Chapter 32
Jude’s jaw dropped when Foster told him the news. “He was fucking Coach O’Brien?”
“I wonder how long that has been going on,” Roan said.
“Possibly high school,” Cary said.
All eyes turned in Cary’s direction.
Cary shrugged. “I was in the office a lot with Coach during football season. There were times… where it seemed like there was more to their player-coach relationship. I’m not saying they were doing it then, because I don’t know for certain, but there were times when something weird was in the air where I wondered. ”
“I can’t believe Coach would’ve done that with a student,” Foster said. “I was on that team for three years, and he never did anything inappropriate. He never gave me the predatory vibe, either.”
“I’m not saying anything happened while Rick was a student,” Cary said. “I’m just saying I wouldn’t be surprised if it did. They were too comfortable around one another when they thought they were alone.”
“Oof,” Jude said. “Well, silver-lining, Rick’s not going to be here tonight because he’s in jail.”
Foster tapped his red cup against Jude’s.
Jude drained half his cup before looking around the room. “You know, the only people I care about from high school are sitting at this table. How long are we staying at this thing?” He lifted the plastic cup. “I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t a shitty junior high dance for adults.”
Cary chuckled beside him. “It’s a five year. The next one will be better.”
“Huh?” Jude said, frowning.
“They had the ten-year in a hotel ballroom. There was liquor and a decent buffet. The twentieth will be like that,” Cary replied. “The reunions that end in five get the gym and no booze. That’s why there are so few people here.”
“Now you tell me this?” Jude asked him.
“You didn’t ask,” Cary replied, grinning.
“I was wondering why only a couple of hundred showed up. Our class was over six hundred, right?” Jude asked.
“Yep,” Cary said.
“Why’d you come?” Jude asked him.
“Because Foster asked me to,” Cary said.
Jude looked at Foster. “Why’d you make him come to this?”
The only answer Foster gave him was a shrug.
“To help shield you from trouble, if it brewed,” Mia said from across the table. “It’s the only reason Roan and I are here, too.”
Jude looked around at everyone. “You didn’t have to come for me.”
“You really think we’re going to let you walk into this place again and not be here?” Anton asked, lifting a brow.
Jude froze. “I didn’t mean for anyone to come out to something they didn’t want to attend. I’m sorry.”
“They wanted to be here for moral support,” Foster said. “Because they care about you. You have some amazing friends.”
Jude sat with that a moment, trying not to get emotional. “I do. I have some of the most amazing friends that I definitely don’t deserve.”
“No, you don’t deserve us,” Anton said before grinning. “But we love you anyway.”
Jude grinned.
“We could all go to McMurphy’s and have a couple of drinks there,” Cary said. “Less junior high dance and more pathetic drunken adult playground.”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” Jude said.
“What about my dance?” Foster asked. “I was promised one. Actually, I was promised them all.”
Jude chuckled. “Can all the dances be wrapped up in one—and then we leave?”
“I guess,” Foster muttered before grinning. “The next slow one is ours.”
A couple of minutes later, the lights came down, and a slower song began. Foster held out his hand, and Jude took it. Foster led him to the dance floor and drew him close once on it.
Jude felt stares coming in their direction, but he didn’t care. Let them look.
He was dancing with the man he’d fallen in love with.
The first boy he’d kissed.
Maybe the last boy he’d kiss, too, if he played his cards right.
As the other people faded from his vision, he melted against Foster, swaying in his arms. Foster pressed a kiss to his forehead before tucking his head under his chin. It was just the two of them, holding on tight.
And never letting go.
Foster held his boyfriend’s hand on the way out of the reunion.
Jude was lighter than he’d been when he walked in, even though almost no one had spoken to him the entire night—other than those at the table.
Still, it seemed to have been cathartic in some way.
Maybe simply having the courage to walk back into that building where he’d been hurt and shown them all that he’d survived their worst.
Before he opened his door, Ashley jogged up to him.
“I thought we could talk before you left,” she said, a bit winded.
Foster eyed Jude. They exchanged a look before Jude said, “I’ll wait inside the car.”
He nodded before turning to fully face Ashley. “I’m not really in the mood for an argument tonight.”
