucking amazing!” Reno barked as he hurriedly yanked off the shirt he was wearing and threw it into his brother’s face for no reason other than it was his brother.

It wasn’t at all necessary, but I couldn’t help but notice he had clearly been putting more effort into his workout. There was more definition than I remembered. Not that he was the first guy where I’d ever noticed that sort of thing, but then again, I was also the person a lot of guys came to for workout advice. He had been one of them, but among the swelling pride at his efforts, there was a warmth blossoming in my gut that was familiar in a way that made sense, except it shouldn’t have.

“Fucking awesome,” Reno proclaimed as he yanked on his shirt, holding his arms out to show everyone, including his exasperated brother.

“What the fuck are you idiots doing?” Xander snapped from behind me and then grew silent at Colin’s unfettered laugh of amazed delight.

“Only you, Jake,” Colin said, and I grinned when Reno beamed as if agreeing out of sheer pride.

“The fuck does that say?” Xander asked, and I wouldn’t turn around because I knew he was squinting, and if I saw him squinting, I was going to make a joke about his age that would get my ass in deep trouble.

Reno, still proud, pulled the shirt taut so the words could be read clearly: Traumatized by my father’s absence and my mother’s presence.

“My God,” I heard Trevor mutter from behind me, clearly having come out of the rec room to see what the commotion was about and sharing his own thoughts on the shirts. “That’s amazing.”

“Right?” Reno asked brightly.