“Absolutely,” I said, perhaps a bit too brightly. “Now, I know I don’t have to say this, but please don’t have any parties while I’m gone. If you want to invite a few friends over, that’s fine, but no parties.”
“Don’t worry, Pops, I’ll probably hang closer to school now that I know you’re not going to be here,” he informed me. “I get that you think I only consider what I want, but that’s not true. The whole reason I haven’t moved in with Brandon is because I know it’s tough for you being here alone.”
“And because the two of you would kill each other if you didn’t have an escape plan,” I retorted.
There was no way Brandon and Hunter would survive living together, not after what I saw Sunday at the game. All it would take would be a few drunken tirades and Hunter would knock out one of his best friends. And I would gladly drive down to bail him out. Violence was rarely the answer, but sometimes it was the only way to get through to a particular breed of assholes.
“Man, get the hell out of here,” Hunter said playfully, completely ignoring my point about him and Brandon sharing an apartment. “I can tell it’s killing you to pretend you wouldn’t have a problem chatting it up with me all day.”
“I’m not that bad,” I argued. I wasn’t, was I?
“Yeah, you are,” he quipped. “I’ll be fine, Pops. I’ll also be trying really hard to not think about what you and Nixon are getting up to, because that’d just be gross.”
“But you’re okay with it?” I asked, needing his reassurance before I left town.
“No, but I will be,” he responded. I appreciated this calmer honesty. “Ask Mom how long it took for me to not be a little shit to her when she started dating. It’s just… it’s hard, man. You grow up seeing your parents and think they’re always going to be together. Not only did I have that shattered, but you came out at the same damn time. It’s a lot to take in. But Iamworking on it.”
“That’s all I can ask,” I told him. Hunter picked up the only bag I hadn’t already packed into the trunk and followed me to the driveway. I folded my arms on the roof of the car, squinting against the bright morning sun. “Thanks, Hunter.”
“For what? For being a bitchy little kid to your friend? For being totally weirded out by the fact that my dad, who I always thought was straight as an arrow, is gay as the day is long?” His brow furrowed as he tried to figure out what he’d done to deserve my thanks.
“For your honesty,” I clarified. “No matter how much the truth hurts, I’d prefer you always feel you’re able to tell me what’s on your mind.”
“Yeah, sure.” His eyes darted around, showing his discomfort with my praise. “You should probably hit the road. Call me when you get there so I don’t worry about you.”
“Will do,” I assured him. With the air cleared between us, I slid in behind the wheel, sent Nixon a quick text message letting him know I’d be there around dinnertime, and loaded a playlist that’d keep me from falling asleep on the drive.
12
Nixon
Last chance to back out.If you don’t respond in two minutes, I’ll see you at dinnertime.
I read the text from Lincoln, struggling to steady my breathing. When he’d dropped me off at the airport, I hadn’t actually believed he’d follow. Sure, he said he’d be here as soon as he took care of things at home and he was a man of his word, but this was a more delicate situation than I was prepared to think about. His son hadn’t exactly welcomed me into their home with open arms and every time we’d talked, Lincoln had confided that the total silence from Hunter worried him.
“You got a minute?” I looked up from my phone to see Zach standing at my door.
“Absolutely.” I waved him in. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, things are great,” he quickly assured me. His cheeks flushed and he tried to hide his smile. Suddenly, I realized this wasn’t an impromptu meeting about his physical well-being. “I just wanted to pop in before I head into practice and thank you. I know you don’t like all that touchy-feely shit, but I need to say this. What you did for me during training camp, it meant more to me than you’ll ever know.”
“I didn’t really do that much,” I argued. “What I did for you, I’d have done for any of the guys on the team.”
That was a complete lie. Helping Zach circumvent a devastating blow to his career had required me to draw out parts of my personality I didn’t know existed. But it had been worth it. Helping plan a way for him to come out without the show’s interference, urging him to hold on to the man he loved even when he felt he didn’t deserve it, that’d all come from trying to help him learn from my mistakes.
“Well, still…thanks.” He started to back out of the office, pausing at the door. “When you talk to Lincoln, can you tell him I appreciate his help as well?”
“You bet,” I said. The corner of Zach’s mouth turned up in a cocky smirk.
Shit.
I’d been careful to quickly change the topic whenever Lincoln’s name had been mentioned, but today I my mind was already at home thinking of everything I needed to tidy up before Linc got into town. I could drop the subject now, leaving Zach with the assumption Linc and I still talked as friends, but something about the glint in Zach’s eye warned me he wouldn’t buy it.
He’d seen the two of us together and called us out on the mutual attraction when we’d been trying to ignore it.
“Spit it out, Kendricks.”
“I have no clue what you mean,” Zach lied, his smile growing broader. “I’m just glad the two of you have worked out whatever tension was between you when he visited during training camp.”
