“Ezra, I swear, I wasn’t the one who—”
Ezra launches away from the table, taking a few steps back. “I can’t even look at you.” He turns to Bubba. “Give me the keys to your truck. I’m not staying here. Not after what they did.”
“Ez? You don’t have to leave. It’s just a misunderstanding. Let me explain.”
He shakes his head. “I won’t.”
“If I could interject,” Faith says, but the look Ezra shoots just shuts her down, and she holds her hands up in surrender.
“I believe you interjected enough when you shoved your tongue into my boyfriend’s mouth, don’t you?”
“Boyfriend?” Johnny asks with a gasp.
“Boyfriend?” Faith asks, her mouth falling open.
“Boyfriend?” Jaden shrieks, bolting up out of his chair. “You’re dating Uncle Johnny? But you essentially busted a load in front of me in the bathroom earlier.”
“You did what?” I bark, jerking my head in Ezra’s direction. He cheated on me? With my own son? I know we’re all trailer trash here, but this takes the cake.
“That’s not true!” Ezra looks at me, horrified, shaking his head. “I was just peeing, and you walked in!”
Jaden blushes. “Wishful thinking, I guess. You’re cute.”
Ezra blushes and looks over at me. “If somehow, by miracle, we don’t end up broken up by the end of this, family gatherings are going to be very awkward for you.”
“Uncle Johnny is dating a man,” Jaden asks again.
“Wasdating,” Ezra reiterates.
“Ez, please,” Johnny says, getting up from his chair and walking toward Ezzy. “I promise, I wasn’t kissing her. She walked into the room and slipped her tongue in my mouth. I froze. You have to believe me, I didn’t kiss her back.” Ezra doesn’t object when Johnny picks him up and places him on his hip. “You called me your boyfriend.”
“And you told me everything was going to be okay. People lie.”
Johnny’s jaw clenches. “No.”
“No?”
“No. I’m not letting this turn into one of those third-act breakups in the movies that goes on for twenty minutes. No one likes them. It’s just unnecessary drama, and we ain’t doing it, Ez.” He glares at Faith. “Tell him. Tell him I didn’t kiss you.”
Faith rolls her eyes, arms folded across her chest, lifting her tits high to the sky, not that they ever needed much help. “That’s what I was trying to say earlier, and then he called me a homewrecker.”
Ezra snarls at her. “And I’ll say it again.”
She cocks an eyebrow, cracking a knuckle under her thumb. “Say it. I dare you.”
Ezra’s eyes widen and dart in my direction, seeking me out. “Daddy?”
I scrub my hand across my face. “Alright. Enough of this, dammit. Everyone, just calm the fuck down.”
“Dad?”
I look down at Jaden. “Yeah, buddy?”
He points at Ezra. “The crazy twink called you Daddy.”
“I’m not crazy,” Ezzy growls.
I swallow, but the act feels physically impossible. I guess this is my big coming out moment. I never expected to come out in my forties, but then, I never expected to fall for Johnny and Ezra, and now the world feels impossible without them. Faith stares at me like she’s staring straight into my soul, and even though it’s hard as hell to get the words out, her gentle nod is all I need to get the ball rolling.
