Tyler watched as Skylar tipped his head back and drank from the bottle of water he’d had sitting next to the weightlifting bench. His eyes were laser focused on every movement Skylar made. Focused on his lips wrapped around the spout of the squeeze bottle. The way his adam’s apple bobbed with each swallow. How the sweat from Tyler’s workout clung to his skin and made him look like he was glistening.
He’d been having a rough couple of days. Skylar seemed like he was pulling away again. After the other night, he’d thought Skylar understood. He thought he’d stopped pushing him away. He’d kissed him back. He’d let Tyler take care of him. Tyler thought they’d finally stopped pretending.
And then Jessie started nagging at him. She’d gotten to him. She was trying to ruin the relationship they’d fought so hard to keep. And every time Tyler tried to pull him back in, Skylar seemed to strong arm him. He’d barely let him even touch him recently!
But he was done playing around. Not being able to touch him had been hard. And it was physically affecting him now. His moods had changed — he was always angry and on edge it seemed now. When Skylar wasn’t around, Tyler didn’t feel like himself at all. He felt different. He felt — he didn’t even know how to explain it. It wasn’t just loneliness. His thoughts felt dull. The world seemed muted. It was as if every hour away from Skylar peeled another piece of him.
The feeling scared him. And he wanted it to go away. But he didn’t know how to tell Skylar about his problem without freaking the other man out. After all, Jessie was already getting to him. What if this was the final straw? What if this is what pushed him away completely? For good?
That couldn’t happen. But he knew that he’d promised Skylar not to keep things from him. So, he needed to figure out a safe way to tell him. But he couldn’t think straight after so long of not being able to touch him. He needed Skylar to clear his head. He just needed to touch him.
Without giving it much thought, Tyler pushed himself off of the wall he’d been leaning on and closed the distance between himself and his brother. “Are we done for the day?” he asked, his eyes searching Skylar. “You look like you’re about to pass out. We’ve been at this a while — we should probably stop. Get a shower. Just relax.”
Bright blue eyes tracked Tyler’s movements as he closed the distance between them. “Yeah, we can be done,” he assured his brother. “I don’t even think I have another set in me.” Tossing the empty water bottle into the trash can, Skylar quickly turned on his heels and headed up the stairs. He didn’t wait for Tyler to follow. He knew his brother wasn’t staying down there alone.
Sure enough, Tyler was quick on his heels as he trudged up the first flight of stairs to the main living area. He didn’t even comment on it when Tyler followed him up the second set of steps into the bedroom. “I’m going to grab a shower and then we can relax. I’ll make dinner and we can watch a movie, or something.”
Skylar didn’t wait for an answer before he walked into the bathroom and started the shower. Which was enough of a red flag in itself. His brother seemed like he was running on autopilot since he’d seen Jessie. It both scared Tyler and pissed him off at the same time. And he was determined to fix this.
His body moved without thought as he pulled his hoodie off, pushing through the slightly ajar bathroom door. He wasn’t trying to start anything. He just wanted to hold him. To feel that connection again. To know that Skylar was there.
He stepped out of his gray sweatpants and boxers in one go before tossing his glasses on the sink. Once he was naked, Tyler popped open the glass door, not making a sound as he slipped into the shower behind Skylar.
For a moment, he just stood there and watched his brother. Skylar’s hands were pressed against the wall on either side of the shower handle and his head hung loosely between his shoulders, staring down at his feet. Tyler stared at the long line of Skylar’s back, seeing the tension radiating off his brother.
Slowly, he stepped forward, wrapping one arm around Skylar’s waist and the other around his chest. He pulled him flush against himself, pressing his lips to Skylar’s shoulder in an attempt to calm him. Immediately, he felt his own body relax. Having Skylar so close felt like Heaven after the last few days.
When Skylar felt arms wrap around him, his eyes snapped open and his body tensed. He hadn’t been paying attention to anything around him, figuring his shower was still a safe place. It had been up until this point. “Jesus Christ,” he ground out, wiggling in Tyler’s arms. “Let go of me. Tyler, what are you doing?”
Hurt radiated through Tyler at his brother’s words. His grip loosened just a bit, but he didn’t actually let go. “I’m not doing anything,” he assured Skylar. “I just needed to be close. You seemed really stressed out. I just want to help you.”
“I’m not,” Skylar tried to lie. Wiggling around was getting him nowhere, so when he felt the distinct poke of something hard against his lower back, he stopped moving. “I’m fine. Just let me go. ” When Tyler didn’t listen, Skylar tried like hell to calm his breathing. “Tyler. Let…me…go. Please?” Each word was punched out, as if he were talking to someone who didn’t understand the English language.
