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had in the sense he knew his brother would retaliate from his teasing. He and Simeon were as close as
twins could be, and had been for as long back as either could remember.
Half the time he knew what Si thought even before his twin did.
Rylan moved off the couch, knowing his twin would soon be wrestling for a headlock, and instead sat on
a well-padded chair nearby.
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Where s Michael? Rylan asked, slightly disappointed to be changing the subject away from Clare. He
silently admitted to himself he wouldn t mind a few tips on how to snare a singularly smart woman the
knowledge might come in handy for Ruthie, but he couldn t admit that to Si or anyone else.
And so, when in doubt, change the topic of conversation. The tactic usually worked on his twin, this time
being no different. Simeon cast him a searching glance, but settled back on the couch, his arms easily
crossed over his flat stomach.
Still talking to Alderic and searching Gav s office there I assume. I don t exactly keep trackers on the
two of you, you know.
Rylan snorted and picked up a holo-zine lying nearby. Could have fooled me, bro.
As he idly flipped open the zine, he could practically feel Simeon staring at him.
You re in an awfully good mood considering you ve just come back from talking with Ruthie. Don t tell
me she didn t try to cut your balls off?
Rylan smiled. While he knew when to give up a delicate conversational topic, Simeon often was like a
dog with a bone. Particularly when it concerned family, or worse,his particular feelings. He tried to sound
as casual as possible as he replied to his brother, keeping his eyes firmly on the half-dressed model in the
holo-zine.
Not in the slightest, he replied easily, pretending to concentrate on the model s pose and not flashing
back to the way Ruthie had looked, both twenty minutes ago as well as back at the Ball.
He had purposely chosen to neglect to mention to either of his brothers about encountering her there and
spending the night with her, although platonically. While he felt certain he would receive commiserations
from both his brothers at Ruthie s passing out after a few heated kisses, he truly didn t want to have to go
through the ignominy of having their every following conversation hacked apart and commented on like
the latest ball game.
Rylan had actually gone over to Vasili s lodging the following morning to talk to his buddy about the
entire scenario with Ruthie and himself. He had desperately craved to admit to someone how good it had
felt to simply fall asleep with the surprising woman in his arms.
While he loved his brothers dearly, he felt too raw, the feelings too new and vulnerable to want to have
to deal with the teasing from his two siblings. Besides, whole cities acknowledged him as the stud of the
family. Admitting he had been as close as ever before to blowing his load merely lying platonically next to
a woman who had passed out was not the best way for him to keep his reputation intact.
In any event, Simeon had been acting oddly all throughout the D and D ball, obviously showing his
pre-stages of entering heat, and he hadn t wanted to burden his twin with his strange musings and the
truly staggering reflection he would be content to lie beside Ruthie any and every night, and just hold her
in his arms. Sure, he wanted sex just as much as he wanted the air to breathe, but there also lay a strange
form of peace and contentment merely holding her in his arms.
Ironically, instead of unburdening himself to his best and oldest friend, he had found Vasili with his head
over the rim of his commode, puking his guts up and looking like he had been on the worst sort of
bender. His friend had overindulged at the ball, in many senses of the word, and had paid the high price
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their kind did for overindulging in alcohol, fun as it was initially.
Rylan snapped back to attention, realized Simeon had asked him something, though lost in his own
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