Naked Glass

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BLURB

He doesn't want to deny himself the love he has never had before, bouncing from foster family to foster family. Jules loves him, probably more than he should... in ways that he shouldn't...

So when they decide to go off to college together, it makes sense. Maybe they can be together. Maybe they can be happy with each other, despite the circumstances stacked against them.

That's until Jules' father discovers them, and he realizes just how little about his own son he knows.

His father's revelation could unravel their lives. It can unravel their past, their present, their future... but can it unravel their love for each other?

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Please be aware that this is the continuation of Hard Glass. You can read this book by itself, but it’ll make more sense if you read it after reading Hard Glass.

Please also be aware that this book has the same trigger warnings as Hard Glass. (The password is hardglass, all lowercase.)

Finally, thank you for reading my book! Feel free to reach out to me at lina@linalangley.com. I do answer your emails if I can.

I hope you enjoy this book!

CHAPTER ONE

MASON

T his doesn’t feel fair , I said, more to myself than to Jules. He ignored me, still smiling at his cellphone.

Is Mason complaining? I heard Hashim say.

Tell him we’re all surprised! Brandon chimed in.

I couldn’t help but smile. Even though they were in completely different cities now, and I missed them, they were still a huge part of my life. Of our lives, I thought, as I watched Jules giggle into his selfie cam.

I’m gonna go now, Jules said. Mason is going to finish unpacking all by himself if I don’t.

Don’t pretend you don’t like it, Brandon said. So did you two—

I gotta go! Jules said. You’re cutting up real bad. Okay, bye!

Liar! Hashim said. Jules ended the call and walked over to where I was, grinning.

That was close, I said.

Jules shrugged. Nah, it wasn’t, he said. They don’t know anything they don’t need to know.

I bit the inside of my cheek. I didn’t want to get into an argument with him, but I was sure that they knew more than they told us, and they seemed to know a lot. It had been a whole thing, trying to keep our friends away from Clive and Denise during the summer, coordinating things way in advance so that Hashim and Brandon wouldn’t run into my parents—or Jules’ parents, at that. I’d had to fake an emergency or two a couple of times and Denise was insisting that I see a specialist.

I didn’t want to worry her, but the last thing I wanted to do was tell her that my stomach didn’t hurt, I was just having sex with my twin brother. She knew about him, too, because Clive didn’t keep secrets from her. I’d tried to play it off as a coincidence, but Clive knew too much. So I had to come clean about his existence and about my motives when I’d asked them to send me off to school.

I’d convinced them to send me to school so I could find my twin brother. I wanted to get in touch with my biological family. I’d expected them to be angry, but they seemed to get it. They never pushed me on it. If anything, they seemed happy that Jules and I had become such good friends.

It felt wrong to keep such a huge part of my life from the people who had adopted me and were now paying my way through college, but I didn’t have another option. Everyone thought Jules was simply a good friend, a brother.

And he was, most of the time.

Except when he would climb into my bed at night, after we were sure the doors were tightly locked, and he would start kissing me. We had barely managed to touch during the summer, because we always saw each other in public. We’d sit near each other and he’d put his foot near my own, his leg barely touching mine.

It was enough to make me sit up straight and feel like I was going to pass out, even though Jules was barely touching me. He would look at me when he would get up to go to the bathroom or get food and he would find any excuse he could to pat my back when he sat back down.

I couldn’t believe the summer had passed. It was hard to think that, only a year or so ago, I was still in a foster home. And now I was going to college—community college, but still college. It was almost as if I was normal. Nobody needed to know about my background, about my foster parents or my foster sisters, and definitely not about Jules Dubois.

Jules cleared his throat. Mason?

Sorry, I said. Just, I don’t know, taking this all in.

He smiled at me. Our first week of college, he said. Isn’t this exciting? Now that everyone is gone, we can...

I smiled at him, a little bit glad he’d trailed off. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to take things to the next level. Everything between us was still complicated. I have a feeling our experiences are going to be a lot different.

Nah. I mean, the first couple of years, maybe, but then you’ll be able to transfer to get your Bachelor Degree.

