“Yes, ma’am?”
“Oh, ma’am and everything, raised right. Whatever happens between you two, you’re always welcome at this house, you hear me? All of you boys were always welcome, and that’s still true for you, ya hear?”
“I do indeed.”
“Good, then you end this call right now, Cade. Your father and me have gotta have a nice talk,” she said. “Love you.”
“I love you both,” I said and hit the button, but not quickly enough for me not to hear that sharp sound again and my father’s grunt. “I’m pretty sure that was a wooden spoon or a spatula.”
“Can’t say she doesn’t know how to keep him in line,” he said with a chuckle, gesturing toward the plate of food. “Eat, and while you do that, maybe give me the short version of why you outed yourself to your parents…apparently.”
“I didn’t…” I began, shoulders slumping in defeat because, yeah, that was basically what I had just done. “I dunno, I just…I hadn’t talked to ’em in a while, and the next thing I know, I was tellin’ ’em about you and it just…kinda happened.”
I looked over the food, smiling when I realized he had grabbed everything I would have wanted, down to the cornbread and greens that, while damn good here, weren’t quite the same as my mom’s. There was a smothered pork chop as well, and aheap of potatoes in a covered bowl to keep warm along with the gravy for the pork chop and the potatoes, and a small selection of green beans.
“I’m almost afraid to ask, but why exactly did you decide to tell your parents we were fucking?”
I was glad I had no food in my mouth. I stared at him, mouth open before realizing I needed to form words. “I didn’t!”
“You tell me that’s not what your dad said,” he raised a brow at me.
“That’s just…because I wasn’t exactly makin’ a lot of sense,” I said, setting the fork down. “I told ’em I’d met someone, that it was a guy, that it was you, and then Mom was askin’ about it bein’ serious or somethin’, and I, uh…well, I wasn’t exactly plannin’ to tell ’em all that.”
Walker sat down with a smirk on his face. “You panicked.”
“No!” I said, shoving the food into my mouth and feeling it sear my tongue, but at least I could chew, which might hide my embarrassment.
“You definitely panicked,” he said with a crooked smile.
“I…yeah, fine, I did.” I admitted with a grumble. “I wasn’t ready for it and it just…fell out of my mouth. Felt like everythin’ I said made things worse.”
“Actually, you probably saved yourself a lot of problems down the line,” he said, getting up to poke his head out into the hallway. “When you said you weren’t going far, I assumed that meant you wouldn’t be lurking outside like a creep.”
“Hmm, with an accusation like that, I wonder if you haven’t been hanging around one of our Guides,” Reggie said as he reappeared. “I see you’re still on full display.”
“I’m wearin’ a towel,” I protested.
Walker looked down and made a strangled noise. “Close your legs, Cade. We can see…everything.”
I snapped my legs together, feeling my face warming again. “Fuck…sorry.”
“If you’re going to put on a show, you should at least charge money,” Reggie said, looking around. “Do you mind?”
“No, no, come in,” I said quickly, wishing I was dressed. Great, now my parents thought I was a gay slut, and Reggie had just seen everything I had. Not that I was worried about the guys around here seeing me naked, but it was weird that it was Reggie.
“I didn’t want to interrupt whatever you and your…Walker were talking about,” Reggie said, glancing between us.
“Subtle,” Walker muttered, rolling his eyes. “About as subtle as a brick to the face.”
Reggie grinned. “I only suspected there was more between you two than just old school comraderie and friendship. I’m a little surprised. I had you pegged as straight, Cade.”
“I already went through this with my parents; I ain’t doin’ it with you too,” I muttered into my plate of food. Who knew that being with a guy could cause so much embarrassment and annoyance in such a short amount of time? “What do ya want?”
“Manners,” Reggie said, but there was no bite to his words as he walked over to the kitchenette counter and leaned on it. “Walker was the one who wanted me to join him coming back to your room. I hope this isn’t some announcement about you two. I do not need to know about any relationships, romantic, sexual, or platonic…unless it’s an unhealthy or abusive one.”
“Do we seem like the type to get abused?” I asked wryly.
Reggie looked at me seriously. “Any man, woman, or child can be the victim of abuse, no matter how strong they are, or how well trained in combat. In fact, the men I knew who were victims of abuse were far stronger than their abusers, but their refusal to use reciprocal violence is precisely what allowed themto be victims. So, no, I don’t think either of you is abusing the other, but yes, it is possible.”
