Her shocked expression was pretty priceless, and Jared couldn’t help but smile.
“A pole dancer,” Kyrone clarified, seemingly completely unfazed by the shock he’d been met with.
“What made you leave the Navy?” Jared’s father asked.
“My dad got sick, and I went home to be with him until he died.”
“I’m sorry.”
Kyrone wrapped his arm around Jared’s waist and pulled him close. “I know what it’s like to look after someone who’s unwell,” he said. “I know how hard it can be but also how rewarding. You have an amazing son, who’s more than capable of looking after himself most of the time, but when his migraines are bad, I’m there for him.”
Jared leant into Kyrone, soaking up his warmth and tender affection.
Kyrone cleared his throat. “Architecture and law are miles apart. You must have some idea why Jared changed his mind?”
Jared’s mother let out an exasperated noise that seemed to emanate from a strangled place in her throat. “Does it matter?” she asked.
“Yes,” Jared said quietly, staring her in the eyes. “Why have you been keeping things from me?”
She threw her hands up. “What would have been the point in telling you, Jared? You’d decided against architecture long before your accident. It didn’t seem relevant to your recovery.”
Jared narrowed his eyes. “Relevant to…” He shook his head. “Are there other things you haven’t told me?” He knew the answer, obviously, but needed them to admit it.
His mother’s expression turned sour.
“We couldn’t possibly tell you everything that had happened prior to the accident,” his father said in a diplomatic tone. “You must have realised we’d left things out?”
“Yes… but…” Jared clenched his hands and stared at the floor again. “How did you decide what I needed to know?”
His father moved to sit beside him, forcing Jared and Kyrone to squash up together on the sofa. “We focused on family and positive things,” his father explained. “It was what the doctors suggested.”
Jared nodded slowly. “There were negative things?” he asked at length, his voice trembling.
“Of course not,” his mother snapped. “Your father didn’t mean it that way.”
“Drinks,” Bianca announced as she returned to the room with mugs and cups on a tray. “Did I give you enough time to have your ‘talk’?” She glanced between everyone, clearly sensing the tension in the room. “All right,” she said, putting the tray down on the coffee table. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” their mother said, looking away again. Her shoulders trembled, and Jared hated that he was upsetting her.
“It definitely doesn’t feel and look like ‘nothing’,” Bianca said. She handed the drinks out while everyone sat in silence. “Should I go?”
“Yes,” their mother said. “Please.”
Bianca turned and gave Jared a sympathetic smile before taking her drink and leaving.
Jared let out a breath. It was probably best that she’d been sent away if there was any risk of the conversation getting ugly, and it would if he pushed. He wondered if he should or if he should accept that he hadn’t been told everything and they’d probably never change that. But Kyrone had given him an opportunity to dig deeper into his past and maybe find out more about what had happened with Jag, without directly asking mentioning Jag. If Jared backed off now, it would be hard to have this conversation again. As much as he hated to hurt or upset his parents, who obviously wanted to protect and look after him, he needed some answers, and Jag needed some closure.
“I understand why you kept things from me,” he said softly, looking from his mother to his father. “But could you please fill some gaps in for me?”
“Jared—” his mother began, but his father cut her off.
“What do you want to know?”
Jared blew out a breath. He had to tread carefully and had to find a way to make answers organically lead to more questions. He hoped Kyrone would help because he wasn’t sure his brain was agile enough to accomplish that.
“I don’t know…” he said at last. “You’ve barely told me anything about my friends. I must have had friends in school.”
His father stood and went over to a large bookshelf and cabinet combination unit. After a few moments of searching through a cupboard, he returned with a maroon book.