You have a lot of faith in me, I said.

I know, he replied, walking over to where I was. He put his arm around me and pulled me close to him. I loved the way he smelled, like coconut shampoo and mild aftershave. And I’ve never been wrong so far.

I shook my head, laughing. You are too nice to me, Jules, I said. If there’s one thing I’ve constantly been throughout my life, it’s a disappointment.

He nudged me with his shoulder. Don’t be ridiculous, he said playfully. His expression schooled as he moved away from me. I mean that. Let’s work on your negative self-talk.

I raised my eyebrows. Is that what we’re calling it now?

Yeah, he said. It is. And we’re going to stop it.

You mean I’m going to stop it?

Jules laughed. Yes, but it sounded nicer when I said it, he said. He grabbed my wrist and began pulling me toward the stack of boxes still on the floor. I would really like to have a furnished apartment sometime soon.

This is already furnished, I said. The place was furnished, just not to the standard that I knew Jules was used to. There was a futon pushed against the wall across from the television, two bar stools on the breakfast bar and a little glass round dining table. There was no need to buy any other furniture, as far as I was concerned. We had everything that we needed.

Yeah, okay, Jules said, rolling his eyes. We need more stuff than this. Plus, we need to make the two bedrooms... believable.

I watched him for a second. He was kneeling and opening one of the kitchenware boxes. I didn’t walk over to where he was before I spoke. Wait, I said. What do you mean?

He looked up at me. We need two rooms, and they both need to look used, he said. Just in case anyone pops in or whatever. You don’t want people to talk, do you?

I blinked, suddenly dizzy. Talk about what?

You know.

I don’t know, I said.

Jules looked down at the box. His cheeks were red. I just don’t know if you want people around us to know we’re a couple.

I took a deep breath. Neither one of us had said it yet, but of course, we’d both thought it. We’d decided to get this apartment together, and I was under no delusion that it would only be a fraternal thing. I’d thought about the... other parts of it far more than I wanted to admit. Even to myself.

It was weird to think that I was still having so many sexual thoughts about someone that basically looked like exactly like me. I didn’t see it, not when I looked at him, but fuck, I wanted him so much. Just the word couple practically made my dick throb.

But it also made me feel like I might be about to faint, because it was a lot. I don’t know, Jules, I said after a while, pinching the bridge of my nose. I haven’t thought about it yet.

About what the neighbors will say?

I’ve never cared about what the neighbors say and I’m not going to start now, I replied. But I just, I don’t know how many stories we have to keep straight right now. Will our neighbors know what we really are to each other?

What, exactly, are we to each other?

I shrugged, unsure of what I was supposed to say, and a bit bewildered at how hurt he sounded.

Forget it, he said. It doesn’t matter. We need to have two bedrooms, okay? We can talk about all this shit later.

Jules—

He looked up at me, his eyes glassy. Seriously, he said. Let’s get these boxes unpacked. We can take it one step at a time.

Right, I echoed, my voice wavering. One step at a time.

CHAPTER TWO

JULES

Ifell asleep on the couch. I was very tired from the day, but it was mostly a calculated move. I didn’t want to get into it with Mason. I didn’t want to talk about labels, or what our relationship meant, or who would take which room. I was excited about living with him, but I wasn’t stupid.

I knew everything was going to be complicated. Nothing was easy with Mason. That was one of the things I kind of loved about him—he brought this layer of nuance into my life I didn’t think I had ever experienced before.

But sometimes, like when I was already under pressure by moving to fucking college, it stressed me the fuck out. Mason was full of energy and I could hear him carrying stuff, unpacking boxes, crumbling up cardboard, opening and closing drawers. I’d put a movie I wasn’t paying attention to on. I didn’t really invite him to watch it with me, and, in any case, I wasn’t sure he would have wanted to.

It would have invited a conversation, one I wasn’t sure he wanted to have. I didn’t even know if I wanted to have it. I woke up because he was putting a blanket over me and a pillow under my head. He wasn’t speaking to me, not