Chapter seven
The door opened, and Dillon invited them in. “Hey.” He reached into a pocket strapped to the side of his wheelchair and pulled out a couple of candy canes. “Here. Merry Christmas!”
Tyler grabbed one and ripped open the plastic wrap immediately. “Thanks, man. Merry Christmas.” He popped the candy in his mouth as he leaned closer to hug Dillon. As he stood up, his Santa hat fell off, landing in Dillon’s lap. “Oops.”
“Cute hat, Cuz.” Dillon handed it back with a warm smile. Tyler loved that Dillon thought of him as his cousin, just as much as Davey was.
He adjusted the hat back on his head as they made their way into the main room of the house.
Dillon’s place had been retrofitted to accommodate his wheelchair, and no expense had been spared.
Davey made sure Dillon always had everything he needed.
He’d been Davey’s first role model in the motocross world, and ever since he’d suffered the horrible crash that had paralyzed him, Davey rode each race for Dillon, too.
He became the champion that Dillon couldn’t.
Behind him, Davey nosed under his ear and whispered, “I have a better cane that you can suck, Ty.”
Tyler snorted and elbowed Davey.
“Stop molesting the boy, Davey, and help me in the kitchen. Dinner’s almost done.”
“Whatever.” Davey flipped the back of Dillon’s hair up as he passed. “Come on then.”
Tyler and Dillon followed him into the kitchen, and they all got to work. Most of the counters were at wheelchair height, but there was a taller bar to the side where Davey worked, cutting up vegetables. Tyler edged in beside him. “So, when are we going to talk about this Rico thing?”
“We’re not. Nothing to talk about.”
“I think there is.”
Davey mumbled under his breath, but Tyler couldn’t make out what he’d said.
“What? Seriously? Come on, Davey.”
He didn’t stop chopping the celery. “Damn, Tyler. It’s Christmas. Can you drop it?”
Tyler didn’t know what to think. Something about the Rico thing definitely bothered Davey, but if he wasn’t going to talk about it, how could they work it out. “This is stupid.” He turned around to leave.
“What are you guys bitching about over there?” Dillon spun his chair around to stir something in a pot on the stove.
“Tyler thinks everyone in the world has to like him,” Davey said. His words were casual, but they held a sting to them, and Tyler was completely baffled.
“What are you even talking about, Davey?”
“It’s true. Just took me awhile to figure it out.” He pointed the knife at Tyler. “Vegas proved it.”
Tyler held his hand out.
“Well, apparently, Tyler has no clue what you’re yappin’ about, and neither do I. So spill it.”
Davey huffed. “See. He flirted with that racer we’re trying to recruit, Rico. Yeah, flirted like crazy.”
“I did not.”
“Did too. But that was just one thing.”
“Enlighten us. What else?” Dillon wheeled his chair back around to the counter where he continued rolling and slicing ham with cream cheese and pickles inside them.
Davey finished his chopping. “What do you want me to do with this?”
“Dump it in that pot. That’s for the extra stuffing that’s not in the turkey.”
As Davey dumped the celery and onions from his cutting board into the pot, Tyler went on, “This conversation is not over, Davey.”
“Food first, Ty.”
Tyler started to protest, but Dillon waved him off. “Come on, guys. What else happened in Vegas?”
Tyler answered with, “Nothing.”
At the same time, Davey said, “Cole Lindt.”
“Cole? What’s he got to do with this?” Tyler went from confused to totally mind boggled.
“Everything. You can’t stand it that he doesn’t like you. So much so that you pick a fight with him every time he’s within a mile of us.”
“That is not what happened.” Forget confused, now Tyler was pissed.
“Hey... Seriously. Davey?” Dillon seemed to be trying to make peace, but Tyler wasn’t sure why they were fighting.
“Why are you saying this? Are you kidding? ‘Cause it’s not funny.”
Davey held his hands up. “Calm down.”
“Fuck that.” Tyler was two seconds away from walking out the door.
“Listen, Tyler. I mean. I don’t think you’re aware of it. Come on.” He put his arm around Tyler’s shoulder, but Tyler wasn’t ready to make up. He jerked away.
“You’re ruining my dinner, Davey,” Dillon growled out.
“I’m not ruining anything. I’m just trying to tell you what I think happened.
And you...” He pegged Tyler with a look.
“You wanted me to talk about it. So, I’m talking!
” His voice got a little louder. It wasn’t usually Davey who got loud and dramatic about things.
That was Tyler’s job, but right now Tyler merely rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. “So, listen already,” Davey added.
Tyler rolled his hand in the air, motioning for him to get on with it.
“Fine. So. We ran into Cole, and you immediately went into defense mode. But we’ve made peace with him. You acted like he was stalking us or something. He just happened to be at the same event, Ty.”
“We aren’t friends.”
“And that eats at you...because...”
Tyler shrugged. “What?”
“Because you want everyone to like you. Same reason you were flirting with Rico.”
“I wasn’t flirting with Rico, and I do not care about Cole. He can fuck himself.”
“Hey, hey. Language. Okay. Take these to the dining room and put them on the sideboard.” He handed Tyler the tray of ham rolls.
