Chapter 28 Wolfe
TWENTY-EIGHT
WOLFE
Ibrace for whatever I did to piss him off as we settle into the car. He gets all the way down the driveway and turns out onto the road before glancing over.
“Why are you telling him you’re bisexual, like it’s some sort of club you both are in?” Hurt is written in the lines of his face.
I frown, not sure how to explain myself. Looking down at my hands. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to take that bonding experience from you two.”
“It wasn’t…” Archangel exhales and shakes his head.
“What?” I ask, trying to follow his lead.
“You’re not bisexual.” There are tears in the corners of his eyes.
“How do you figure?”
“You’ve fucking told me.”
I stare at him. He doesn’t look over.
“You really giving me no credit?” I ask, getting a little bitchy.
“Credit for what? Fake dating?” He’s annoyed but so am I now.
“I came in your mouth,” I throw back.
“A mouth is a mouth. I don’t think that gives you credit.”
“I cannot believe you’re gatekeeping my bisexuality.” I shake my head. “And in case you forgot, I literally had your dick in my hand last night. I think making another man come counts as bisexual.”
He huffs, but he knows he can’t argue. “I didn’t forget.”
“I would fucking hope not!” I side-eye him.
“Your ego would probably never recover.”
I hold my middle finger pressed against his cheek. “I’m jacking off alone tonight.”
He glances over slyly. “You’d rather use your hand than my mouth.”
“I’d rather not be bullied for my newfound bisexuality!”
“Bullied?” Archangel shakes his head. “Unbelievable how you turned this around.”
“You’d think after all the bullying from your family, you’d be nicer.”
His mouth drops open. “You fucking asshole. Where do you think I learned it from?”
We’re both laughing.
“How do you feel about your grandad being cool with you being gay?”
He shakes his head. “I’m processing. I don’t know what to think about my parents telling him not to tell me either. I feel like I’d be a different person if I had any fucking support growing up.”
I put my hand on his thigh. “I love who you are. I don’t want you to change a thing, but I’m sorry you didn’t have that.”
“I’ve had you.” Angel puts his hand on top of mine. “And I love you for it too.”
“It does feel like they’ve been less homophobic in general this trip.”
He huffs out a breath. “It does feel a little like my whole family hates that I’m gay, but since they get you in the family, they’ll accept it. It’s fucking weird.”
“I am just that amazing.” I wink jokingly.
“I can’t believe you called me Wilder,” he says when we stop.
“I had to for the bit. I know you hate it.”
“I do.” He’s quiet. He’s always told me he doesn’t like it, but never why. Most of the guys don’t even know his first name. No one uses it anyway.
“Why don’t you like it?” I can’t believe it’s never come up. “You’ve never told me.”
“It’s my dad’s name.”
“And?” As far as I know, that’s a pretty common thing in the south.
“It’s just so oppressively straight and white.” He makes a face and shudders. “I don’t want people to think of me like that.”
“I like it.”
He glares with a side-eye. “I like it much better when you call me Angel.”
I tuck that away for later because we pull up to the house, and I brace for the chaos.
The day is a slow build into a marathon of a holiday season. Lunch is just the immediate family before their large holiday party that evening, into the extravagant gift giving the next morning, and a full day of seeing each side of the family.
I used to love getting lost in the chaos of it because the holidays were nothing like this with my mother. Not even when I was little, and it was just the two of us, and by the time her boyfriend moved in, I learned to make myself scarce when he was going to be home.
Lunch seemed like the illusion of acceptance. No one even brought up Angel and I being together. Walt joked and talked to us the whole time, making it actually feel joyous. Archangel kept side-eyeing me like he couldn’t believe what was happening.
We’re still reeling over it in the lounge when Steph walks in while most everyone else is taking their pre-party nap. Another holiday tradition of the Archangels.
“Can I talk to you?” she says.
“Why?” I ask, not really wanting to hear anything she has to say.
