For a moment, Ollie couldn't breathe.
The words "give him to me" echoed in his head like a poorly tuned bell. Each repetition sent another jolt to his heart, until it felt like it might burst straight through his ribs.
He blinked once.
Then twice.
The hallway was still dead silent. All eyes were on him.
Even Luca, who had seen his brother go through countless oddities, was speechless. It had been a long time since he had seen something like this. It reminded him of those bitter fights between Guides back in the day. The only difference was that back then, they were trying to pin all their relationship problems on him.
This time, however, someone was trying to take Kyle away from his brother.
Luca's hand subtly found Ollie's, a small anchor in the midst of the rising emotional tide. He expected tremors. He expected hesitation.
Instead, Ollie's fingers curled around his with unexpected steadiness.
And then his brother, who had been unusually silent, spoke.
