“Yeah, you guys have nothing to worry about,” Steve added. “Google and the locals here agree that the crime rate is really low. I think the greatest struggle we’ve had is understanding everyone’s fancy English accent. We’re basically stuck in an episode ofDownton Abbey.”
Nance smiled, then glanced around like she was searching for something behind me. “Where’s Serena?”
“She made an appointment at the spa today,” I replied. “Said she was more interested in a mani-pedi than a parade.”
Serena was Jace’s boyfriend’s mom. We’d become close after Jace and Dax started seeing each other. She’d actually been the one to sponsor me, the poor college kid who part-timed waiting tables, so that I could come on the trip for the summer. Of course, she had the condition that she come with us, since she said she was in desperate need of a vacay.
“She’s been really great,” Casey continued. “She just goes and does her thing while we hit the bars. Hell, I’m still hungover from those shots last night.”
I gently nudged his rib with my elbow.
“Ow!” he called out overdramatically.
Concern flashed across Nance’s face before she took a breath. “Well, you’ve been out of the house for a year, so I’m not going to pretend that I don’t imagine you’ve had your share of that already. But I’m just a phone call away if you get into any trouble, okay? I’m always here for you, and always will be.”
“I know that, Nance.”
And I really did.
She was the best adoptive mom a guy could have hoped for.
Which made me feel that much shittier about the secret I hadn’t shared with her.
A part of me just wanted to blurt out,Oh, by the way, I’m gay, over the phone right then. But they both deserved better than that. They deserved to hear it from me in person.
“Okay, now go get into some more trouble,” Jace said before we said our goodbyes.
“Sweet how much your family cares about you,” Casey said as soon as I hung up.
“Yeah, it is,” Steve added. “I have a feeling Nance and Jace will always be this supportive of you, regardless of who you happen to want to be with.”
Steve and Casey were two of the few people I’d already come out to once we started college the year before. When Casey first came out, Steve had been about as cool a guy as there could have been. Never judging. Always supportive, even defending when he had to throw down against bullies.
I knew my friends would take my news well, which might have been an understatement considering how quick they were to help me create Grindr, Scruff, and Tinder profiles.
“I know they will. And it has been helpful going out to the gay bars here. I’ve wanted to do that in Fever Falls, but just been nervous about people finding out…or telling my family.”
Steve removed the wide-brimmed hat of his Indiana Jones costume and hooked an arm around me. “Hey, man. It’s not a race. You come out when it’s comfortable for you, not anyone else.”
“I just feel bad, like I’m letting Nance and Jace down.”
They’ve always been supportive of me, and hell, Jace was bi himself, so I knew he wouldn’t have any issues there, but still, it was taking me time to come to terms with it myself. And even though I was becoming more comfortable, I wasn’t quite there yet.
Not totally.
“You’re not letting anyone down,” Casey insisted.
“No, I don’t want to hear any talk like that,” Steve added. “Neither of them will feel that way. Hell, you were checking out my dick for how long in PE only to tell me years later, and we’re still friends.”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Who wasn’t looking at that massive dong?” Casey teased. “That doesn’t mean anything about his sexual orientation. It’s not his fault you basically have a circus sideshow dick.”
Steve’s smile broadened—all full of conceit and so very him.
“Oh my fucking God,” Casey went on. “That was not a compliment. No! You don’t get to smile like that!”
I could tell they were trying to lighten the mood to make me feel better. And it was something I always appreciated about them. They knew how to cheer me up, even on my worst days.
