“How? How is it any different?” I clenched my hands into fists and shoved them under my thighs. Decking the driver wouldn’t be a smart idea, no matter how much he had it coming. “You and Chase are in college just like the three of us are. None of us have really started our lives yet, and yet it's okay for the two of you, or for Matt and Brandon, to have a relationship, but all of a sudden when I find people who make me happy, it's suddenly an issue?”
“I never said that. I just… I don't want to see you get hurt. And I know what Zach said about trying to make up for his past, but he’s still a wildcard. It's going to take a long time before I trust him,” Jayden explained, his voice softer now, like he was trying to soothe the anger he’d churned up in me.
“Then I guess, until then, you'll just have to trust me. Last summer you were all about making sure Mom and Dad knew that I was old enough to make my own choices. I wasn't sure about you at first, either,” I admitted. “But the more time I spent watching you and Chase together, the more I understood that I didn't need to have any sort of opinion about your relationship, as long as you made him happy. All I'm asking is that you offer us the same courtesy.”
“We can do that,” Chase promised, placing his hand on my leg. “But seriously, if they mean that much to you, why are you here with us?”
“I already told you, they didn't invite me to join them,” I repeated through gritted teeth.
“And do you suppose that's because they don't want you there or because they are just as scared of rejection as you are?” Chase pressed. “Or that they didn’t want you to feel like you had to choose them or the family. It’s a no-win situation, Colin.”
“What the hell would they have to be scared about?”
“Like Jayden said, this is all really new for Zach. I can't imagine how difficult it's going to be for him, spending the weekend listening to his dad's bullshit. They need you, Colin.” He gave my leg a squeeze. “If you’d told them you were still coming home with us, he would have assumed it was because you didn’t want to spend the holiday with him. Right or wrong, I’m pretty sure that’s just how his brain is wired at this point.”
“You know, the two of you have really shitty timing,” I grumbled, wishing we weren’t almost home. At this point, there was nothing I could do about the decision I’d made. “You could have said something about any of this before we left. Now, what the hell am I supposed to do?”
“Well, for starters, why don't you text Daniel and check in? See how things are going,” Jayden suggested. “Even if you can’t be there, you can make sure they know you’re thinking about them. And if you text Zach, he’ll feel like you’re checking up on him.”
“Yeah, that's his great fucking idea,” I quipped. “Because then, if shit’s already hit the fan, I'll be stranded at Mom and Dad’s while I worry about them. And you know Mom will pick up on that shit and grill me about it.”
“That's only because she loves you,” Chase scolded me. “I know it chaps your ass, but nagging is her love language. You just have to deal with it.”
“No, it's because she doesn't trust me to take care of myself,” I countered.
“And what do you think she'd say if she knew that you had a guy you are stupidly in love with and you're not taking care of him the way you should?” Chase quirked an eyebrow.
I flipped him off and slumped back in my seat. I was screwed no matter what I did.
“You know I'm right. She's going to kick your ass when she finds out that you left them on their own when they could've been with us.” My brother was way too giddy about the idea of Mom scolding me about how to properly be with someone.
“But they couldn't. Zach had to go home. I don't really get it, but he was adamant that his old man would be upset if he bailed on him this week,” I explained. “And I swear, if you tell Mom, I’m going to kick your ass.”
“No, you’re not,” Jayden insisted. He glared at me in the rearview mirror and I rolled my eyes. Whatever. It’s not like I was serious about it. “And it sounds like his old man needs a swift kick in the ass. If he fucked Zach's head that much, maybe he deserves to be alone with the gas station turkey sandwich for Thanksgiving. The old one that's out of date and gives him a wicked case of the shits.”
“Damn, don't hold back.” I had to laugh at the very graphic description of what Jayden thought Zach's dad deserved.
“I'm serious. While part of it’s on him for how he behaved, knowing that it was because his old man made him hate himself… That shit ain't cool.” Jayden twisted his hands around the steering wheel tight enough his knuckles started turning white.
“No, it's not,” I agreed. “I’m just glad he finally told us what was going on so we could help him.”
While Jayden pulled off the interstate and filled the gas tank, I fired off a quick text to Daniel.
Missing you guys already. Hope everything's going smooth there.
The conversation bubble appeared and disappeared a few times before a response came through.
I'm not sure I'd call it smooth, but no one's thrown hands yet.
Shit. That didn't sound good at all. I stepped out of the car, motioning toward the edge of the parking lot so Jayden knew where to find me once he and Chase were done inside the store. I held my breath as I waited for Daniel to answer the phone. “Hey, what's going on?”
“Nothing serious,” Daniel responded. “I'm sorry if I worried you.”
“So, what's wrong then? You sounded likesomethinghappened in your text. Is Zach’s dad being a dick to you guys?”
“Man, I have to tell you…” Daniel let out a deep breath. “His dad's a real piece of work. He hasn’t said anything specific, but he keeps giving me the hairy eyeball. It’s like he thinks that if he stares long enough, I’ll crack and spill all of Zach’s secrets.”
“Do you think it's going to be okay for you guys to be there all weekend? I don’t want Zach working himself into a bad place.” Hearing that things were already rocky didn’t bode well for four days around the big jerk. “If you want, I can give you my mom's address. When you have a family as big as ours, it's not a huge deal to add a couple more folding chairs around the table.”
