I was so goddamn proud of him I could haveburst. Here he was, bringing a boy home for the first time ever, and I had the honor of being the boy.
His mom already knew—Kieran had disappeared for days at a timetwicenow, andjust visiting Felixdidn’t quite cut it as an excuse.
But this still counted as his official coming out, and I was so glad I got to be here with him. Mine would have been a lot easier if I’d had a friend to hold hands with.
Even if ithadbeen my boyfriend.
Kieran kept calling me that—even to the attendant in the gas station we’d stopped at on the way here. She’d grinned at both of us and given him an employee discount, so that had onlyencouragedhim.
At least I could say that I’d had my ass slapped by a beautiful boy in a gas station now. A beautiful boy I got to keep.
“Come inside, come inside,” Mrs. Goode insisted, waving us both through the door and following us with a hand on my shoulder, comforting reassurance.
I wasn’t expecting anyone at the table to take thisbadly, but it was still nice to feel welcome. To feel like I belonged.
Carter got up first, clearing the distance between the table and Kieran in two strides and wrapping his arms around him, squeezing tight.
“I’m so glad I don’t have to pretend I don’t know this anymore,” he said. “Aiden could’ve been an interrogator in another life.”
Kieran snorted, squeezing back and patting Carter’s shoulder as he pulled away. “I appreciate it.”
“I can’tbelieveyou convinced Carter not to tell me!” Aiden broke in, nudging Carter out of the way just so he could replace him, Devin moving in and hugging him as well, all three Goode boys laughing with their heads together.
They really were a pretty family.
I had the prettiest one, though.
Morgan hovered to the side as the family hug broke off, gaping in surprise when Kieran stepped toward him and pulled him into an equally warm hug.
“Did he like the flowers?” he asked.
Kieran chuckled, clapping him on his back like he had his brothers.
“I liked the flowers,” I spoke up, grinning as Carter threw an arm around me.
“You and Ihaveto get a drink together sometime,” Carter said. “Trade stories about Kieran.”
“Hey!” Kieran objected. “Ganging up on me isn’t fair.”
His mother patted him on the shoulder on her way past, heading to get food out of the oven. “You’ll get used to it, sweetheart.”
Everyone rushed to help with dinner, the kitchen suddenly a hive of barely-coordinated activity as plates were passed and cutlery clinked and dishes of food made their way to the table, Mrs. Goode’s famous roast potatoes front and center.
In some ways, it was like any one of a hundred Sundays I’d spent around the Goode dinner table.
But in others—like the way Kieran squeezed my knee under the table once we all sat down—it was all new.
32
Kieran
“Okay,so, I have good news and bad news,” Avery said, rolling his sleeves back down after poking and prodding at Hemingway for a few minutes.
I inched closer to Felix, bracing for the bad news.
“The bad news is, I know I promised I’d neuter her for you, but I can’t.”
My heart sank.
