I grimace. “Ew. I hope you Lysol after you’re donesoftening.”
Evan rolls his eyes. “DoyouLysol everything afteryoufuck around?”
“No, but I do,” Gordy grunts. “Cleaned the bathroom counter off when we were done.” He nods towards the pub.
Evan shakes his head. “I can’t believe you’re bi,” he says to me. “How the hell did you figurethatout?”
I cock an eyebrow up. “Do you want, like,detailsdetails, or just that I started to really do some soul-searching after Caleb and Marcus brought it up? They thought I might have ateensycrush on him. Which, looking back now, I totally did. I mean, look at him. Doesn’t he give off David Beckham vibes? Dude is fuckin’ hot.”
Evan’s brows furrow. “Isthatwhy you said we couldn’t throw out that box of all those oldGQmagazines when we moved all your shit from Sarah’s into storage?”
I chuckle. “Come to think of it, yeah… Shit, you think they’re still in there?”
A rumble of discontent emanates from Gordy’s direction. I shoot him a wink. “Don’t worry, big guy. I prefer baseball legends over soccer superstars.”
“We, uh, should probably get back inside before everyone starts to worry that they’ll stumble on a crime scene out here,” Brooks muses, chuckling. “Guess things are aspatched up as they’re going to get for now. You know? I never know what to expect at these family functions, but I think that’s the beauty in all of it—it’s chaotic and humbling—a true test of mymind-fuckery.”
Evan snickers, guiding Brooks in with a hand at the small of his back. “Like to keep you on top of your game, beautiful,” he notes, smacking Brooks’ ass.
Just as we make our way back into the dining area, we find everyone all huddled together—likely awaiting to see whose face is more bruised, mine or Evan’s.
“Surprise!” they all shout in unisonat me specifically, as a giant cake gets wheeled out on a cart.
“My birthday was months ago,” I note in confusion. “Shouldn’t we be celebrating—oh, I don’t know—Taryn? It’shisbig day. Hell, even baby news from Colt and Petro. Which”—I point at Evan—“ha ha, I knew before you did.”
“I’m gonna kick your ass,” Evan sneers back.
Taryn shrugs. “Colt paid me to bake it for you. Go on, cut into it,” he tells me, passing me a serving spatula.
When I do, each of the seven layers is a different color of the rainbow. I shoot a look up at Colton, who has got thebiggestshit-eating grin on his Evan 2.0: goth-boy edition face. “Pridecake? Really?”
All three generations—Colt, Ev, and Dad—double over in laughter, all of them well aware that I thought Evan once needed one when he came out. Guess we’re celebrating mine now, instead. Dad raises his beer mug in a toast and gives me and Gordy a similar spiel as he did Brooks and Evan at the barbeque.
While everyone else clinks their respective glasses, I opt to, instead, put mine down and lean in—hauling Gordy in for a very big,very public, display of my affection.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Gannett squeezes my hand while everyone is all sitting around in a post-cake haze, chatting and carrying on as if my whole world wasn’t rocked a couple of hours ago. “You okay?” he checks in with me. “You know, we could probably leave anytime now. I doubt T-dawg would be offended. You’ve done more than his other parent, just by showing up here today.”
“Not offended at all,” Taryn agrees, startling me from behind. He grips my shoulder. “Dad, you don’t have to stay if you’re overwhelmed. I get it.”
“I’m staying, Taryn,” I tell him. “I’m okay.” Feeling a little emotionally wrung out? Sure, but I can’t see ducking out early. Not while everyone else is here, all in support of my boy. For years, it was just me and him, so to say that I’m still in awe of how all Gannett’s family—and then some—have shown up for him today? Well, that’s a huge understatement.
“Mom did text me to let me know she’d be by, just—I dunno, later, I guess.” I hate the way his stature sags with defeat.
“No, hey. Don’t do that,” Gannett says, rising from his chair and placing his hands on Taryn’s shoulders, nudging his posture upright again. “If she can’t be here for you on your big day, bud, that’s aherproblem. Your dad and I? Hell,everyone hereis so super proud of you. Man, do you know how epic it is that you haven’t even turned twenty yet and you already own and run your own business?”
“Yeah, dude,” Colton chips in. “Don’t sell yourself short just ‘cuz your mom couldn’t be bothered to show up. You’ve got all of us here for you. I personally think it’s pretty friggin’ rad you own this place now. IpromiseI won’t do anything to the dumpsters,” he jokes with a wink.
“You did a really good job with the Pride cake,” Petro adds, stroking his little bump. “Baby and I both agree.”
Terra stops listening to Tati, who is trying to teach her how to braid Tally’s hair. She approaches Taryn and hugs him. “Sorry your mumma’s ajerk. She soundsdumb,” she supplies with her no-nonsense attitude.
Vickie gasps, scowling at Gannett—likely for not readily threatening to wash his daughter’s mouth out with soap.
But he doesn’t. No, instead he shrugs with a cocky smirk. “She’s not wrong.”
“Daddy sayslife is about balancea lot,” Tati notes, not looking up from her continued braiding.
