“Kid, I might be from the country, but I’m not as dumb as you might think,” he warned me. “I’m not sure what you boys are doing here, but I s’pose that’s not my place, now is it?”
“Sir?” I questioned, still playing dumb. I half expected Drew’s dad to reach around and cuff the back of my head.
“Whatever you need to do to make my boy as happy as he seems today, keep doing it. Like I said, I don’t get it, but I don’t really need to,” he assured me. I let out the breath I’d been holding as I waited for the top of his head to explode. Bryce had been the one pushing Drew to be honest with his parents, saying that they’d understand and support him but even I hadn’t believed that. “I don’t see you three having an easy go of whatever you have, but I know you boys well enough after just a couple meetings that I’m confident you’ll do right by one another.”
Drew looked over to where his dad and I were talking. He quirked an eyebrow, and I nodded to assure him everything was fine. No thanks to me.
“Now, tell me more about the kid,” he said, quickly changing the topic. I couldn’t say that I blamed him. I wasn’t terribly thrilled with the idea of having to explain my sex life to anyone, much less Joe.
“Drew, can you tell him I’m not a kid,” Cody whined, sounding very much like a child. “I turned eighteen almost a month ago.”
“Oooh, you’re a big man now,” Jason teased as he walked past where Cody still had his schoolwork strewn across the table. “Don’t worry, we still call Drew ‘kid’ sometimes, just to fuck with him.”
“Jason, language please,” Cam scolded, turning quickly to apologize to Susan.
“It’s okay,” she told him. “I’m used to the way the farmhands talk when they walk in for lunch and don’t realize I’m standing there.”
I watched as everyone else went back to their conversations. Bryce and Cam were talking about some plan that Drew had mentioned to Bryce last night while I was out. I felt out of the loop, but wasn’t upset about it since it was my own doing. Once Cody finished his homework, Drew quickly joined Bryce on the couch, curling into his side the way he always did. I considered joining them, but didn’t since he didn’t know that at least one of his parents had seen through our little charade.
The rest of the evening went smoothly. I said goodnight to Drew’s parents as they excused themselves to the loft. Everyone took that as a sign that the day was coming to an end since we needed it to be quiet. Jason and Cam packed up Jason’s truck and they headed out, quickly followed by Bryce and Drew, who needed to take Cody back to the center.
“Thanks for inviting me today,” Cody said. He shook my hand and looked me in the eye as he continued. “You might not think it was a big deal to invite one extra person to dinner, but I’ll never forget it.”
I swear, there wasn’t a trace of emotion as he sincerely and repeatedly thanked me. I didn’t have to swallow hard to keep from tearing up just a little.
“You’re welcome to come out anytime,” I assured him, which earned me a wide smile from both Bryce and Drew. “Make sure you give Drew your basketball schedule and we’ll see if we can’t make a couple of the games.”
“Really?” I waited for Cody to jump around like a kid in a candy store, but he was good at keeping his enthusiasm in check. “That’d be fucking awesome! Wait till I tell the guys at school that two of the Mavericks players want to come and watch me play ball.”
I cringed, knowing how poorly that could turn out. Either his classmates would call him a liar, or they’d believe him and it’d turn into a circus. “Maybe it’d be best if you don’t tell everyone. We’ll see how the schedule works out and go from there, okay?”
Cody’s shoulders slumped forward. I hoped Bryce would be able to explain why I didn’t want our presence to be common knowledge because I hated seeing the kid let down. “Yeah, I guess that makes sense. I’ll see ya ‘round, Eric.”
“You know it.” I gave him a quick hug and walked them to the door, telling Bryce to drive safely since the snow was still falling hard.
Chapter 20
By the middle of December, Eric was driving me crazy. It didn’t help that there’d been more snow than I could ever remember getting this early in the year. That meant he and I were stuck at home more often than we’d care for, and Bryce had been spending more time at his shitty little apartment than anyone wanted him to. Personally, I’d have been happy if he’d told his boss to give up the lease and he moved in with us. Not officially, of course, but he could have the spare room if he needed his own space and it’d save the center money they couldn’t afford to be spending.
“Do you have the list together?” Eric asked. Today was a decent day, even if it was colder than the North Pole, so we were heading to the outlet mall to see how many Christmas presents we could find. Eric had suggested ordering everything online since it’d be quicker and wouldn’t require going anywhere, but I didn’t care for that idea. I remembered going Christmas shopping with my mom when I was a kid, and I loved finding the perfect gift almost as much as the recipient loved opening it.
“Yeah, I’ve got it right here,” I told him, waving the two sheets of paper at him. There were only about a dozen young adults living at Pot of Gold, so that’s who we were buying for. All of the minors had been placed in host homes, which were essentially foster homes without the stigma attached. They had families who welcomed them with open arms and didn’t give a damn that they were gay. In fact, many of the couples who fostered for the center were gay couples or parents who’d raised gay children. It was good because that meant the kids were living somewhere they’d be understood.
“Good, so we can head downtown to pick up Bryce and then head out, right?” Eric grabbed his keys off the counter and I followed him out to the car. I hoped his mood was simply because he hadn’t heard anything more from Sam, and not because of anything having to do with us. I’d have asked, but I didn’t want to come across as needy because no one liked needy, clingy people.
“Yep.” Rather than take my place in the passenger’s seat, I followed Eric to the driver’s side and place my hand over his as he went to open the door. “Look, if you’d rather stay home, you don’t have to come with. Bryce and I can take care of it.”
Eric wrapped his arm around my neck and hugged me tightly. “It’s not that,” he assured me. “You’ll have to forgive me if I seem like a scrooge right now. I’m not the biggest fan of the holidays.”
“It’s fine,” I told him as I pulled him down for a kiss. His lips parted slightly, and I dipped my tongue into his mouth. Even after almost two months, I still loved the taste of him. “Hell, you put up with a lot from me, so it’d be rather shitty if I got on your case for being in a mood.”
“Yeah, but you had your reasons, too,” he pointed out. He smacked me on my ass and told me to get in the car, otherwise we’d never get home. “And who knows, maybe this is exactly what I need. It’s a good thing you’re putting together for those guys, Drew.”
“Thanks, but it’s not just me,” I insisted. I wasn’t doing this for accolades, but because I really wanted to do something good rather than be the somewhat self-centered guy I’d always been. Until Bryce stepped into my life, it’d been easy for me to pretend that there weren’t people out there who’d be happy to have a shitty bed in an open room and live off what was little more than prison food. We’d see people living on the streets when we traveled, but it was a rarity for me to really think about what they were going through. And these guys were barely adults. Emotionally, many of them carried around pain I couldn’t even imagine.
“No, but it was your idea. Don’t feel like you can’t take credit for that,” he scolded me. “Hell, I think most of the guys who are helping out are pissed that places like Pot of Gold have been right under our noses and we haven’t done anything to help sooner. Who knows, maybe this will be the start of more of us trying to get out into the community and really help.”