Gage rolled his eyes and took a step back. He’d never been affectionate with Luis, and hugging his almost-naked brother made him uneasy. He remembered how Luis had always been so obvious about flaunting his naked body in front of other people. He’d been that way since they were children, without a hint of shame.
Luis turned and slowly walked to the other side of the room. He opened a cherry highboy and pulled out a pair of beige sweatpants and a black V-neck T-shirt. Then he walked to the bed and set them on the edge. When he bent over, he spread his legs slightly and Gage noticed he and Luis were identical in every single way. They had the same smooth, round ass and the exaggerated arch at the small of their backs, with two perfect dimples. They had the same legs and the same smooth skin. There wasn’t even a distinguishing birthmark that could define them as individuals.
“What are you doing in New York?” Luis asked, pulling the black shirt over his head, leaving his bottom half naked. Anyone else would have put on their pants first. But not Luis. “Are you here to see the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building and all those other fun touristy things we New Yorkers never bother getting around to see?”
Gage smiled, knowing this was another subtle insult. People who didn’t know Luis very well wouldn’t have recognized it as an insult. Gage knew Luis was insinuating that Gage was just a country bumpkin from Tennessee who’d taken a bus to New York to check out the tourist attractions. “I’m afraid not, Luis. I’ve already been there and done that. I’ve been living in New York for almost five years.”
Luis stopped dressing and sent him a stunned glance. “You’ve been here for five years and you’ve never contacted me? I don’t understand.”
“We haven’t seen each other in more than ten years and you never tried to contact me, Luis,” Gage said. He noticed they even had the same well-defined stomach muscles and small, round chest muscles.
“Where do you live in New York?” Luis asked
“Brooklyn.”
“Brooklyn,” Luis said, as if it left a bad taste in his mouth.
Gage smiled, expecting this reaction. “I have a nice little studio in Brooklyn Heights, above a grocery store.”
Before Luis could reply, there was a knock on the open door and a young man with a dark beard stepped into the room. He was handsome in a rough way, and Gage wasn’t sure whether he was gay or straight. He took one look at Gage and blinked. Then he looked at Luis and shrugged.
“You’re not seeing things,” Luis said. “This is my twin brother, Eddie.” He didn’t seem the least bit awkward about walking around in a thong in front of this guy.
Gage said, “My name is Gage Weston now. I changed it when I moved to New York five years ago.” He smiled at the young man with the dark beard. “I changed it from Eddie Bowles to Gage Weston just like Luis changed his name from Freddie Bowles to Luis Fortune.”
“Don’t be so hostile, Eddie,” Luis said. “I’m sorry, Gage. This is Cory Rhodes. He works for us at our home in Bucks County. I don’t know what we’d do without him.”
Cory smiled and said, “It’s nice to meet you, Gage.” Then he turned to Luis and said, “I’m heading back to Cider Mill Farm now. I fixed the problem in the kitchen sink and I want to leave before the traffic gets too heavy.” He didn’t seem flustered or surprised that Luis was half naked, which made Gage wonder what the story was between them.
“Thank you, Cory,” Luis said. “I can’t thank you enough for coming into the city like this. I’ll see you this weekend. Jase and Hunter are coming home Friday and I’ll drive out before they arrive.”
Cory smiled. “I’ll see you then.” He turned to Gage and smiled. “It was nice meeting you. I can’t get over how much you look like Luis. Except for the blond hair, of course, I honestly couldn’t tell you two apart.”
Gage smiled. “I’m the nice one.”
Luis laughed. “I wasn’t going to say anything about my brother’s bleached blond hair, Cory.” He turned to Gage and stared at his head. “Why on Earth did you ever do that to your hair? It’s so brassy and it should be cut much shorter like mine. I’m afraid it’s not very becoming. I’m sure it will grow out eventually. Accidents happen. We all go through those bad hair stages.”
Gage ignored Luis’s commentary. Luis had been trying to make him feel inferior since they’d been children and he was used to it. The competition never ended. “It was nice meeting you, Cory. But I doubt you’ll be seeing much of me. I just stopped by for a moment today.” He smiled and spoke with a lighter tone. “I can only take about one visit with my twin brother every ten years. More than that, I might have to be hospitalized.”
“Ah well,” Cory said, not knowing how to reply. “I’ll see you this weekend, Luis.”
“One more thing, Cory,” Luis said. “Jase doesn’t know I have a twin brother. I like to keep the past in the past, if you know what I mean. I’m going to tell Jase eventually. But I’d rather we keep this just between us for now.” He turned to Gage and smiled. “Cory and I have a special friendship and we trust each other completely. Cory would never betray my confidence.”
Cory shrugged and said, “I know nothing at all.” Then he left the room as fast as he could and clomped down the front staircase as if running from a grenade set to explode at any moment.
“You seem so comfortable walking around half naked with your young, handsome employee,” Gage said. “Most people would have covered themselves right away.”
Luis smiled. “Cory is like family. He’s seen me naked many, many times. Like I said, he’s a very special friend. He’s the man around the house when Jase is away, and he takes very good care of me.”
“I’ll bet he does,” Gage said in a snide tone.
Luis put on his sweatpants and said, “Why on Earth are you getting so hostile? After all, if anyone should be hostile, it should be me. You’re the one who got me kicked out of the house when I was barely able to take care of myself. I’ll never forget what you did to me that day.”
Gage wouldn’t forget that day either. Luis had somehow discovered that Gage and one of the hired hands on their father’s farm were having an affair. At the time, neither brother knew the other was gay—those things were not discussed openly in their home. The hired hand, whom everyone called Snake because of the snake tattoo on his bicep, was one of those lanky, manly, bow-legged types who wore a Stetson hat and cowboy boots all the time. He had constant five o’clock shadow, a nine-inch dick, and always smelled like beer and tobacco. Gage couldn’t get enough of Snake back then. He was madly in love with him; he was the first man Gage had ever been with. Snake had screwed him from one end of the barn to the other for almost a year. When Snake wasn’t fucking Gage’s tight young ass, Gage was on his knees blowing Snake.