“Whatever,” Sawyer said with a smile before offering me a hug. “Any time you need anything, buddy, I’m here.”
Linc stepped up beside me and set his hand on my shoulder, Rush at his side. “We’re all here for you, Keegan.”
I thought about the conversation Linc and I had shared shortly before I’d headed off to Parlaisa with Casey and Steve, when I told him in uncertain terms about how I was questioning my sexuality.
“Sounds like it wasn’t the way you planned on sharing the news,” Linc added.
“Not exactly. Funny because I was already planning on telling Nance and Jace after coming back. Then maybe working my way around to the rest of Fever Falls.”
“Sorry that happened to you. You deserved to do it your way.”
“Thanks, but it’s okay. As you can see, everyone’s been pretty incredible about it. I couldn’t have asked for a better crew to have my back.”
“Damn right,” Rush said, hooking his arm around Linc.
Linc smiled. “Yeah, seems just when you think you have shit figured out, life comes in and throws a curveball.”
“Or injures your body so you can score the love of your life,” Rush added.
They gazed at one another, so much affection and appreciation in their eyes. Certainly they couldn’t have known that something as shitty as Rush’s motocross accident would result in him falling for an awesome guy like Linc.
Serena and Nance approached.
“Everyone deserves a fabulous coming out party,” Serena said.
“Really, Serena deserves more credit than I do,” Nance added. “I was thinking a barbecue, maybe…definitely nothing like this.”
Serena rolled her eyes. “Oh, she’s being modest.”
Since Nance and Serena had first met after Jace and Dax had begun seeing one another, they’d found themselves at odds on more than a few occasions. They were nothing alike. Serena was a flashy, overly ambitious Hollywood starlet, and Nance was a down-to-earth woman perfectly content with the sort of small-town life Serena seemed to take little interest in. So knowing they had been willing to put this on together for me meant a lot.
At one point, Jace brought out a cake, and as I made the rounds, I noticed Nance and Jace chatting Owen up. Surely, they wanted to get to know this prince who had recruited me for such an unusual cause.
“Everything going all right here?” I asked as I slid between Jace and Nance.
“We were just getting to know your man,” Jace said. “I approve. Well, Nance approves, and so that means I approve as well.”
I was relieved that in the time they’d talked with him, they’d managed to get a hint of the great guy I was getting to know.
That didn’t mean I was totally off the hook. As soon as Owen was preoccupied, chatting with Linc, Ash, and Beau, Nance and Jace made sure to get me on my own.
“He’s clearly the man in the pictures online,” she noted, “and everything lines up with all that Jace and I have read about Parlaisa’s political history with the LGBTQ+ community, so I’m concerned, but within reason. It helps meeting him in person. You have our full support and love, and no matter what happens, we’re both here for you.”
“But as you know from everything that’s happened with you so far,” Jace went on, “this spotlight shit is a lot to deal with, so let me know if you need any help, okay?”
“All right, bruh.”
“Come here, you little pest,” Jace said, hooking an arm around Nance and me and drawing us both in for a hug.
“Crawford would be proud of you for helping make such a big change in the world,” Nance offered.
Those words meant more than she could have known.
It wouldn’t have been right to turn down an opportunity to make such a difference. I remembered enough about the issue in the US, how many lives it impacted, the overwhelming flood of emotion when our Supreme Court decision was made. If I could make that change in another place, that really meant something.
With my family’s and friends’ blessings, I was overwhelmed with emotion, and wishing Crawford could have been there with us. Of all the things I knew, one was that he would have never judged me—and he would have likely been complimenting Carter for how good he looked in drag.
However, amazing as it went, after we left the party, Owen seemed slightly on edge.