The last thing he wanted was to let Skylar go. Anger slowly bubbled inside him, replacing the hurt he’d felt just a moment ago. This was all her fault. “Why are you acting like this?” Tyler accused, finally releasing his hold on Skylar.
Immediately, Skylar turned to face his brother, his jaw set in a hard line. He only realized that he was naked after the fact, quickly moving to cover his manhood with his hands. “Why am I acting like this?” he asked. It would have been shocking if he didn’t understand his brother’s head a little more after all of his conversations with Venus. And as much as he tried not to let it bother him, it did. “You can’t just come in here and touch me while I’m in the shower, Tyler!”
Again, Tyler’s anger spiked. “Why not?!” he growled, taking a step closer and removing the distance Skylar had managed to put between them. “I wasn’t doing anything. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.” His eyes fell to Skylar’s hands, a small scoff coming from his throat. “You don’t have to do that. It’s not like I haven’t seen you naked before.”
Now, it was Skylar’s turn to get angry. “Don’t do that,” he growled out, his eyes darting to the shower door. “We’ve talked about this. You can’t just do whatever comes to your head without asking me first. This isn’t okay, Tyler!”
A deep frown came to Tyler’s lips when his brother spoke. “Why?” he asked, head tilting to the side as he studied him. “You always let me touch you before. Why is now any different?” His eyes darkened as he came up with the answer for Skylar before he could speak. He didn’t need Skylar to say it — he already knew. “Because of her? Because she has your head all in knots? Because she is trying to make you believe that you shouldn’t be with me?”
Skylar barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “No, Tyler, this has nothing to do with Jessie,” he argued. “It’s because I said no.” Sighing, he ran his fingers through his wet hair before he turned off the water. “I told you before, what happened the other night…it didn’t mean what you thought it meant. It can’t happen again.”
It can’t happen again. That was all Tyler could hear ringing through his head. Skylar had changed the rules on him. The other night, they’d been perfect. Skylar had let down his walls and allowed himself to finally admit what they both knew. And now…he was taking it all back?
And worse, he was trying to convince him — convince himself — that it had nothing to do with Jessie. The one moment when Skylar had finally chosen him, and he was trying to forget. He was trying to erase it. Take it back. Pretend it never happened. He was completely fine until he went to football practice and saw that wretched woman! And now, all of a sudden, it can’t happen again!
Another small frown came to Tyler’s lips as he stared at Skylar. He needed to help him.If Jessie wasn’t in the way, Skylar would remember what they meant to each other. Skylar just didn’t understand what she was doing to him. To them. Someone had to make him see. And after everything Skylar had done for him, Tyler was more than willing to return the favor.
“Okay,” Tyler breathed, taking a stumbling step backwards. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to freak you out. I was just trying to help.” With that, he turned his back on Skylar and headed out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him. He didn’t even bother pulling his clothes back on, and he ignored his brother as he called after him. Instead, Tyler grabbed a clean pair of sweatpants and ran down the steps, heading out into the woods and slamming the cabin door behind him.
When Tyler took off, Skylar knew he’d fucked up. Quickly, he tried to make it right, calling after his brother as he took off. “Tyler!” he called, wrapping the towel around his waist as he jogged down the steps after him. “Tyler c’mon, stop!” The door slamming in his face was enough to stop him. Maybe this was a good thing. Maybe this meant that Tyler was finally going to be able to regulate himself again. Maybe this was progress.
He hoped and prayed that he was right as he moved to the steps once more. He was beat. Everything he’d been holding in the last few days was just weighing him down. He felt heavy. When he got to the bedroom, he flopped onto the bed, turning his phone on silent before he allowed sleep to take him.
**~~**
The sound of glass shattering rang through his ears. Pain radiated through his entire body, making his vision blur. The strong scent of gasoline filled his nose with each shaky breath. Slowly, his vision started to return to normal, revealing broken and smashed car parts littering a road. Screams could be heard throughout the scene, but he didn’t know where they were coming from exactly.
A body lay on the road, covered in road rash, blood, and broken bits of glass. His eyes searched frantically for the one thing that kept him sane — his constant in life. Skylar forced his body to move, bloody fingers gripping the door handle and pulling it open. He nearly fell out of the car, catching himself on his hands and knees.
