“I was kidding.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Jayden said dismissively as he got back into the car. “You go to him for the interview and tell him about that, and you’re going to find yourself running a club before you’re old enough to drink. That’s what happened with the guy who’s running The Lodge now. He used the bar as a class project and Jack was so impressed, he made it come to life.”
Jayden got on the road as soon as we were all buckled up. He didn’t bother asking for directions, which was odd because everyone said Zach worked hard to keep school and home totally separate. “You know where you’re going?”
“Yeah, Daniel gave me Zach’s address at the end of last school year, but don't tell him that,” Chase explained. “He knew we’d be closer if things went bad. Until recently, we didn’t know what was going on there, but we knew his home life wasn’t a good one.”
“And he doesn’t like knowing people are trying to take care of him,” I added. It made sense, and I was grateful they’d all made sure he’d be okay, even when they were pissed at him.
“So, how are we doing this?” Jayden asked as we started seeing signs for Linwood. “Are you going to let Daniel know you're on your way or just ambush them with the surprise?”
“I don’t know. Which you think would be better?” Turning around and going to my parents’ place was sounding like the best idea. This was a lot of pressure on Zach whether he knew ahead of time or not. And I didn’t know what I’d do if he turned me away at the door. I’d understand, but it would hurt like a bitch.
“They’re your boyfriends,” Jayden pointed out. “How about you give it some thought and let me know. It's going to take us close to an hour to get there.”
“Are you sure you don't mind? This is a hell of a side-trip for you.” Even if they dropped me off at the curb without turning off the car, it was going to be after dinner time before they got home. And they were going to have to answer to Mom about why they didn’t have me in the car with them. I felt guilty about that, but not enough to call her myself. She’d be upset or ask questions, and I wasn’t ready to deal with either.
“Yeah, it's all good,” Jayden reassured me. “We’ll call it me trying to show you guys I’m not going to fuck with you too hard.”
“Don’t suppose you could just lay off the fuckery for a bit, could you?”
“Oh, hell no,” he scoffed. “Once we get back to school, I fully plan to make sure they know they owe me for delivering you to them.”
“Lovely.” I rested my head against the back of the seat and closed my eyes. It wasn’t easy to drive out all the worst-case scenarios for the rest of the afternoon.
22
Zach
"Who in the hell is that?”Dad asked as he waited for me at the top of the stairs. Of course, he couldn’t step off the porch to greet his only child after not seeing me since the end of summer. No, that would be far too normal to expect from him.
“Good to see you too,” I responded sarcastically. “Daniel, the grouchy old man is my dad, Philip. Dad, this is Daniel, my roommate.”
We hadn't even gotten our bags out of the trunk, and already I felt like I was going to be sick. Reducing him to nothing more than the person who slept on the other side of the room felt wrong. I wanted to drop the bomb right then and there, telling him Daniel was one of the men I was stupid in love with. At least then, we could jump back in the car if he acted like an ass.
“Didn't tell me you were bring in somebody home with you,” Dad grumbled.
“Just found out last night. His mom has to work all weekend and there's nobody else at home,” I explained, hoping he would see how similar Daniel and I were in some ways.
Except, we weren't really. If the roles had been reversed and I was headed home with him, I had no doubt his mom would wrap me up in a warm hug and coddle me until it was time to leave. She was cool like that. Hell, I'd probably seen her more during the school year than I'd seen my own old man.
“Don't got food to feed another mouth,” he complained. At least he had the decency to look embarrassed by his outburst. “It's nothing personal, son. Just the money's tight around here, what with Zachary thinking he needed to go to school as far from home as possible without getting charged out of state admission.
“No offense taken,” Daniel reassured him. “And I promise, I won't eat much. I can chip in for dinner if it helps.”
I glared at him. No way in hell was he paying his own way for a holiday meal. He was my guest. I pulled my wallet out of my back pocket and slapped a few twenties in Dad's hand. “There. That ought to cover our portion.”
“Where the hell did this come from?” Of course, he couldn’t just thank me like a normal human being. Fuck. I hated being here.
“I told you I was getting a job.”
“And I told you, you needed to focus on your school. No sense getting a fancy degree if your grades are shit.”
“Well, as it turns out, it's possible to do both,” I responded sarcastically. “Did you plan on moving away from the door or are we going to have to go out to the garage to get the tent?”
“No need to be snotty,” he scolded me. “Can’t expect a man to not wonder what's going on when his boy shows up with an unexpected houseguest.” Something in the way he his gaze flicked between us had my stomach churning. I didn't know how, but I just knew in that moment that he knew. Had he always known? Was he going to kick us out? Is that why he hadn't invited us inside?
“Like Zach said, Sir, he took pity on me when I told him I was going to be home alone this week,” Daniel explained, trying to extinguish the flames between me and the old man.
