Page 97 of The Science of Attraction

Maybe he’d choose to protect my father.

Maybe I’d have time to talk to him first.

But when his gaze narrowed on Liam, it was clear to see Marty’s mind was made up. It was too late. He licked his lips and almost snarled, “If only that was all your little godsend has been up to.”

Fuck.

The room fell silent and from the wide-eyed look Zach shot my way, I could see he’d guessed what was coming. Liam nudged my foot, his face ashen, and I reached for his hand under the table.

I was gonna kill Marty.

My mother looked between Marty and Liam, clearly confused. “What do you mean, Marty?”

Zach’s expression hardened, his tone icy as he warned, “Be very careful, Marty.”

Marty barely even looked Zach’s way, like he didn’t exist. He spun back to face my parents and said, “Liam’s been playing you both for fools. Julian as well.”

Marty rarely called me by my full name, and my father’s gaze flicked suspiciously between us. “Wh-what does he m-m-mean? What’s... g-going on?”

My mother’s gaze jerked to mine, and I gave her an apologetic shake of my head. I wasn’t sure she understood but she immediately got to her feet, saying, “I believe Marty was right in that we should discuss whatever this is in private.”

“No!” There was an edge to my father’s tone I hadn’t heard in a long while, and he glared at Marty. “T-tell me... n-n-now.”

My mother sank back in her chair, her expression pained. She shot a compassionate look, and I knew that she’d guessed. Maybe she’d even known for a while.“I want you to know that you can talk to me.”

Marty kept his eyes on Paddy, ignoring all the hard stares, and calmly stated, “Liam and Jules have been fucking behind your back.”

“Marty!” My mother lanced a fulminating glare at the old shepherd.

Marty swallowed hard and rephrased, “They’ve been sleeping together all this time. I caught them in the shed this morning. Shameless.” He stabbed a finger at Liam. “He took advantage of you, Paddy. He corrupted Julian?—”

I shot to my feet. “You watch your mouth, old man.Nobodycorrupted me. And the only person who should feel any shame around here is you for voicing your ignorant, hateful beliefs.”

Marty’s eyes narrowed. “I know what I saw.”

“It doesn’t matter what you saw.” Zach glared at the man. “You need to grow up, Marty. This isn’t the nineteen fifties. You can’t spew homophobic bullshit around and expect everyone to just suck it up.” Zach flashed an angry look our father’s way. “Eitherof you.”

“Yeah, well, it’s not your land, is it?” Marty muttered spitefully. “Never was.”

Zach stared him down. “And it’s not yours either.”

Marty raised a brow at Paddy. “Both your sons. I knew you’d want to know.”

“Enough,” my father barked, sitting very, very still, his good fist clenched, the knuckles white as he turned slowly in his chair until he faced Liam and me directly, his lips set in a thin, hard line that I didn’t like the look of one little bit.

“Oh, Jesus,” Zach muttered, clearly picking up the same vibes and eyeing our father with disbelief. “Have you really learned nothing in the last eighteen months?”

Paddy ignored him. “Is. It. True?”

“Is what true?” I shot back, done with this bullshit. “The part about me sleeping with Liam? Yes, it’s true.”

My father sucked in a shocked breath.

“But not because hecorruptedme.” I sighed and glanced at my mother who steadfastly returned my gaze with not a trace of anger to be seen, and in that moment, her calm, supportive look meant every-fucking-thing. “I’m bisexual, Dad. And in case you missed that the first time, I’m bisexual. Would you like me to spell it for you?”

I waited, but his face was stone. “I guess not. It means that I’ve liked womenandmen my whole damn life, just the same as Zach’s been gay his whole life. There’s nothing new about this, Dad. No revelation, and certainly no ridiculous corruption, whatever the hell Marty thinks that means. The only new thing is that you now know the truth, since it wasn’t like either of us could ever tell you when we were growing up, was it?” I let that sink in for a second before continuing. “You were really clear about what you and your sidekick over there thought about queer people. Really clear. So much for being the supportive father. Then again, it was never your strong point, was it? And when you turned your back on Zach last year, I knew my time was coming. It’s just taken the right person to get me there a little sooner than I expected.”

My words bounced around the room like shotgun pellets and my father visibly paled. His lips trembled with an emotion I couldn’t be sure of, but it looked an awful lot like incandescent rage, and in that moment, all my hope faded. My father hadn’t mellowed at all. Paddy Lane was the same ignorant, bigoted arsehole he’d always been.

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