“I don’t plan to have an argument,” Ashley said. “I, ah…” She took a deep breath. “I wanted to apologize.”
Foster frowned. “For?”
“Everything,” she said, a shine coming to her eyes.
She paused a moment, rubbing her arms before crossing them in front of her chest. “I think there was a little part of me that always knew you weren’t straight.
” She winced. “Yeah, finding the porn was a shock, but more because I’d buried all your red flags and I didn’t want to be faced with proof. ”
“Red flags?” Foster sighed. “Was I really that bad?”
“Well, rainbow ones, hmm?” Ashley offered. “All the little signs I wanted to ignore.”
Foster scoffed, shaking his head.
“We were the it-couple in high school. I wanted to be the it-couple in life.” Ashley sighed.
“You were handsome and bright. You had your degree and a solid future ahead of you. You had all of the things I thought I was looking for in a husband. And then when daddy dangled that job in front of you and kept watering that seed he’d planted about us getting married, I started seeing the image he was painting.
The big house, a couple of kids. Me, the society wife and you, running the brokerage with my father—and maybe one day running it all.
” She sighed. “Daddy always told me to look for a partner, not a lover. Someone who will build a life with you. He had me convinced that was you. I knew the romance wasn’t really there for us, but we could be partners and build an amazing life. ”
She eyed him for a few seconds. “I ended up lonely. I was greedy. I wanted a lover and a partner—and I was angry at you for not being both. That was unfair to you, especially when I held it in and never communicated my needs. Maybe if I had, we would’ve realized we’d made a mistake much sooner than we did. ”
“I wanted the big life, too—or so I thought. I went into our marriage a willing partner, but I think it was because I was too scared to own up to my truth. And I never talked to you about anything I was feeling either, so I’m just as much to blame.”
Ashley smiled, the expression on her face bittersweet.
“I’m sorry we took this tangent with one another and wasted so many years.
I’m sorry I cheated on you. I’m sorry I lashed out in anger and told Imogene about you and Vic.
I knew full well she wouldn’t be able to keep her mouth closed, so there’s a very good chance I did that on purpose. ”
“I’m sorry I was never honest with you about who I was—although, I wasn’t honest with myself, either. Had I been braver, maybe it would’ve saved us from all this,” Foster said.
“I don’t want to spend the rest of my life regretting us,” Ashley said. “I know we might never be close again, but I’d like to still consider you a friend.”
“I think we can do that,” Foster said.
Ashley offered him her hand.
Foster took it and drew her into a hug.
Ashley squeezed him tight. “I hope you find happiness, Foster. If it’s with Jude, I wish you both the best.”
“Thank you,” Foster said before taking a step back. “Are you and the guy I saw on Instagram still together?”
“Which one?”
Foster’s eyes widened. “The guy on the beach. You were in a bikini. It was maybe six, seven months ago?”
“If it’s who I think it was—that was just a bit of fun. I’ve been sowing some wild oats since us.” Ashley smiled. “There’s no one in particular right now, and that’s perfectly fine. I’m trying to learn to be happy with me before I get into anything serious.”
“When did you get so wise?”
“Wise? I’m anything but wise,” Ashley said, chuckling. Her smile faded some. “I took stock of some things after we split—and realized I didn’t like what I saw. Either I fixed what I didn’t like, or I was just going to face a lot more unhappiness in the future.”
“Sounds pretty wise to me.”
Ashley sighed. “Maybe. We’ll see.” She smiled. “Well, you were the only person I really wanted to see here. Now that I’ve said my piece, I think I’m getting the hell out of here. Especially since my wingwoman was a no-show.”
“Imogene?”
“Yep. Well, who could blame her?” Ashley said. She leaned closer. “You did hear about Rick and Coach, right?”
“Oh, yeah,” Foster said, lifting a brow. “I’m stunned.”
“Especially after all that shit Rick put Jude through? But then, you know what they say about he who doth protest too much. I guess it makes a little more sense why Rick was so hard on him. It was probably all self-loathing.”
“Possibly.”
“Well, I’ll let you go. I appreciate you letting me get that off my chest.”
“I appreciate you telling me that. It makes the last fifteen years a little less sad.”
