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Our lives…exhale… “Tell him to call me when he gets back.”
I don’t wait for a response. I end the call and fall back against the back of the couch.
Thump, thump, thump… “Thanks sweet girl.” Thump, thump, thump. Something unsettling swirls in my gut. Rowan’s mom is dying. That’s unsettling. That has to be what it is. Dad calmed down quickly. And at the mention of Rowan…that hesitation…. it was just a hesitation, nothing more.
Thump, thump, thump.
I kiss my favorite redhead on the head and lift her gently off of me. She makes no move to leave the couch, and I smile at her again. I smile at the effect she has had on Davey. Love is crazy.
Chapter thirty-one
Rowan hasn’t called. Not a shocker. I doubt dad told him to. He picks up on the first ring.
“Hey, how was the ice cream?”
“Ice cream?” Rowan says.
“Dad said you took your mom out…she was having a good day…”
“Oh, yeah…hang on….”
I hear shuffling and the closing of a door and then whispering. It takes a moment for me to realize he is whispering to me.
“Can you hear me?”
“Barely. What the hell is going on, Rowan?” My heart is in my throat. “Where are you, Ro?” I hear more shuffling.
“Are you gay?”
I haven’t thought about how to address that yet. I’m attracted to Nandy. I had sex with Nandy. Best sex of my life with Nandy. And Fynn. I’m drawn to him. Feel a bond with him. I want them both in my life. They both are in my life now. Gay? Bisexual? Does there have to be a definition? I remember when Brady called us all together to announce he, Levi, and Devyn are in a relationship. All three of them. He didn’t want to get caught up in labels. He said Devyn and Levi are his whole world.
Nandy and Fynn…my whole world?
This is my half-brother asking. And I’m happy to give him an answer. I just don’t really know what that answer is.
“Why do you ask?” I deflect.
“Because dad said you are… you’ve been hanging out with that violinist, and I won’t even repeat the names he called him. And then there was the photo of you with that other guy. The other guy looks gay too and you have your arm around him… Dad also said I can’t be around you anymore if you are a fa—”
“Don’t you ever, ever say that word, ever!”
He hasn’t says anything about refusing my money, that’s for sure. But he knew I would flip a lid if he told me I’m not allowed to talk to Rowen, so he lied. Told me he was out with his mom.
“Where are you?”
“I’m home, up in my room, watching out the window, so if I have to hang up really quick, that’s why.”
“Why would you have to hang up?” I don’t need him to answer. I know our damn father. Well, this is absolute bullshit.
“He says that team has corrupted you, turned you into a homo.”
Bile rises in my throat.
“And he just pulled in. I gotta go…”
Just like that, the line goes dead. It honestly never occurred to me people would notice Nandy and I. I also don’t care. But when it affects my baby brother, I care a hell of a lot. I always worried about leaving him there with Dad…. but I had no choice. I knew he would never leave his mom, and she…well, she is caught in dad’s web and her health is failing, rapidly.
I’m only his half-brother. I’m a professional athlete with a ridiculous travel schedule and a reputation that doesn’t exactly scream parent or sibling of the year. I made sure he had money. They had money. Years ago, I gave dad enough to start his own mechanic shop. Thought it would help him out after my mom died. Give him some purpose. The few fond memories I have of him involve cars. Hanging out in the garage at the house covered in oil and grease as he joyously taught me all the inner workings of a ‘55 Chevy Bel Air. He smiled a lot when we did that. I was too young to know the drinking had already started. Too young to know the fights with Mom were not just everyday arguments.
