“What are you looking for?” I asked him.
“The joint you’re clearly high on. That’s got to be some good shit,” he jested.
Again, he had me dying with laughter. He was hilarious. I didn’t even think he did it intentionally. It just came naturally for him.
A part of me wanted to dig a little deeper into my discovery of Will. It was cool talking about small things, but I really wanted to know him. His past, his goals, and his wants. So… I went for it.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Shoot,” he said as he placed his beer on the table, giving me his attention.
“Earlier… You said your family doesn’t accept you. Is it strictly because you’re gay?”
Will puffed out a breath. “Well, damn. Get deep, why don’t you?” he teased with a smirk. He shook his head, sighing. “But no, not strictly because I’m gay. Granted, it plays a big part in it. But long story short, my first boyfriend turned out to be dating my stepsister and me at the same time.”
That shocked the hell out of me. I wasn’t expecting that. “How the hell did he manage to pull something like that off?”
“Easy. I met him at a party. He wasn’t a student at our school, and he didn’t want our relationship to be public.”
“Well, how did you two find out you were dating the same guy?”
Will grabbed his beer and took a hefty swallow. “When Tabitha was seventeen, she wanted to bring her boyfriend toSunday dinner. Imagine my surprise when she walked in the door holdingmyboyfriend's hand. Then, to make it worse, he tried to act like he didn’t know me. Talking about ‘nice to meet you, Will,’” he sneered. “I was livid.”
“Well, what did you do?”
“I told the truth. He tried to deny it, but he couldn’t once I showed my family the text messages between us.”
“So why did they get mad at you? He was the liar, not you.”
A solemn expression came over his face. “Because Jeff started crying, saying he was just confused and didn’t want me. Then, my mother’s husband defended him, saying that I had probably corrupted Jeff and added to his confusion. In the end, I was asked to sit dinner out, so that they could get to know Jeff.”
My mouth dropped open. “You can't be serious. How the hell is your mom even still with him?”
He shrugged. “Because she’d rather turn a blind eye to any mistreatment toward me than to be alone.”
“That’s fuckin crazy. Well, I’m sure eventually they broke up. Regardless of the bullshit they said.”
Will barked out a laugh. “Wrong. They’re actually married. Have been for three years with two kids.”
“Tell me you’re joking.”
“Nope.” He popped the ‘p.’ “That’s why I had to get away. I felt like an outsider in my home. Not to mention, any time Jeff and I are alone, he makes passes at me.”
That part had me burning up inside. I didn’t like the thought ofanyonemaking passes at Will, especially not this Jeff guy. He sounded like a complete prick.
“That shit is crazy,” I said, shaking my head.
“Tell me about it.” He paused and looked me in the eye. “But what about you? What was your childhood like? You said that you spent yours alone.”
Shit.
In my quest to get to know him on a deeper level, I didn’t consider him turning the tables on me. I didn’t know what to say. I hadn’t spoken about my past to anyone before, but refusing to talk could backfire. Especially because I just asked him a personal question.
Thinking on my feet, I gave a vague answer. “I grew up a lot differently than most people. My father was controlling, and he was hard on me.”
“How so?” he asked.
Fuck. My body tensed up. I wasn’t ready to talk about this. Honestly, I didn’t think I ever would be. Sire had the power to turn me into a frightened boy all over again. Will placed his hand on my arm, causing me to jump.
