Page 72 of For All It's Worth
“Pete’s here. With a guy.”
Well, fuck.
“Did no one know he was coming?” Max asks Andy.
“Pete said he’d try to be here for the party, but he didn’t say for sure he would come. I emailed him the invitation just in case and I warned Henry it was possible, but I hardly expected him to show up with a guy in tow.” Andy sounded hurt and I couldn’t blame him. Pete not giving any warning couldn’t have worked out worse.
Max looked at me, trying to communicate something silently. A bit slow on the uptake with worrying about Henry, it took me a minute to realize that Max wanted me to give the gifts over so we could go home and check on my friend.
I gave each of the twins their gift bags, although Abby protested at getting a gift at all. “It’s just something small and you’re family,” I said to placate her.
Each opened the parcel containing one of the photographs I’d taken of them at Christmas. Andy with Will sharing a private moment surrounded by family. Abby and Josh sharing a kiss under the mistletoe. The frames that Max had chosen worked perfectly.
“Oh,” came the soft exclamation from Abby when her eyes landed on the picture. “Thank you! This is lovely.”
Andy and Abby showed each other their pictures, complimenting me on my skills which had a blush rising in my cheeks. Max sent a fond smile over the table and in that moment, I wanted it to just be me and him, but I had to be a good brother-in-law-to-be and spend some time with Andy before we could leave. Not that we’d have any time to ourselves unless we went to Max’s apartment and I didn’t want to leave Henry on his own.
Twenty minutes later, Max and I were slipping away from the party after making the rounds quickly. Pete had looked at us, me in particular, with interest. Brad and Dylan, Will’s other gym friends, were friendly and kind. Brad offered a, “look out for Henry, would you? I’m worried about him.” He then frowned at Pete’s guest who had wrapped himself around Pete, looking like a barnacle as he clung to Pete, rather than a date.
Alex had ignored my attempts at civility and was a problem that I was going to have to deal with sooner rather than later. We didn’t have to get along wonderfully, but we needed to be able to be in the same place together without issues for the sake of our family.
Mom had pressed a kiss to both mine and Max’s cheeks with a reminder about brunch, which gave me hope that she would listen to us. Max had given her a sweet smile that she had returned, so there appeared to be a thawing there. Maybe something of what I’d said had gotten through to her.
There would be no giving Max up. I’d give up my whole family before I’d do that because he meant more to me than anyone ever could.
After another round of hugs and cheek kisses from Andy and Abby, a surprisingly long and tight hug from Will, we were out the door.