I glance over at Angel. He’s laying with his feet in my lap, and his eyes closed, but he tenses, so I know he’s listening.
“Can we go somewhere else?” Steph glances around like she’s worried someone will overhear us.
I narrow my eyes, looking around too, realizing Mark isn’t in the room. Does she want to say something she doesn’t want him to hear?
“I’m not going anywhere alone with you.” I put my hand on Archangel’s foot, knowing he’s probably as tense as I am about Steph’s bullshit.
“I just want to talk to you in private.”
I shake my head before she even stops speaking. “Fuck no. Mark already thinks your brother and I are in some plot to ruin your life. I’m not giving him more goddamn fodder.”
She lets out a loud exasperated groan like we are such an inconvenience. “Because I told him you two were faking all this to hurt me.”
“Why would it hurt you if you’re in love with him?” I cross my arms.
“Anyone’s ex dating their brother would hurt.”
“It’s been years. Shouldn’t be a problem.” I throw back, not liking that she saw through our scheme, which means I need to triple down.
“Whatever. It doesn’t matter now that I realize it’s real.”
Shock leaves me momentarily speechless.
But Archangel sits up, clearly too surprised to keep quiet. “You finally believe us? Is that because you walked in on us fucking?”
“No. I figured that was faked to sell it.” She laughs evilly.
“So what convinced you then?” he asks.
Steph turns toward her brother. “I see the way you look at him. I used to think it was puppy love or whatever that he didn’t return. But now he looks at you the same way.”
What way does he look at me? I go over what she’s saying that could possibly have convinced her.
“Glad you finally see the truth, but we didn’t need you to tell us about our relationship.” Archangel is bitchy, which is good, because I have way too many questions to formulate a coherent thought right now.
“That’s not what I wanted to talk to you about. God, everything with you is always drama.”
“With me? You’re the one who’s sent your fiancé after us for the last three months.”
“He hasn’t even done anything.” Steph scoffs.
“Excuse me?” I cut in. “He’s threatened your brother more than once.”
“It’s all talk. Gods, get over it. At least he’s trying to protect me.” She’s still not giving us the full story about Mark. I know it in my gut. But what could she have possibly told him?
“Call him off then.”
“That’s what I’m trying to do. I want a fucking truce. Clearly, you two are happy, and mom and dad are off my back about breaking up with Wolfe since they worship him for some reason.” It clearly annoys her, which delights me.
I smirk. “Because I’m the right choice.”
“Weirdest reason for them to suddenly not be homophobic, but whatever.”
“It is weird, isn’t it?”
“I think they like him more than both of us,” Steph sighs. “But that’s your problem now.”
“It’s the best problem to have,” Archangel says smugly.
My cheeks heat, and I drag him closer to kiss his temple. “I’m never going to stop being your problem.”
He’s mine and I’m possessive over my best friend. No one is taking him from me.
“Ew,” Steph says. “Anyway, can we just call this a truce and make things easier?”
“Are you going to call off Mark?” I ask before anyone can agree to anything. If he hurts Angel, I’ll kill him.
“Yes, I’ll tell him to back down.” She waits, then asks, “So…truce?”
“It’s up to your brother,” I say, putting my arm around him. “What do you want, baby?”
“Yeah, fine, truce.”
“Great.”
“What does a truce even mean?” he asks when she’s gone.
“Fuck if I know. We haven’t even done anything.”
“Not unless you count just showing up.” Which was a plot, but she doesn’t know that.
“Maybe she thinks that if she’s not upset by our relationship, it will end?”
I gasp. “That bitch. I’m not just fake dating you because she hates it.” Even if that was a big motivator.
“You’re not?” Archangel asks, like it’s news to him.
“You also have a great mouth.”
“Fuck you.”
“I mean, if you’re offering before the party…”
He rolls his eyes. “Fucking and blow jobs are not the same.”
“What’s that thing you said about a mouth being the same as any other mouth, wouldn’t that be the case with an ass…”