Tyler picked one up off the plate and popped it in his mouth as he left the kitchen. He immediately made a face. They tasted horrible after the peppermint candy cane he’d been sucking on. He put the tray down and went to the fridge for some water.
Davey and Dillon were chatting about Rico. They’d moved on from the earlier discussion, and Tyler wasn’t about to ruin Christmas dinner, but he knew damn well that the conversation was not over. Davey was crazy with his theory, and Tyler wasn’t finished picking at it.
Tyler leaned back in his chair and rubbed his full belly. It might not have been his mom’s cooking, but it was damn good. And still family. “Thanks, Dillon. That was so good.”
“For real. Thanks for coming, guys. It wouldn’t have been the same here by myself.”
“Yeah. Well, if we go up to my folk’s next year, we’ll take you with us.
” Tyler couldn’t imagine going through the holidays alone, though he suspected their other cousin, Jessie would have been over had they been unable to make it.
Between Davey and Jessie, they made sure Dillon always felt included one way or another.
“Sure. That might be fun. But you’re here now. Let’s go open some presents.”
They made their way into the living room and opened presents and laughed.
Dillon gave Davey a huge vinyl decal of a guy on a dirt bike.
It was big enough to take up an entire wall.
Of course, Davey loved it and insisted it was going in the gym.
Tyler didn’t argue with that. He thought that would be cool.
When Dillon opened the drawing from Tyler, he almost cried, and Tyler felt bad, but then Dillon hugged him and thanked him.
He said it was amazing and he would treasure it.
So Tyler felt like it had been good in the end.
Tyler’s gift from Dillon was a funny shirt with a dirt bike on it that made them all laugh. It was perfect.
Afterward, on the drive home, Davey sighed and put his hand on Tyler’s knee. Tyler was sitting in the middle of the truck seat instead of by the door, as usual. “Thanks for today, Tyler.”
“No need to thank me. It was great.” He leaned over and kissed Davey’s shoulder.
He had enjoyed the day, mostly. He hadn’t liked the conversation about him needing everyone to like him, though, and he had half a mind to dive into it again.
Instead, he sighed and leaned in closer to Davey, savoring the ride home.
Davey reached over and shoved his Santa hat off his head. “Hey. Want to go for a ride on the big Harley, later?” That was one of their favorite things to do.
“No. Let’s just lay around and veg.”
“Are you still mad at me or something?”
“What? No.”
“You always want to ride the Harley. What’s up?”
“I’m not mad. I just don’t feel like it.”
“I call bullshit, Tyler. You’re mad. Is it that flirting with Rico thing?”
Tyler didn’t say anything at first. He hadn’t wanted to fight again, but if Davey was going to keep bring it up all over again...
“I’m not mad about it. But, I don’t understand it. I don’t think it’s true.”
“It is, Ty. I don’t care, I mean, I care, but I’m not like upset about it. It’s just the flirting, and then the whole thing with Cole got me thinking. Cole...”
“What about Cole?”
“He, uh, he...” Davey scratched his head and scrunched up his nose in thought.
Tyler grimaced. Davey’s brain had latched on to something. “Spit it out.”
“You’re not going to like what I’m thinking, but, uh...I think he’s gay.”
“What?”
“Yeah. I think he’s gay and I think he does like you. Like-likes you. Like in a romantic way.”
“What kind of mushrooms were in that stuffing?” Tyler laughed.
“Not funny. I’m serious, Ty.”
“No way. He hates me. Truce or not. He seriously does not. Like. Me.”
“Oh yeah, he does. It’s like this... So.
You know he’s like me in a lot of ways.” Tyler started to protest, but Davey shushed him.
“No. Listen. He lives motocross. He was homeschooled like me to get more track time. He was singled out to be a champion at like twelve years old. His parents sacrificed everything for him. He won like every motocross division championship there is...except 450 Supercross.”
“Okay. What’s that have to do with him being gay or liking me?”
“We don’t know how to relate to others. We never had friends.
I’d bet my bike he’s never had one romantic relationship.
He doesn’t know how. We’ve both only known racing.
Our friends? Our family? Huh. They’re all from growing up on the track.
He doesn’t really know other people. He knows his crew.
Mechanics. Other racers. His manager. Sponsors and reporters. See what I mean?”
“No. I mean, I get that. I know that about you, and I guess Cole and a lot of other guys...but I don’t get where I fit in.”
“You were his crew, and he liked you. Like-liked you. He didn’t know how to show it, so it came out like, you know, elementary school.
Pulling pigtails and all that... Then, when you and I got together.
..that was a betrayal. The worst betrayal.
Not only did you not choose him, but you went with the competition. ”
Tyler’s eyes grew wide. It did kind of make sense when you looked at it that way, but he wasn’t going to just believe it because Davey said so. “That’s crazy.”
“It’s not.” Davey shook his head.
Maybe there was something to it and maybe not. “So what? I can’t help any of that.”
“No, but maybe you kind of knew it. Like instinctually?”
“Instinctively?”
Davey bumped against Tyler’s shoulder with a little snort. “Yeah, that.”
They pulled up to the gate, and Davey typed in his code—2727. The gate slowly opened, letting them in. As Davey pulled up the driveway to the front of the house, Tyler wondered how he’d missed this thing with Cole and why it mattered, particularly to Davey.