“I…” I started, my voice cracking. I cleared my throat, looking at the floor, then at Maverick. “Cal is here because… because I asked himto be.”
Maverick looked confused. “Okay. That’s good. Glad you boys are getting along again.”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. My heart was pounding so hard I thought it might explode. “Dad, listen to me.”
I looked him in the eye. The fear was agonizing, a physical weight on my chest.
“He’s not just here as a friend,” I said, my voice quiet, guarded. “He never was. We… Cal and I… we’re together.”
Maverick stared at me. “Together? Like a team?”
“No,” I choked out. “Like… together. I’m gay, Dad. And I’mwithhim.”
The room went dead silent.
Maverick’s face went blank. His mouth parted slightly, like he was trying to speak but the words wouldn’t come. He just stared at me. I watched as his eyes glossed over, tears pooling but not falling. He looked at Cal, then back at me, as if seeing me for the first time in years.
Then, without a word, Maverick stood up.
He didn’t look at me. He didn’t look at Scott. He just turned around, opened the door, and walked out.
“Maverick!” Scott screamed, jumping to his feet, clearly pissed off.
He walked away? He just… he just walked the fuck away?
I just bared everything to my piece of shit dad, and he did exactly what I expected but hoped wouldn’t happen. He shunned me. He shut me out. Didn’t even acknowledge what I had to say, and left.
I saw Cal’s jaw clench, the hurt and anger swirling inside of him. Scott was already moving towards the door.
“I’ve got this,” I said with sudden, blinding anger.
I stood up, wiping the tears from my face furiously. I stomped out of the den and down the hallway.
“Dad!” I yelled as I burst out the back door.
Itwas dark now. The sun had set while we were eating, leaving the yard bathed in shadows and the faint glow of the patio lights. But Maverick wasn’t on the patio. He was walking out into the yard, past the light, toward the treeline.
I saw my aunt and stepmom watching from the kitchen window, their silhouettes frozen in shock. As I went through the door I heard the faint sound of my aunt shouting, “That fucking asshole.”
My mind couldn’t think straight. I felt a whirlwind of emotions right now, anger, hurt, disappointment, embarrassment. Every awful thing Maverick Reed had ever made me feel in my nearly thirty years of life was coming to a head as I chased after him into the dark.
“You are fucking unbelievable, Maverick!” I screamed at his back.
He’d stopped walking. He was standing in the middle of the yard, surrounded by the chirping of crickets and the heavy night air. He had his hands locked behind his head as he stared up at the stars. I heard him let out a heavy sigh, then bend forward. He didn’t speak. Didn’t even acknowledge me.
“You know, I tried so fucking hard to give you the benefit of the doubt before this shit happened!” I yelled, stepping closer, my voice echoing off the trees. “That maybe,maybeyou wouldn’t have a bad reaction because you can’t really be any worse than you already fucking are! And you walk away?”
He cut me off.
“You think I’m mad at you?” Maverick asked, his voice rough, barely carrying over the distance.
He turned around. In the moonlight, he looked old. Tired.
”Silas, I’m not mad at you. I don’t even fucking care,” he said, shaking his head. “Cal seems like a great guy. I don’t care if you’re sleeping with him. That’s not… that’s not it.”
“Then what is it?” I demanded, my chest heaving.
“What I care about is you,” Maverick said, stepping towards me, his face twisted in pain. “I’m scared for you. I’m scared I don’t know how the fuck to protect you, or your career, from a world that can be so fucking cruel to guys that don’t fit their vision.”