“Tyler?” he croaked out, his throat aching. He couldn’t see him. But he knew that he’d been with him. He just knew it. “Ty?!” he called out again, his words becoming frantic. As quickly as his broken body would allow, Skylar moved to the driver’s side back door, yanking it open. And there he was. But he wasn’t conscious. Instead, he fell out of the car in a heap, knocking Skylar over when he tried to catch him. “No,” he breathed. “No, no, no, no. Tyler, wake up. Tyler!”
Suddenly, the scene changed, revealing a cemetery. Someone was droning on in the background, but all Skylar could focus on was the image of his brother lying cold and immobile in a casket. The words written on the temporary headstone were simple — too simple. As if they could summarize his life in two little words.
Again, the scene changed. Skylar was standing beside that same headstone, staring down at the grave. Tyler Briggs — two simple words. Then, there was a flash of images all in front of him, moving almost too fast for him to see them. A book, several loose pieces of paper, his hand bleeding after he sliced it open. The one thing that stuck with him though was the hand that shot up out of the grave and gripped his ankle, threatening to pull him under.
Just as he was about to scream, the hand was gone. Instead, he was staring at an empty grave. “Is this what you wanted?” a woman beside him asked, drawing his attention to her immediately. He instantly recognized the glowing green eyes — Venus. Without thinking, he answered yes.
He could feel the presence behind him, compelling him to turn around. And there he was. Tyler. He was happy. The smile on his face was so wide that it reminded Skylar of the time they’d been fifteen and he’d gotten an outstanding grade on his practice tests for college. He remembered calling him a nerd at the time, but now, he’d give anything to see that smile one more time.
Before he could process what was happening, Tyler’s arms were around him, hugging him like he hadn’t seen him in years. And Skylar hugged right back, pulling him impossibly closer as tears threatened to fall from his eyes. Maybe it had all been a dream. Maybe Tyler was okay, and Skylar really was just losing his mind.
However, the sequence changed again and Skylar found himself in the cabin, He was in the kitchen, standing by the island as he cut up vegetables to put in his omelette. Hands wrapped around his waist, the owner pulling him back against their body. His hand that wasn’t holding the knife reached down, fingers brushing along the skin of the new arrival.
A small frown came to his lips when he did. At first, he’d thought this was Jessie — she would always hold him from behind like this. But the arm was different — too big, not delicate enough. His eyes ticked to the French doors leading outside to the deck, catching both his and the newcomer’s reflection in the glass.
Horror washed over him at what he saw. The first thing that stood out was the large bruises littering his neck, telling the story of some teenager who had just learned how to give love bites. They were dark purple and in different stages of healing, mocking him with the hidden meaning they held. Secondly, Jessie wasn’t the one behind him, as he had suspected. It was Tyler. His face was nuzzled into Skylar’s neck, lips brushing over those bites as if he were trying to claim them.
He was just about to break the hold his brother had on him when the front door opened, dragging his attention away from Tyler and onto the front door. His eyes blew as wide as saucers when he saw Jessie walk through the threshold. She didn’t look mad. She had the same expression on her face as she did on the football field — she was worried. She was scared. For Skylar. “Aren’t you worried he’ll hurt you?” she asked, tears in her eyes.
Just as he was about to open his mouth, the scene changed again. Now, he was in a dark basement, his hands pulled behind his back, bound to a chair. The ropes dug into his skin when he moved, pulling a hiss from his throat.
Panic slammed into him and he started yanking on the ropes, his eyes darting around the room for any signs of escape. He saw Jessie in the corner, still looking at him with the same concern she had on her face earlier. “When he looks at you, does he look at you like your brother?” Jessie asked, her chocolate eyes locking Skylar in place.
“Tyler would never hurt me,” Skylar assured her, still as convinced as he had been in the cemetery that night. He barely had time to get the words out before hands were on him. A warm palm pressed against his chest, right over his heart. His eyes darted away from Jessie to find Tyler kneeling on the floor between his spread legs. “You would never hurt me.”
When Tyler looked up at him, his expression wasn’t love. It was possession. It was the same look he’d had the other night when he was talking about Skylar smelling like Jessie. The realization made his blood run cold. “Ty, let me go,” he whispered, biting into his bottom lip as Tyler’s hand started sliding lower.
Again, his eyes ticked to Jessie, watching the woman. He could feel his body getting hard as Tyler worked his cock in his hand, tears forming behind his eyes as he waited for the look of disgust. But it never came. Instead, she just looked sorrowful. “Why didn’t you tell anyone?” she asked.
Why didn’t he? Because he was scared. For a multitude of different reasons. But the one fear stood out among the rest. “Because they would have taken him away,” Skylar whispered. His eyes fell on Tyler, tears threatening to fall once more. “I was protecting him.”
