His dad wouldn’t hesitate to summon any one of those blood-pact gods on their asses. Everett’s status as unofficial-yet-soon-to-be-official family wouldn’t save him.
“I think I like your dad already.” Jayne undid his seatbelt, laughter dancing in his eyes. “You ready?”
“Yeah.” Caleb shook his head quickly to knock himself into the right mindset, then undid his belt as well and opened the door. “Hey, Dad.”
“Hey there, Thing Two!” his dad called. “Where’s Mysterious Dinner Guest Number Three?”
“Here,” Jayne said as he opened the door and stepped out of the Jag. “Thank you for having us tonight. It’s nice to meet the man responsible for the insanity that is Caleb Alcrest.”
“Oh, I like him already.” Caleb’s dad grinned. “Let’s head on inside so we can get properly introduced.”
53
Caleb
It wasn’t often that Caleb’s dad could be spotted in something other than pajamas while at home. He, like Caleb, was a creature of comfort, and to him, comfort meant t-shirts worn soft by time and sweatpants several sizes too big with tightened drawstrings to keep them secure. Today, however, in his white button-down shirt with its tiny black pattern and his dark-wash fitted jeans, he was looking to impress. If it hadn’t been for the pattern on his shirt, Caleb might have thought he’d borrowed the shirt from someone else, but as Caleb came to hug him and spotted what its pattern was, there was no question who the shirt belonged to. It had to have come from some forgotten corner of his dad’s closet.
Each tiny dot was a fist.
A fist, holding up its middle finger.
The pattern was designed in such a way that, from afar, the shirt didn’t appear offensive.
Caleb, whose arms were outstretched in anticipation of an embrace, stopped and flattened his brow. “Seriously?”
“Seriously.” His dad, unperturbed by Caleb’s mood, pulled him into a bear hug. While he was close, he whispered into Caleb’s ear, “Don’t tell the others. I want to see if anyone notices and calls me on my shit.”
“I am so not adopted,” Caleb whispered back.
His dad released Caleb and stepped back, his socked feet sinking into the freshly vacuumed carpet. It looked like the sitting room had been detailed prior to their arrival—the glass panels on the cabinets were smudge-free, and the couch cushions looked plumper than before. Even the curtains were a little more vibrant, like they’d recently been put through the wash. If his dad had gone through the trouble of washing the curtains, it meant that tonight’s dinner was a big deal.
“Is there anything I can do to help with dinner, Uncle Oli?” Everett asked.
Caleb’s dad shook his head. “Nope. I muddled through all on my own, thank you very much. Everything that needs to be in the oven is in the oven, and I’ve already got the table set, so you don’t have to worry about putting out the plates or arranging the cutlery. By the way, it’s totally okay to be a little bit impressed—I even surprised myself with how ahead of the game I am today.”
“Well, if you think of anything you need help with, I’m your guy.” Everett came to stand by Caleb’s side and squeezed his shoulder. In no way was it as affectionate or telling as slipping an arm around Caleb’s waist, but the effect was the same—blood rushed Caleb’s cheeks, and he found himself having to fight the urge to tug Everett to his side. “I’m sure this goof would help out, too, if you poke him with a sharp enough stick.”
“Ha ha.” Caleb nudged him in the ribs. “Dad, if you need me to help, you know I will. There’s no need to get the stick involved.”
“It’s on hand anyway, just in case.” His dad winked. “I’ve hidden it somewhere secret so you can’t sneak off and steal it from me.”
Jayne, who’d been hanging by the periphery of the room, came forward and stood near Caleb and Everett. “Stick? Is that the secret to keeping these boys under control? Please, teach me your ways.”
Caleb’s dad arched a brow, appraising Jayne, then grinned at Caleb. “Not only is he gorgeous, but he’s funny, too. I like him.”
“Dad.” Caleb covered his face while Everett snickered. They’d been in the house for all of five minutes, and he was already embarrassed. “He can hear you.”
“I can,” Jayne confirmed, delighted. “But please, feel free to continue. I don’t put on makeup with the intention of blending into the crowd, you know.”
“That’s makeup?” Caleb’s dad nonchalantly pushed Caleb aside, crowding into the space Caleb had once occupied so he could get a better look at Jayne’s face. It felt slightly voyeuristic, but Jayne ate it up, lifting his chin and angling his head so that his best angles caught the light. As embarrassed as Caleb was, it did his heart good to see Jayne so proud of himself, and his dad so obviously enamored. “Holy hell. I can’t even put paint on a wall without leaving streaks behind and wearing half the bucket while I’m at it. How do you do something like that so well? I couldn’t even tell. I mean, I thought it was weird that a literal Grecian god would turn up on my doorstep alongside my hooligan child, but you sold me on that story, and I bought it without question.”
“Thank you.” Jayne beamed. “I like you. I’m Jayne. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
“Come. Sit.” Caleb’s dad gestured at the couches. With Jayne on his radar, Everett and Caleb fell by the wayside. Caleb couldn’t blame him. Everett had been in and out of the Alcrest house all his life, but Jayne was new, mysterious, and in his dad’s eyes, a potential love interest for that hooligan son of his. Caleb had never brought a lover home before. At least, not one that his parents had been aware of.
“I’ve got about twenty minutes before the timer goes off and summons me back to the kitchen,” Caleb’s dad said. “That’s more than enough time to start to get to know each other. I’m Oli, Keeper of the Stick.”
“Well met, Oli, Keeper of the Stick,” Jayne replied, effortlessly channeling Alcrest humor. He sat on the indicated couch, and Caleb’s dad settled beside him. “I suppose I should properly introduce myself as well—you’ll have to excuse my manners. I’m Jayne, Distributer of Glitter. Unfortunately, my aptitudes have proved less than effective at keeping your spawn in line. The best I can do is blind him when he’s being truly unruly, but even that’s not been so effective since I switched to biodegradable glitter in an effort to keep the planet healthy. I’m receptive to your wisdom.”
