Chapter 28 #2
“My dad tried. I think he would have, if it weren’t for everyone reenacting that Spartacus scene.”
“Huh?” Zach’s eyebrows shot up in confusion.
“You know that movie where a bunch of people stand up and say ‘I am Spartacus’?”
“I’m familiar with the concept.” Zach narrowed his eyes. “Are you saying everyone in your family stood up one by one and confessed to being in love with me?”
Miles shook with laughter at the mental image.
“That would have been wild, but no. I guess I kinda inspired Max to come out, or maybe he figured it’d be a good time since he’d only get half of the blowback.
Then Mara jumped in and was like, ‘Girls are hot!’ I assumed she was fucking with us, but she told me later she might be pan. ”
“Wow. That’s a lot. Your parents must have been pissed.”
“They were, but that’s not even the whole story.
The twins said they were too young now, but they might yet have a bi-awakening in college.
” Miles chuckled at the memory of straight-faced Micah delivering that little gem.
“At that point, my dad tried to kick me and Max out of the house and send everyone else to their rooms. When that didn’t go his way, he stormed out. ”
“Holy shit,” Zach breathed out. “Did your mom go with him?”
“My dad sure thought she would.” Miles snorted and gazed down at Zach, who was hanging on to his every word with worry etched on his face.
Of course, Zach hadn’t had weeks to sit with the whole situation like Miles.
He wasn’t at the joking phase yet, so Miles got straight to the point.
“Yeah, I thought she’d stomp off, but I think the realization hit that she was about to lose her children, so she stayed.
And somehow—no idea how she managed it—she actually got my dad to come back and be cool the next day.
I mean…I don’t think he’s actually cool with it.
He hasn’t really talked to any of us besides mumbling some half-assed apology, but it’s something. ”
Zach shook his head in disbelief. “That’s bananas. I assumed your parents would be huge homophobes. Both of them give off that…not in my backyard energy.”
“I think my mom surprised all of us. Not that it mattered. I would have shouted my love for you from the rooftops even if they’d kicked me out.
” Miles tightened his hold on Zach, loving how small he appeared tucked into Miles’s broad frame.
His thoughts raced in the wrong direction, wondering how much better they’d look completely naked—Miles’s body blanketing Zach, rendering him immobile, Zach’s delicate pink cock rubbing against Miles’s girth…
He groaned in frustration. “Dammit, Zee, I can’t fucking concentrate. I keep imagining you naked, and my train of thought completely evaporates.”
“I could think of a solution to that problem.” Zach smirked up at him, trailing a finger down Miles’s chest.
“I really think we need to finish this conversation first.”
Zach pouted, jutting out his plump lower lip, and Miles lunged down to suck it into his mouth.
He nibbled on the soft flesh, losing himself to the exhilaration of being close to Zach, being allowed to touch him, to taste him.
There was a universe out there in which he never got to do any of those things, and he shuddered to think about a life without Zach’s soft lips against his own.
“Mmm.” Zach’s eyes were hooded with lust, his lips red and swollen from Miles’s aggressive kiss. He splayed his hand on Miles’s crotch, applying just enough pressure to make it impossible to ignore. “Is there anything left to talk about? I get why Raymond wants me to be his best man, and I’m down.”
Goosebumps covered Miles’s arms, a visceral reaction to Zach’s touch, and he waged an internal battle with himself. As much as he wanted to make Zach fall apart and forget everything about the past few weeks, he also needed answers.
Zach had left.
If Miles hadn’t followed, Zach would have stayed gone.
Whatever dark thoughts circled around that brilliant brain of his, Miles needed to know, if only to prevent this scenario from happening again.
He took Zach’s hand off his growing bulge with some regret and interlocked their fingers.
“Tell me why you left me like that. All I got was a cryptic note and what I assumed was a drunken text full of apologies a week later. You had to leave Montana and cut contact with your parents, fine, but what the hell? Why didn’t you talk to me? We could have worked something out.”
Zach dropped his gaze to their joined hands and said nothing.
Seconds passed in silence, and Miles started to wonder if he would ever get any answers, but he waited, holding his breath, willing Zach to open his pretty mouth and say something.
Something that made sense. Something Miles could fix. A ray of hope.
“I don’t know. Running away is easy. Easier than staying behind and dealing with the fallout. I feel like I’ve been doing a lot of running recently.” Zach paused. “And I was worried about what you might do. I didn’t want to drag you down with me.”
“Zee…”
“But that didn’t make any difference, did it? Why? Why did you do it? You didn’t know your family would end up being supportive when you told them about me. I was already gone, so why would you risk messing up your whole life?”
This was a question Miles could easily answer, and it wouldn’t require words.