Ashley smiled.
“A bunch of us are headed to McMurphy’s for a drink,” Foster said. “Since the vibe was a bit sad in there, we’re taking the party elsewhere.”
“Have fun.”
Foster smiled. “If you want to come have a drink with us, feel free.”
Ashley grinned. “I appreciate the offer, but I wouldn’t want to make Jude and his friends uncomfortable. Speaking of Jude, he and I need to have a moment before I leave.”
She walked around to the passenger side and knocked on the window. Jude slipped out, and they spoke in hushed tones on the other side of the SUV. Foster couldn’t quite hear what they were saying, but from the hug they shared at the end, he assumed it was positive.
Ashley waved to them both before walking deeper into the parking lot and out of view.
Foster climbed behind the wheel while Jude slipped into the passenger seat.
“What did she say to you?” Foster asked.
“She apologized to me for the stuff in school and then told me to take good care of you because you were a really good guy,” Jude replied.
“She wasn’t in on the bullying, was she?”
“Not that I ever saw. She said she wished she’d done something to stop it, so I assume not.” Jude eyed him. “You two cleared the air?”
“We did. I feel a lot better, too. I’d considered it all such a waste.
I can’t get that time back, but at least I no longer have to feel like we’re enemies.
We both made a poor choice, but we’re both free to live as we choose now.
” Foster smiled. “And maybe I was meant to be there with her and come back when I did. Because now I have you.”
Jude slid his fingers through Foster’s. “And I have you.”
Foster leaned closer and pressed his lips to Jude’s. “I love you.”
Jude swallowed thickly, blinking a few times. Enough that Foster feared he’d said the wrong thing. His relationship-phobic boyfriend might not be ready for statements like that.
“I love you, too,” Jude whispered.
Foster relaxed, sighing with relief.
“Were you scared I wasn’t going to say it back?”
Foster chuckled. “I was scared I was an idiot and said too much. I didn’t want you to run away from me.”
“Not gonna lie, panic hit at first.” Jude squeezed his hand. “It took me a couple of seconds to remind myself that I don’t want to run.”
Foster kissed him again. “That just might be the sexiest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
Jude grinned. “That I don’t want to run away?”
“Exactly,” Foster said. He snuck another kiss and squeezed Jude’s hand. “I know just how big that is for you, so it means a lot.”
Jude kissed him, a little hunger in it. “Why don’t we limit McMurphy’s to one drink?”
“I thought we were going to hang out with everyone?”
“We will. For a little while.” Jude grinned. “I just said the sexiest thing ever, right? I think that deserves a reward.”
“Payment?” Foster asked.
“I’ll let you have as many orgasms as you want—as long as I get at least one.”
“But it has to be one of the good ones, right?”
“Of course,” Jude said. “You figured out the key to my lock and you’re sure as shit going to use it.”
“I’m the key to your lock, hmm?” Foster said, leaning in for another kiss. “But just for orgasms?”
“Maybe for other things, too,” Jude said. “But don’t get too overconfident or I’ll have to knock you down a peg or two.”
“Oh, baby—you know how much I like it when you knock me down to my knees.”
“Play your cards right and I’ll be mean and nasty to you later,” Jude whispered, grinning as he stole a kiss. “And take you by the balls again, just like you like it.”
Foster shivered, need rushing through him. “Do we have to go have drinks?”
Jude laughed. “Yes.”
“It’s not like they all don’t live locally. We see them all the time,” Foster argued. “This is an emergency.”
“You wanting to get laid isn’t an emergency. Not one that I can’t handle later,” Jude said. “Plus—they all came out to support me tonight. We have to show up.”
Foster sighed. “I suppose you’re right.”
“I am,” Jude said. “And I’ll make it up to you when we get home. I promise.”
Foster growled under his breath and started the SUV. He peeled out of the spot and hit the gas once in Drive.
“In a hurry?” Jude asked.
“The sooner we have that drink, the sooner we can get home, and you can make it up to me.”
Jude laughed, squeezing Foster’s hand.
Foster peeked at Jude’s profile and the smile on those perfect, kissable lips, satisfaction warming him. They’d come so far together, and he couldn’t wait to see where they went.