Another sad smile came to Jessie’s lips as Skylar’s admission. She was so understanding — she always had been. That was one of the things Skylar loved about her. “But who was protecting me?” she asked, her chocolate eyes falling to the floor.
Confusion knit Skylar’s brows as his head tilted to the side in a silent question. Then, Tyler’s hands were no longer on him. Instead, he appeared behind Jessie, one hand moving to grip her shoulder as the other, wielding a knife, pressed against her throat. “Tyler!” he yelled, pulling at the ropes again in an attempt to get free.
Jessie’s voice wasn’t accusatory when she spoke again. Instead, it was just sad — almost defeated. “You knew there was something wrong,” she assured him. A single tear slid down her cheek when Tyler promised he didn’t know. “No. But you knew something had changed.”
Helpless to get to his girlfriend, Skylar felt lost. He tugged at the ropes again, but it was useless. He watched in horror as Jessie’s eyes widened, blood sliding down her throat and staining the white of her tank top red. “No! Jessie, no!” he screamed, tugging at the ropes so hard and jerking his body that it made the chair fall over.
The chair falling actually set him free, and he pushed himself to his feet before he raced to the Jessie. However, just as he reached her, the scene changed again. Tears streamed down his cheeks, his chest rising and falling with each panted breath. “Jessie?” he called out, his head whipping from side to side as he took in his new surroundings.
He was back at the cemetery. His bloodshot eyes landed on Tyler. The other man was standing in front of a headstone, just staring at Skylar with those bright, glowing blue eyes. Slowly, Skylar moved toward him, using more caution than he would have just a few minutes prior. “Ty?” he asked, gently reaching out to touch his brother’s shoulder when he got close enough.
Finally, once he was able to touch Tyler, he moved. It was like his hand had ignited something inside Tyler and he pounced on him, lips crushing against his so hard that their teeth clashed together. He moaned softly in surprise, unintentionally inviting his brother’s tongue into his mouth. Only when Tyler released his lips to trail kisses over his cheek, down his jaw, and then to his neck did he see the name on the headstone.
Jessica Katherine White.
Bile rose in his throat, threatening to make him lose everything in his stomach. “Is this what you wanted?” he heard a woman ask. Again, his eyes snapped up to see Venus leaning against the headstone. Her arms were crossed over her chest, a small, sad smile on her lips.
Just then, Tyler dropped to his knees in front of him, his hands moving to work the button and zipper of his jeans open. “You’re his anchor, Skylar Briggs,” Venus continued. “He would do anything for you now. He belongs to you…completely. Do you understand what that means?”
Skylar’s eyes snapped open, a harsh scream tearing from his throat. His eyes darted around the room, taking in his surroundings for a moment while he allowed his mind to catch up to his body. It had been a nightmare. He was in the cabin, in bed, and everything was fine. Pushing himself to a sitting position, Skylar glanced at the clock on the nightstand.
10:57pm — he’d been asleep for nearly four hours. His body had needed it, obviously. He’d slept like the dead. Better than he’d slept in months. Looking around the room, he frowned when he realized that Tyler was nowhere to be seen. “Ty?” he called out, pushing himself off the bed and grabbing a pair of jeans. “Ty, are you home?”
Once he had the jeans on, Skylar pulled on a gray T-shirt, frowning when he realized that it was actually Tyler’s. Typical — his brother had been the one to do the landry last, and he’d made a comment about liking it when Skylar wore his clothes. “Ty? Where are you?”
He was just about to head down the stairs when his phone lit up on the nightstand where he’d left it. Sighing, he snatched the device off the table, seeing that Jessie had texted him about ten minutes ago.
I’m here. Where are you?
His brows knit in confusion when he read the message. “What?” he asked, opening their latest text thread. What he saw shocked him. Messages between the two of them that he hadn’t remembered sending. Asking Jessie to meet him at the cemetery. Telling her that he needed to talk. Alone. That he was finally ready to ask for help.
Realization dawned on him, making his blood run cold. “No,” he breathed, shaking his head as he allowed the phone to fall onto the bed. “Tyler?!” he called out once more, panic causing his heart rate to kick up. “Ty?!” Still, there was no answer.
Without waiting another minute, Skylar shoved his feet into his boots and took off down the stairs. He’d remebered to snatch his phone off the bed and he called Jessie as he tore down the steps and out the door, making a break for the cemetery. There was no answer. “No, c’mon, Jessie, pick up!” he growled, dialing the phone again as that same cold dread from the nightmare settled low in his belly.